Alcohol.edu isn’t such a bad concept in itself. It really isn’t. As much as people bellyache about having to go through it, the program is based upon good intentions and could teach BU students a thing or two about the substance that seems to permeate our lives so.

It’s the execution we’re not so fond of.

There’s obviously something wrong here if scores of Bearcats are being sentenced to judicial probation because they didn’t go through the program. The logistics alone leave plenty of room for people to slip through the cracks, as we see in the (albeit secondhand) story of a girl whose name was spelled wrong and therefore not properly processed, leading to her being placed on probation.

Also, using only University e-mail — even with a personal reminder from the vice president for student affairs — just isn’t good enough. Sure, everyone’s supposed to check it. But if you’re going to tell someone to do something on the pain of judicial probation, the least you can do is mail a letter.

So we’ve come up with a few ideas for alternative ways of implementing alcohol education, which can include the use of Alcohol.Edu but don’t necessarily have to:

* Do it at orientation. Not necessarily a favorite, but it’ll get it out there right away before students even have a chance to go out to their first party.

* As an alternative, have a session moderated by resident assistants during the first weekend of school as part of a hall program. Its lessons, while potentially mockable, will be fresh in the minds of students headed out, and might just save someone’s life.

* Restructure the entire thing: instead of being based solely upon punishment, the course could be beefed up and participation could be made mandatory for a pass/fail “wellness” general education credit. Or the course could be added as a separate requirement altogether; the point would be to make participation enforceable by the registrar’s office and not Judicial Affairs, therefore making it an academic matter and not a record-staining one.

In any case, Alcohol.Edu doesn’t appear to be going anywhere for a long time. So students might as well pay attention: knowing how alcohol affects your body could mean the difference between passing out in front of a fine downtown establishment and being escorted to the hospital by the Binghamton police or getting home safely.