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The Rice Thresher
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by Olivia Allison thresher editorial staff Students may not use class notes for commercial purposes, according to an amendment in the 2000-'01 Code of Student Conduct, a change inspired by last year's controversy concerning Web sites such as Versity.com. Faculty Council members unanimously approved a letter to President Malcolm Gillis April 14 recommending the ban on students selling notes and other class materials to Web sites offering notetaking services. Assistant to the President Mark Scheid said Gillis agreed with the recommendation, and then the General Counsel's Office wrote the amendment with the help of interim Assistant Dean for Student Judicial Affairs Allen Matusow. The code specifically states that the "sale of class notes or other course-generated material for commercial collection or commercial purpose" is a Class I violation in section II.B.1.x. Class I violations carry punishments ranging from discretionary sanctions, which are sanctions imposed by organizations such as extracurricular activities, to expulsion. Versity.com offered students $7 per lecture posted on the site last year, with a $40 bonus at the end of the semester if they posted notes for every lecture. Many professors objected to the sites because of intellectual property issues and the low quality of the notes on the site. Scheid said that because the code states that the list of violations is not all-inclusive, the sale of course materials could have been considered to be against the code. "[The list of violations] says it is not intended to be an exhaustive list, so anything else that comes up could be a violation even if it's not spelled out," Scheid said. "But it's better to spell these things out." Baker College junior Jay Bodas said he believes professors should decide whether notes from their classes may be posted on these sites. "Anything a professor doesn't want posted on the page shouldn't be posted," Bodas said. "But I don't think it should be an all-encompassing decision. I don't think it should be that big of a deal. If I don't go to class one day, I borrow notes from my classmates, and [these sites] are just a more formal way of doing that."
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