From Time to Time: Nando_s in-depth look at the 20th century.

The Internet is a consumer_s paradise. College students are notorious consumers. The outcome from this inevitable marriage of higher education and Web entrepreneurs? Free class notes culled from the lecture-hall courses at your local Big State U. Students at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University and Duke University and scores of other campuses are logging onto Web sites with names such as versity.com, studyaid.com andhttp://www.StudentU.com, a particularly popular service that bills itself as the "online student backpack."The companies pay a modest fee to student notetakers already enrolled in the advertised classes. While the Web operators call their services study aids, some professors consider the upstart ventures nothing more than a high-tech excuse to skip classes or crass intrusions into the educational process. Companies that sell, trade or give away class notes and term papers aren_t anything new, noted Paul Cousins, director of the Office of Student Conduct at North Carolina State University. Fraternities and other student organizations have been doing it for years. But the Web now provides those services 24 hours a day, linking students worldwide with just a few keyboard strokes. Even the veritable Cliffs Notes have gone online.Until last year, a company called Tar Heel Notes rented space in the campus bookstore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The service was discontinued for financial reasons, not ethical ones, said John Jones, director of UNC-CH Student Stores. These days, Carolina students can visit Ram Book and Supplies on West Franklin Street to buy hard copies of notes from more than 60 classes, from Anthropology 10 to Women_s Studies 50. "Top Students in Selected Classes Take Organized, Detailed Notes," boasts a store sign above piles of typewritten notes. Payment plans vary, from $35 for a semester_s worth to a mere $2.50 for daily notes. The service not only fills a need for students who can_t keep up with their lecturers but also provides educational benefits to its free-lance employees, said Steve Thurston, the bookstore_s manager. Notetakers must have at least a 3.2 grade-point average; freshmen aren_t allowed as notetakers.