Walking back to her University Terrace apartment alone at night always made Alex Ting a little nervous.

Then, last semester, the 5-foot-3-inch Ting (junior-psychology) said her fears were realized when four men who appeared to be drunk approached her and one allegedly pushed her out into the street.

"It wasn't anything I expected," she said. "It gave me a totally different way of looking at my surroundings. It showed me the possibilities -- you never know."

This semester, Ting decided to take a Rape Aggression Defense Systems (RAD) course offered by Penn State University Police to feel more confident should a similar situation occur.

"It's an 'in case' course," Ting said. "It's not because I want to be trained to go out and kick butt; it's just preparing you for situations you're not expecting."

RAD is the national standard in self-defense education for women, taught in a four-day, 12-hour course by certified instructors. Usually offered once a semester, it is free for Penn State students because of an endowment from the Center for Women Students.

The complete RAD course teaches four hours of lecture on crime awareness, prevention tips, risk reduction and risk avoidance.

"In any attack, there's a victim and an attacker," said Kristen Hallowell (junior-kinesiology), who also took the RAD course. "We talk about taking away that opportunity. I'm more aware of not putting myself in those situations now."

Students are told to check the back seat of their cars before getting in, to take well-lit paths, even if they are longer, and to yell, "Stay away!" instead of just screaming.

"Screaming sounds more playful," Ting said.

The course also focused on learning how to escape an attack, rather than attacking the person back.

"It is not a martial arts course," Penn State Police Officer Ellen Aschenbrenner said. "Any woman can do these techniques and do them effectively."

In Tuesday's class, the students were shown how to "make physics work for them" by using their bodies to throw a person who is on top of them off balance, no matter how big the person is.

"It's not strength-on-strength -- it's technique," Penn State Police Officer Jason Zajac said. "You don't need to be in tip-top shape."

On the last night, "simulation night," an instructor wearing a padded suit simulated an attack on each student. The students used learned techniques to ward off the attacker.

"The best part is seeing the women change," Aschenbrenner said. "The person you would think would be the most timid often turns out to be the hardest kicker and puncher."

According to Susan DelPonte, Center for Women Students program assistant, 107 sexual assaults were reported at Penn State last year. Sexual assault is one of the most underreported crimes, she added.

Zajac said yearly sexual assault numbers do not change the demand for RAD, since there is always a demand for safety.

"There doesn't have to be a crime wave to draw interest into this," Zajac said.

"Anyone can come to feel more comfortable in their daily life. We don't want people to live in fear around here -- we want them to be able to go anywhere at any time and feel comfortable and safe," he said.

Ting agrees that the class has made her feel safer.

"I can use my body better as a weapon now," Ting said. "A lot of guys wouldn't expect some of the things you can learn here -- they'd probably expect screaming or biting."

Ting said that if she knew last semester what she knew now, she would have reacted differently when she got pushed into the street. "[The class] teaches you how to stay calm and deal with situations," she said.

"I probably wouldn't have been so upset; I wouldn't have panicked. I feel better now."