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.