When Joan Jett & the Blackhearts first covered the famous rock anthem "I Love Rock N' Roll," it cost only a dime to play one song on a jukebox. While modern technology has come a long way since the days of the jukebox, many students are still trying to figure out the best way to listen to music without paying a lot.

Students who used the program last year and had taken the time to download songs and arrange playlists are now finding that some of these songs have disappeared. Only upon trying to download them again are students told they must now pay for songs to which they once had free access. While 99 cents per song isn't completely outrageous, considering Apple's popular music program iTunes charges the same rate, it's the principle of the matter. Not only were these songs free for students to hear, but students have already paid for access to Napster.

Unlimited access to various computing services such as Napster is included in the information technology fee that all students pay each semester. So essentially students are already paying for their downloaded music. The program also requires users to buy entire albums for $10 each even if they only wish to download one song from the CD. Forcing users to buy a whole album defeats the purpose of a program designed to let its users choose the songs they want to buy. One of digital music's main advantages, when compared to a CD, is that you can download individual tracks if you do not want the entire album.

Let's not forget that Napster officials still have not released a version compatible with Apple computers. Students who have the misfortune of not owning a PC are paying the same technology fee as everyone else, only the service is useless. And while Napster is compatible with some MP3 players, it is not compatible with Apple's iPod.

University officials have fielded concerns from students about these issues for a while now, but no progress has been made. But what can we expect them to do? They've made themselves look good by becoming the first university nationwide to reach such an agreement.

But they drag their feet when it comes to pressuring Napster to create solutions to the current program's problems.

Penn State inked the landmark deal with Napster two years ago in an attempt to provide free, legal music to students and faculty. While the agreement seemed ideal at the time, the Napster program that the university provides has developed many flaws. The sense of pervasive apathy on behalf of university officials is increasing students' frustrations and only causing us to seek solace from other file-sharing programs ... which defeats the landmark deal's original purpose.