By the end of this semester, Penn State students will be able to listen to more than Bon Jovi and Beethoven on their iPods.

As part of a class project for Science, Technology and Society 497B (Creative Innovation and Change), seven students started Lion Cast, a podcasting system that will soon allow students to hear local radio stations, weather and news on their iPods.

The system currently offers bar specials and can be accessed at the project's Web site, www.psulioncast.com.

"Students can download a program onto their iPod and listen to the news for free," group member Liz Blickley (senior-engineering sciences) said. "We're working with the College of Communications and trying to get students to read their [news] articles over the network."

Since Apple introduced iPods in October 2001, it has sold more than 15 million of the digital music players.

Several news outlets, including The New York Times and British Broadcasting Corp., can already send news through podcasts, but this is the first student-run Penn State podcasting network.

People generally download everything from live music to news articles onto their iPods, Marten Zagunis (senior-philosophy) said.

"Podcasting is becoming more popular on the Internet," Zagnuis said. "We got this idea because several of us and our friends use podcasting already."

Blickley said the group aims to increase awareness of local and international news.

"So many students don't have time to read the paper," Blickley said. "This way, students can just listen to the news while walking to class."

Some student iPod users in the HUB-Robeson Center said they would be interested in using Lion Cast.

"It sounds pretty cool," Zach Hudy (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) said. "I'm not much of a reader, so I would rather listen to the news on my iPod."

However, other students said they prefer to read the newspaper and would not use the podcasting system.

"I probably wouldn't use it. I read the newspaper whenever I get a chance," Megan Evans (senior-communication sciences and disorders) said.

"I like to browse through the stories, and with this system, I might get stuck listening to things I'm not interested in," she added.

Alex Broitman (sophomore-finance) said he would probably continue reading the newspaper.

"I get most of my news through the papers," Broitman said. "I like reading them, and I'll probably continue to do that."