Pubdate: Sun, 04 Jun 2000 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2000 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: PO Box 120191, San Diego, CA, 92112-0191 Fax: (619) 293-1440 Website: http://www.uniontrib.com/ Forum: http://www.uniontrib.com/cgi-bin/WebX Author: Samuel Autman, Staff Writer SDSU NEAR TOP OF LIST FOR RISING DRUG BUSTS Official Says Increase Reflects Enforcement, Not Surge In Offenses San Diego State University had among the highest numerical increases of students arrested for drug-and alcohol-related offenses in the nation, according to a new survey. Among institutions that reported the largest increases in arrests for illegal or controlled substances in 1998, SDSU ranks fourth for alcohol and third for drug arrests, according to the June 9 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education. This marks the eighth year the Chronicle has published campus crime statistics based on reports that colleges are required by federal law to disclose annually. The most recent survey is based on the reports of 481 four-year colleges and universities, each with more than 5,000 students. Overall, alcohol arrests at the nation's colleges rose 24.3 percent in 1998, the largest increase in seven years -- to 23,261 from 18,708 in 1997. Drug arrests rose by 11.1 percent. The study marks the seventh consecutive year that arrests for liquor and narcotics offenses have increased. The number of alcohol-related arrests on SDSU's campus increased 216 percent between 1997 and 1998, to 291 from 92. The University of Wisconsin-Madison leads the list, followed by Washington State University, Florida State University, SDSU and Ball State University. The number of drug-related arrests on SDSU's campus rose 440 percent, to 81 in 1998 from 15 in 1997. SDSU has about 30,000 students. The University of North Carolina-Greensboro leads the drug list, followed by UC Berkeley, SDSU, Clark Atlanta University and UC Davis. SDSU Police Chief John Carpenter says the raw numbers are misleading. He attributes the rise to increased enforcement on campus between 1997 and 1998. During that time, SDSU stepped up its joint patrolling of the campus perimeter with the San Diego Police Department. Carpenter said about one-third of the people arrested by his 25-member force are not students but people who sometimes party with students. The most common arrests result from possession of alcohol or marijuana, he added. His department plans to continue working with San Diego police on patrolling the SDSU perimeter and having DUI checkpoints near the campus. And the department is applying for a grant to increase the joint patrols next year, Carpenter said. People who live near SDSU have complained of booming music, racing cars, fast-food wrappers, beer bottles, condoms, urine and fecal matter. To combat this, city police have started issuing citations to houses that have loud parties. By last fall, police responded to nearly 1,000 such calls. Officials at SDSU have been attempting to move the institution beyond its reputation as a party school. "We are a big school," Carpenter said. "It's really not a bad problem. Hopefully, with our active enforcement, the students will not want to continue to take chances." Julie Nicklin, who wrote the report for the Chronicle, agreed with Carpenter that the numbers are open to interpretation. "It's kind of hard to draw a conclusion," she said. "You kind of have to take the numbers at face value. These numbers might be high because the institutions are really aggressive in their enforcement. "Maybe more students are using the substances. Maybe more people who use them are hanging around campuses and are not college students. It's hard to know." Other California institutions that ranked high on the lists include UC Berkeley, which was fifth in alcohol arrests with 382 and second in weapons arrests with 34; UC Davis, which had the most arrests for drugs with 280; and San Jose State University, fifth in weapons arrests with 20. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart