A University of Massachusetts student who hit and nearly killed another student while driving drunk last year was sentenced to jail yesterday.

In the meantime, UMass students displayed mixed reaction to the sentence last night.

Heather Winchester, 22, of Billerica, pleaded guilty in Hampshire Superior Court in Northampton to charges surrounding a Sept. 24, 2004 accident which severely injured Ciara M. Tran, 19, of Dorchester.

Judge Bertha D. Josephson ordered Winchester to three months in jail after she finishes the fall semester.

Winchester was also ordered to perform 100 hours of community service either talking to high school students about the accident or volunteering in a head-trauma unit. In addition, she must pay a $500 fine, attend substance abuse counseling, pay any of Tran’s medical bills not covered by health insurance, avoid drugs and alcohol and submit to random screenings.

Before sentencing Winchester, Josephson made her look at pictures of Tran and listen to Tran’s emotional testimony.

Tran said in court she thanked God that her friends were with her when the accident happened.

Tran, who had to have three surgeries to reassemble her skull using metal plates, said in court she also had to have brain surgery, which caused her to lose her sense of taste and smell.

The accident occurred at 2:30 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2004 as Tran walked with a group of friends down Commonwealth Ave. near the Mullins Center. The side of the road she was walking on did not have a sidewalk.

According to UMass police, Tran was walking south in the roadway when Winchester hit her. There were no skid marks at the scene and witnesses said the driver did not slow down.

A short time later, police found a car near Emerson dorm in the Southwest Residential Area matching the description of the one that hit Tran. It had a broken windshield and was registered to Winchester.

UMass police officers stood outside Winchester’s dormitory for hours while they waited for her to exit her room.

Winchester failed a breath blood-alcohol test eight hours after the accident, according to police.

Tran spent a month in Children’s Hospital in Boston after the accident.

Tran had to withdraw from school for the rest of the fall semester and had to reapply for the spring semester.

Winchester reached a plea agreement with prosecutors in the case for pleading guilty to some of the charges against her. A portion of the drunk-driving charge that alleged negligent operation of a motor vehicle was dropped, as well as an additional charge of driving while under the influence of alcohol as part of the plea agreement.

Student reaction to Winchester’s sentence was mixed.

“The sentence sounds appropriate,” said Jason Herrmann, a sophomore math major. “Anyone who’s spent a night in jail understands why it’s appropriate.”

Jimin Ha, also a sophomore math major, says hit-and-run accidents like these are rare.

“The sentence doesn’t sound too unfair,” Ha said.

Other students are not as forgiving.

“I don’t think it’s fair that she gets to finish her semester,” said Jenna Carreiro, a junior theater major.

“I think the sentence is too short,” said Mohammed Zafar, a Hospitality and Tourism Management graduate student. “The seriousness of the crime warrants more punitive disciplinary action.”

“The victim’s life was affected as she lost time at school,” said Zafar. “The consequences are just too great. They’re innumerable to her and her family.”

Tran is currently pursuing a biology major at UMass.

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