Years ago, when I was in high school, I struggled through literature class.  I can remember listening to the discussions of the first several works that we read and thinking 'wow, I must have read the wrong story, 'cause that's not at all what I got out of it'.  The expressions on the faces of some of my friends said the same thing.  We were lost.  How were we ever going to understand Beowolf well enough to pass an exam on it? Then, one day someone brought in a little black and yellow bound book.  It was the greatest thing we had ever seen.  Cliffsnotes.  The whole of Beowolf, summed up in plain English on just a few short pages.  Now that I could handle.  And there was Mr. Green's physics class.  Everyone knew that he used the exact same notes, quizzes, tests, and labs from one year to the next.  If you could just get your hands on one of the upperclassmen's notebook, you were golden. These things didn't seem so bad to a desperate high school student just hoping to make it through physics so colleges would even look at the application.  So I made it through.  I was accepted to college, studied hard, and graduated with two degrees.  Call me naive but I didn't realize how the times have changed.  I would still be looking for someone's old notebook but according to the NY Times, all you need is internet access.  Reportedly, there are many websites where students can enter textbook information and recieve the answers, or enter the university name and course number and receive copies of exams or quizzes.  I am shocked!  These websites provide students with practically everything they need to pass any course.  What's really scary, one of the students that was interviewed for the article was using the sites for help in math and science....and he was a pre-med student.  Don't you think he might need to know how to find the answers for himself?  I think these websites may help spur on the faculty to put some more effort into their materials by changing them from year to year.  But I fear that the websites may just great dumber college graduates.