Nearly half of the 462 student violations at University of the Pacific so far this year have been for alcohol-related offenses.

Participating students will learn today during National Alcohol Screening Day on campus whether they have alcohol problems and will get the chance to speak with a mental-health professional from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at McCaffrey Center.

Pacific officials are using free pizza and a chance to win a DVD player as an incentive for student participation. Officials also have lobbied faculty members to give students extra academic credit for taking a self-assessment test about their alcohol usage.

So far this school year, nine Pacific students have been taken to hospitals for alcohol poisoning. The latest incident was Sunday, when a female student who had been off-campus was treated at St. Joseph's Medical Center.

In such cases, parents are notified, students have judicial hearings, and they are referred to the school's counseling center.

After alcohol, the top violations among Pacific students are for noise, parties and marijuana.

"Our problem is not unique at Pacific," said Julie Sina, Pacific's vice president of Student Life. "Alcohol is the drug of choice at college campuses throughout the country. What is unique is what each of us is doing on different campuses."

The university hopes to attract at least 100 students to the screening, which will provide information to students about drinking and the dangers of alcohol.

Pacific, with an undergraduate enrollment of 3,400 students, last year started using an online assessment and education tool. AlcoholEDU was provided to student residence assistants, various student leaders and students referred to the judicial system for alcohol-related violations.

The students take an assessment test to gauge what they know about the impacts of alcohol use and a second test after undergoing the AlcoholEDU program. The tests take about two to four hours to complete.

Matt Olson, Pacific's student body president, took the tests voluntarily in September to give the university feedback about the program.

"It was helpful, because it talks about the biological reaction you have to alcohol," Olson said. "It talks about the myths about getting over hangovers."

Some students have interpreted the program as a way to determine how much they can safely drink based on their body weight and food consumption, he said.

From September to March, about 200 students have undergone the AlcoholEDU program and taken the tests. Students who are required by the university to take the tests must get a score of 80 or more to pass.

Many students reported knowing more about blood-alcohol levels and thought about changing their alcohol use after participating in the program, Pacific officials said.

"Although it would seem that a lot of students know about alcohol, we wanted to increase their actual knowledge of the impacts of alcohol, the risks associated with it, the effects on their academic performance, athletic performance and their personal relationships," said Kerry KruegerDevine, Pacific's director of Judicial Affairs.