Statistically, 21 of this year’s 210 enrolled first-year law students won’t return in 2010, but a new program hopes to alleviate some of the stress faced by new students.The First-Year Advisory Program, run by the Student Bar Association, Paul M. Hebert Law Center’s student government, pairs first-year law students with upperclassmen in an effort to help them adjust to their new environment beginning this semester. Until the late ’90s, only half of the law class would return the second year, said LSU Law Center Chancellor Jack Weiss. The law school has implemented more selective admissions requirements since then.Attrition at the LSU Law Center has increased slightly in the last three years, from 10 percent to 14 percent, but it is not far from the 10 percent average of other accredited law schools, Weiss said. “It’s a figure that I would like to see lower but one that is not, in my opinion, out of line with the norm,” he said.A student counseling program was welcomed by students and faculty at a time when financial resources are stretched thin, Weiss said.  Scott Sternberg, third-year law student and SBA executive president, and Sean Corcoran, second-year law student and SBA 2L president, said they wanted to implement a student advisory program upon taking office. The program aims to assist incoming law students academically and also to help integrate them socially into the law school environment. They wanted to create a “student-run student-advising program,” Corcoran said. The admissions office may advise students on scheduling, but it’s hard for the administration to create a Frequently Asked Questions page from a student’s perspective, Sternberg said.While similar programs have existed in the past, Sternberg said they may have been disbanded because they became more social than academic. The program aims to keep a low mentor to mentee ratio. Currently, 140 first-year students and 100 upperclassmen are involved, Corcoran said. Sternberg and Corcoran matched each pair, taking into account questionnaires answered by incoming students and what they personally knew about each of the mentors. Mary Amari, first-year law student, said she doesn’t know what her first few weeks would have been like without her student mentor. Even coming from a legal family, Amari could not anticipate what her first year would be like.”You just kind of go into law school blind,” she said.Amari said she received the most help with time management. Her mentor was also there to reassure her when she became overwhelmed, Amari said.  Ryan French, first-year law student, said he was thankful to be paired with someone successful in law school and who could advise him in academics. Victoria Viator, third-year law student, said being a mentor in the program has not taken time away from her studies. Viator and her mentee meet about every other week and communicate through e-mail, she said. She said she hopes first-year students will have a positive experience and will reciprocate by continuing the program in the future.Corcoran said most mentors probably volunteered for the program because they wished a similar program existed when they were entering law school. Editor’s Note: Scott Sternberg is a former editor of The Daily Reveille.—-Contact Olga Kourilova at [email protected]