DeKALB | Becky Blixt wants to graduate in May and have a job set up by then, but she still makes time to party three to four days a week.

“You just gotta be organized and pretty good at time management,” said Blixt, a senior corporate communications major. This belief, shared among many college students, has been addressed by NIU.

Last year, Brian Hemphill, vice president of Student Affairs, initiated the Alcohol Education Task Force, consisting of students, faculty, staff and administration, which created a campus-wide alcohol and drug education council.

Steve Lux, a health educator at Health Enhancement, will be the chair of the council, which will consist of about 15 to 20 students, faculty and administration. Lux said he hopes to initiate the council in the next few weeks. The council will coordinate and make future recommendations about alcohol and other drugs and will collect data from students on use, education and awareness on these and other health-related issues. Meetings will be open to the public.

“Our [goal] with the council is to make sure everyone’s on the same page,” Lux said. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there that people may believe that may or may not be true.”

This spring, the American College Health Association will conduct a National College Health Assessment. Lux said the assessment will allow universities to get a nationwide idea of student health and academic behavior.

Bryan Wenc, a sophomore undecided major, said skipping class after a night of partying is common among students, but he hasn’t seen any trends.

“I’m trying to go to [more] classes this semester,” Wenc said. “Just get your stuff done and you’re fine.”

Elizabeth Jenkner, a junior political science major, said she rarely goes to parties during the week, but when she does, she will still go to class the next day.

“My school comes first for me,” Jenkner continued. “I didn’t come here to party, I came for an education. My advice for other students is they can go out and have fun, but they should make sure that they are taking care of what they came here for before going out.”

For more information on alcohol and other substances, go to www.health.niu.edu, or www.acha.org.