Currently, under Pennsylvania law, students are not allowed to buy football tickets and resell them online for a value of 25 percent, or $5 more, whichever is greater.

That all may change if a new bill introduced in the Pennsylvania Senate comes to fruition. This bill would allow students to use Web sites like Ticketmaster, StubHub or eBay to resell their tickets for as much as they can get for them.

But legal scalping -- is this really a good idea? In the long run, it's probably not.

In the past students have found ways around the current law. Students could sell ballpoint pens for hundreds of dollars and just happen to throw in a free Penn State football ticket.

This law doesn't even confront the practice of scalping tickets on game day, outside the stadium. It's nice that students who realize they won't be able to make a certain game during the season will be able to sell their ticket ahead of time online, but how many students will abuse this law if it is passed?

This past season saw a huge ticket shortage among students at Penn State. The students with the tickets soon realized they could make a killing off those less fortunate than them. Ticket prices rose hundreds of dollars, even when it turned out the team wouldn't rival the previous year's stunning success.

Just imagine future years when students will be buying these tickets solely to turn a profit. If you thought last year was bad, wait until this law is passed, and students can now legally gouge each other for money.

Sure, students were scalping before, and they'll continue scalping even if this law isn't passed. There is a certain portion of the student population that just doesn't care if they get caught -- they're willing to take that risk. But what about the portion of students who will start scalping tickets just because it's so much easier to do it now. They no longer
have to worry about being sneaky or covert. Just hop onto Ticketmaster, upload your information and you're good to go.

Right now it's a privilege to be able to go see Penn State play a rival school. If this law is passed the romance surrounding the idea of a Penn State football game might just be ruined.