The Class of 2010's first quiz will not be about economics or history, but blood alcohol content and drunk driving as part of an online educational program called AlcoholEDU that is now mandatory for incoming students.

Student Affairs and the Alcohol Advisory Board studied the program<\p>--<\p>already in use at more than 350 colleges and universities<\p>--<\p>for three years as part of an effort to explore new ways to bring alcohol education to freshmen. Last year, fifty Stanford students piloted AlcoholEDU <\p>--<\p> created by the company Outside the Classroom <\p>--<\p> and the majority rated it highly, said alcohol and drug educator Ralph Castro, the manager of the Substance Abuse Prevention Program for Vaden Health Center.

"Recent research on the AlcoholEDU program found that students who completed the course reduced their alcohol intake and also reduced the incidence of heavy episodic drinking patterns," he said, adding that the program will supplement, not replace, existing alcohol education programs.

Junior Hershey Avula, a Resident Assistant in Branner and chair of the ASSU Undergraduate Senate, was equally optimistic.

"Obviously, some students may still choose to learn how to deal with alcohol from experiencing its extremes first hand," Avula said, but he guessed that many would still find AlcoholEDU helpful.

The program has two parts: one, three-hour segment that students completed online before Sept. 15 and a short survey that needs to be completed within the first few weeks of school.

"I think AlchoholEDU took me about three hours," said freshman Elizabeth Dillingham. "I did it in a day in a half just to get it over with. It wasn't challenging to complete at all. It just became tedious at points."

Instead of a standard lecture, the first part of the program asks students about their previous exposure to alcohol and shows segments adapted to respond to the student's needs, Avula said.

"I think the fact that it is tailored to respond uniquely to a student's individual responses shows that it has been thoroughly tested and should be effective," he said.

Some students were ambivalent about the effectiveness of the course.

"Its purpose was to communicate information, and did so, with an easy to follow slideshow, and repeated question-answer sessions to drill the info into a prospective student's head," said freshman Chris Hadley. "Not all of the info was a review either <\p>--<\p>it did teach me new things, but I can't remember what they were for the life of me."

Other freshmen complained that the program did not require their full attention.

"I did it on my computer at work, and I had to run it on mute in the background," said Ryan Thompson. "I still got a 90%, so it wasn't difficult beyond being long."

Freshman Magali Ferare said that he appreciated the University's concern, but doubted the program would reap any long-term benefits.

"Really, I don't know anyone who actually paid attention to the entire program," she said. "Most, like me, paid little to no attention and yet still aced the quiz at the end."

In spite of some criticism, Avula said he supports AlcoholEDU as an addition to Stanford's existing alcohol education.

"As an all-frosh RA, I am happy that the program was put in place, because if the claims about its effectiveness are indeed true, then I will have less alcohol related problems to deal with."