SAN DIEGO -- As students at San Diego State University start a new school year, one program is credited with reducing the number of alcohol and drug-related incidents at the school.

Aztec Nights lasts five weeks during the fall semester, and since its implementation in 2008 school administrators say the program has seen great success.

Aztec Nights, which provides night and weekend activities on campus for students, was established months after the highly-publicized Operation Sudden Fall, where nearly 100 arrests were made in connection with drug sales and consumption on the campus. It was one of the biggest college drug busts in the nation's history.

This past weekend, freshman students moved into their campus dorms, ready to start a new chapter in their lives.

"It's a completely new experience. It's the next step in my life," said Phillip Mendoza, who is from Lake Elsinore.

"It's [going to] be a lot different than high school," said first-year student Peter Stroud, who moved to San Diego from New Jersey.

But with a new start comes new pressure.

The drug culture at SDSU was exposed during Operation Sudden Fall, where dozens of students were arrested for drug-related offenses in this undercover operation that lasted months.

During this time, the school was already trying to come up with more ways to encourage safe activities, but the drug bust served as a catalyst for change.

"It definitely put a spotlight on what we're doing. It emphasized the need for what we're doing," said Darrell Hess, the associate director for residential education at SDSU.

Now, Aztec Nights has expanded to include a number of large-scale activities for students, including dances and carnivals. The budget for Aztec Nights is $250,000, split between three different SDSU departments.

"I'm excited for it. It's a great way to get integrated with the community," Mendoza said.

Administrators say the program is working. Since Aztec Nights began, the number of alcohol citations dropped from 487 in fall 2007 to 209 in 2008. Also, alcohol and drug transports to the hospital reduced by 57 percent during the first five weeks of fall 2008 compared to the previous year.

Hess believes it is a program with proven results and one that has worked to keep students safe during the beginning of their college journey.