Last week, Penn State failed to renew long-time legal consultant Jose Texidor's contract in a move that has cast doubt on the future of free legal advice for the university's students.

Though Texidor will no longer be acting as free legal adviser for the Student Legal Assistance, the university announced that legal advice may possibly be provided by second- and third-year law students from Penn State Dickinson School of Law, which opened its University Park campus this fall.

Such action is deserving of recognition because of the experience that it will grant to Dickinson law students and the effective use of internal resources.

This legal experience would provide an excellent opportunity for students to apply legal knowledge and simultaneously benefit the student community by providing a valuable, albeit little publicized, service.

However, this decision also raises questions, particularly whether or not the law students are prepared to offer legal advice.

Also, it necessitates the examination of the logistical feasibility of keeping students from their studies in order to provide legal advice to 500 or more students a year, the number that Texidor said accurately reflected the number of students he assisted.

However, it may be that if there were a number of Dickinson law students dispensing advice to Penn State students, these numbers might not prove to be a serious difficulty.

Ultimately, the solution of Dickinson law students providing free legal advice seems sensible and practical, but there are many questions left unanswered and the system must be put into practice for an extended period of time before any conclusions can be drawn.

Perhaps the possible pitfalls of the new system will prove to be strengths, as more Dickinson law students providing advice may allow for a greater number of Penn State students to receive advice free of charge.

Only time will tell whether the implementation of this new legal advice system proves useful or whether it proves a hindrance to students seeking legal advice at Penn State.