NIU students have the opportunity to take a new course. The only prerequisite is to get caught violating an alcohol policy.

SUDDS, which stands for Students Understanding Drinking, Drugs and Self, is a non-credit course offered in NIU residence halls.

Terry Jones, judicial officer, said last year was the first year residents were referred to SUDDS upon a first offense. There were 190 students referred to SUDDS last year.

“It has worked out well,” Jones said. “We weren’t as overwhelmed as we thought we’d be.”

Jones said last year’s numbers were pretty consistent with the past few years.

The SUDDS program was set up in 1988 under a federal substance abuse grant, said Amy Havasi, SUDDS coordinator for NIU Health Enhancement Services.

Havasi said the program ran roughly in the past because of staff turnover, but last year it was restructured for first-time offenders.

SUDDS was modeled after the state DUI program, but is not intended for people with alcohol problems, Havasi said.

Havasi said SUDDS takes a different approach than most substance abuse education programs.

Since it is geared for someone who simply was caught walking in the hall with a beer, for example, the focus is not primarily on the negative effects of alcohol.

“Most students don’t have alcohol-related problems,” Havasi said. “The vast majority don’t. They may get caught, but not really be so bad.”

Havasi said the program is mainly from a physical health perspective. “It’s a prevention program intended to prevent harm.”

Much of the philosophy of the program is taken from a theory that students tend to gravitate toward the norm, so SUDDS stresses the fact that the norm is in fact positive.

Havasi pointed to a survey showing that 84 percent or more of NIU students did not drink to the point where they injured themselves, others, or damaged property.

“We hope to get that information out,” Havasi said.

However, the survey also showed that 78 percent of students surveyed got drunk last year and 50 percent to the point of vomiting.

“You hear a lot in the media that alcohol and college students don’t mix. We want to give attention to what’s healthy and positive,” Havasi said.

A graduate of SUDDS, John Molitor, senior marketing major, summed up what he got from the class. “The SUDDS program made me realize I must be more careful when I drink next time—I won’t get caught.”