As the first half of Spring Semester comes to a close, two words can be heard coming from many students' mouths — no, not "spring break."

Rather, "I'm broke."

After paying for books, food, rent and spring break getaways, some students are hurting for cash. Instead of asking parents to get them out of the red, many are making money on their own.

There are the more traditional college jobs, such as waiting tables, bartending or working in retail, but some students go to a different route to get extra money.

The 150 to 200 notetakers at Nittany Notes spend a small amount of time outside of class to earn their money, owner Tom Matis said.

After taking notes in class, the Nittany Notes employees type them and turn in the notes to the office the next day. The base salary is $8 per lecture, and there are occasional bonuses and rate increases, Matis said.

"Some parents will not let their son or daughter work anywhere else," Matis said. "They say it helps them in their studies."

Though this may sound like a tempting job opportunity, Nittany Notes only hires notetakers at the beginning of the semester.

In addition to a mandatory minimum 3.2 grade point average, students who work for Nittany Notes need to be "able to take good, comprehensive notes and listen at the same time."

Other university-related job opportunities have different requirements.

"We can't be on hormones or birth control," Tessa Winkler (sophomore-civil engineering) said. "They check our percent body fat, bone scans . . . resting metabolic rate, pregnancy tests, blood samples, stress profiles. And we wear activity monitors 24 hours a day."

Winkler is in a study conducted by the department of kinesiology. The purpose of the study is to determine the effects of exercise and diet on the female reproductive system.

"My friends encouraged me to do it — it seemed pretty easy, you just eat their food and exercise," Winkler said. "But when I think about all the stuff I go through I wonder if it's worth it."

Winkler is part of the study's control group, which means she can only eat the amount of calories she burns in a day and cannot exercise.

Subjects in the study are paid $75 per week for the first month with a raise each month.

"It's not really a way for students to make money," said Nancy Williams, an assistant professor in the department of kinesiology who is directing the study. "It's an interesting activity with a specific aim and target population."

While students working at Nittany Notes and taking part in scientific studies thought ahead about their monetary needs, others prefer commitment-free sources of money.

Some bring their CDs, tapes, records, videos and DVDs to Arboria Records, 119 E. Beaver Ave., for fast cash, owner Mark Biega said.

"We buy back music every day," Biega said. "A lot is from college students."

Arboria Records pays $2 to $5 for CDs, $2 to $3 for videos and $5 to $10 for DVDs.

Some students aren't willing to part with their music and movie collections to make money, but they will spend a couple hours each week to sell the plasma in their blood.

Brian Hansell (sophomore-computer engineering) sold his plasma at Sera-Tec Biologicals, 321 W. Beaver Ave., for about two months last spring.

"My mom didn't want me to do it," Hansell said.

After filling out some paperwork and having blood tests done, Hansell earned about $50 for each of the two weeks he donated.

"It seemed like an easy way to earn money, but I didn't really like doing it," Hansell said. "I'd rather have a normal job now."