JOSHUA SILLS /Arizona Daily Wildcat Maloney's head doorman Carlos Valenzuela checks education senior Nicole Sanchez's identification before she enters the bar. Being caught with false identification can lead to the UA diversion program.

After rushing for a fraternity all week long, marketing junior James Jensen was celebrating. But outside the bid night party he was attending, sirens and police lights sprung to life behind him.

Jensen's night took a turn for the worse when he was served a citation for being a minor in possession of alcohol.

Jensen, then 19, soon found himself in front of Theresa Holthusen, program coordinator for judicial affairs for the Dean of Students office, beginning the process of diversion.

The program allows students to have the record of their arrest or citation expunged after completing several requirements of the Dean of Students office. Included among these is community service, probation and an alcohol and drug education class known as the SHADE program.

The choice to enter the diversion program was easy for Jensen. He knew his record would be wiped clean when he completed the program.

Jensen is one of 177 other students ÷70 percent of them freshmen ÷ who have entered the diversion program in the past year, and according to Holthusen, all have either completed the program or are in the process of doing so.

While students may be completing the program successfully, there is no proof that the program is stopping its participants from making repeat offenses of petty crimes, such as minor consumption or marijuana possession.

However, University of Arizona Police Sgt. Eugene Mejia said UAPD sees very few repeat offenders.

"A very small percentage of the people I encounter have previously been diverted," he said.

Holthusen agreed with Mejia that the program is working and that the purpose of diversion is not necessarily to punish.

She said that while the program is disciplinary in one sense, it also serves as a form of education for the student.

"(Diversion) is a great learning experience," Holthusen said.

While the program did not stop Jensen from continuing to drink, he said it did teach him about personal responsibility and education regarding alcohol and drugs.

"They didn't shake their fingers at you and say you couldn't (drink underage)," he said. "They understand that they're not going to curb underage drinking in college."

Although Jensen said he learned about the dangers of alcohol and drugs through the program, he said it was not worth the time and money he put into it.

The cost of diversion

When students come before Holthusen, it's not a matter of guilt or innocence, as students admit they've committed a crime before they ever enter her office.

"We're not deciding if they violated (the law)," she said.

Students can be diverted by the Pima County Attorney's Office, Justice Court, or by UAPD officers at the scene.

Mejia said that officers on patrol have the freedom to decide whether a student should be diverted.

JACOB KONST/Arizona Summer Wildcat Theresa Holthusen, coordinator for judicial affairs for the dean of students office, reviews paperwork in her office. Holthusen handles the UA Diversion Program for students charged with misdemeanors. Upon completion of the program, students have the conviction expunged from their record.

"Diversion is a tool for the officer to utilize on campus," he said. "The choice is left up to the officer. There may be times when the officer would consider diversion not an option."

Following their diversion, students meet with Holthusen for up to 45 minutes. After discussing their previous actions, the student signs a contract, stipulating the actions required of the student before the charge can be removed from their record.

Students like Jensen eagerly enter the program ÷ especially when they hear that it's voluntary ÷ but find that the devil is in the details.

"There are a lot of hidden charges," he said.

Jensen, who was referred through the Pima County Justice Court, said by the time he had completed the program, he had paid over $150 in court, class and processing fees. In addition to the money, Jensen also found time was another price, having to endure the four-hour SHADE class and complete fifteen hours of community service.

"Being a student, you have to get certain stuff done," Jensen said of the constraints on his time that were due to his involvement in the program.

However, Holthusen said the time crunch that the program creates for students is part of the diversion process, which Mejia agreed was an indirect way of paying for what they did.

"It takes away from personal time, which in a sense is punishment," Mejia said.

The class is taken in two sessions, which can crunch time further, Jensen said.

According to Holthusen, students also have to deal with the ramifications of their actions in several different ways.

University policy requires that if an under-aged student is caught for a drug or alcohol violation, the Dean of Students office notifies his or her parents. Students also have to talk about their crime with police, judges and officials from the Dean of Students office, which creates a sense of responsibility for one's actions, Holthusen said.

"Coming to visit me might just make them a little bit more responsible," she said.

Jensen also had to complete three months of probation.

Despite the stresses Jensen experienced while in the diversion program, the course was a worthwhile endeavor because his record was cleared, he said.

"The whole point of going through diversion is getting (the charge) off your record," he said.

That's what kept him and his fellow classmates in the program, he said.

If students in the program do not complete their sanctions, they are taken out of the program and criminal prosecution takes over.

Stopping underage drinking?

When Jensen stepped into his first SHADE class, he was expecting an intense discussion about the dangers of alcohol and a deterrence campaign. However, he was wrong.

"It was totally different. They tried to tell you to be more careful when you drink," he said. "Their main concern isn't to stop (drinking), it's to keep people safe when they do."

According to Holthusen, that is precisely what the course is for.

"There are a lot of dangers that come along with drug and alcohol use," she said.

Jensen said the class he participated in focused on controlling one's rate of alcohol consumption. The class gave him an opportunity to learn a few new things about alcohol, but the majority of the information provided by the class was a review of information he had heard in the past.

Jensen added that information given in the diversion program would have been more effective if it were given to all incoming freshmen.

"It could be better utilized at an orientation-type meeting," he said. "I think it would probably be a better benefit to incoming freshmen."

It's not going to be a cur-all. It's not going to work for everyone all the time. They don't learn their lesson sometimes. - Bruce Chalk, Deputy Pima County Attorney

Currently, incoming freshmen are required to go to a campus safety presentation put on by UAPD and the Oasis Center for Sexual Assault, but no formal education about the dangers of alcohol is provided free to incoming freshmen.

More than 70 percent of the students Holthusen saw this year were freshmen.

Of the students who entered the diversion program, 39 were sophomores and 13 were upperclassmen.

Deputy Pima County Attorney Bruce Chalk said there would always be repeat offenders.

"It's not going to be a cure-all. It's not going to work for everybody all the time," he said. "They don't learn their lesson sometimes."

Chalk said that despite the fact that not everyone can be reached, the benefits outweigh any reason to stop the program.

Mejia also said the program has been successful.

"I would say that the majority of students are successful," he said. "Diversion does work."

Mejia said that if students continue to drink or repeat crimes that they have previously been diverted for, they risk being introduced to the criminal justice system.

"It's a one-time option that they must fully commit to the program. (Repeating the offense) is a chance they take. That's a choice that they have to make. With those choices, they will then have to suffer the consequences," he said.

However, Mejia said students often will stop their behavior in order to not have a record, which he said they have already had worked so hard to overcome through diversion.

"I definitely don't want to be in that situation again, so I'll take steps personally to make sure I don't get another M.I.P," Jensen said.