Geisinger Professor of History William C. Kirby is one of a select few who has not had a great deal of difficulty in getting students to attend lecture.

"Lecture attendance has on the whole been very good," he writes in an e-mail message. "In Historical Study A-13, we videotaped each lecture and put the lecture on the course website that night, and it seemed to have no effect on attendance at all. Rather, some people viewed the video as a review, in addition to hearing the real thing."

Professor of German Eric Rentschler says he doesn't have a problem with students skipping his class. And to avoid jinxing himself, he has never allowed lectures to be videotaped.

"I would never think of having a class videotaped precisely because of that fear," he says. "At Harvard, students are working so very hard and have so many activities that they are already pushing their limits."

But Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth '71 says that students just may not have the same respect for classes that they used to.

"It's a larger problem the larger the course," Illingworth says. "In small departments with smaller classes it is harder to get away with."

But for those who do skip, he says, the likely culprit is just laziness.