how to remove a column

[Brandon Dohman]

I was wondering what the sql syntax is to drop a column from a derby 
database.

i tried this and it gave me the error below: ALTER TABLE contacts DROP 
COLUMN userid

Error code -1, SQL state 42X01: Syntax error: Encountered "DROP" at line 
1, column 22.
Line 1, column 1

Thanks for your help