Prof can't make students pay more than attention.

• Author: Frank, Maggie
• Position: TAR HEEL TATTLER

Back in the day, a college student who skipped class but cared about what he had missed borrowed a classmate's notes. A few beers or bucks might change hands, and everybody was happy. Not so this fall when N.C. State University professor Robert Schrag decided to offer competition. He posted audio files of lectures for his communications and technology class online--for a $2.50 fee.

Schrag, who has been teaching at State 24 years, got only $1 of it. The rest went to the Web site, Franklin, Tenn.-based Independent Music Online, which mostly sells music recorded by unsigned performers. For him, it is the principle. "Not giving it away says, 'Yes, there is value attached to what you do.'" After all, he says, engineering professors routinely cash in on their work, and he had the blessing of his department head.

But students who oppose the fee say they're standing on principle, too. They paid for the lectures--whether they attend class or not--with their tuition: $4,784 a year for full-time North Carolina residents and $16,982 for out-of-state students. The dispute became a cause celebre for the Technician, State's student newspaper.

In mid-September, after having made a total of $12, Schrag removed the lectures at the university's request. Administrators cited a "conflict of interest," though neither the professor nor university spokesman Keith...