ARRESTS AT U.S. COLLEGES SURGE FOR ALCOHOL AND DRUG VIOLATIONS

Alcohol arrests at American colleges rose 24.3 percent in 1998, the largest
increase in seven years. Arrests for violations of drug laws grew at their
sharpest rate in three years, increasing 11.1 percent. This marks the
seventh consecutive year that arrests for liquor- and narcotics-law
violations have gone up, according to an annual survey of campus crime by
The Chronicle.

Liquor arrests grew nearly seven times as fast in 1998 as in 1997, when
they edged up just 3.6 percent. And drug arrests experienced a much bigger
jump in 1998 than in 1997, when they rose 7.2 percent.

Some health researchers say that the increases reflect their findings that
alcohol and drug use on college campuses has risen in recent years.

Campus police officials, as they have for years, insist that the increases
result mainly from tougher enforcement of alcohol and liquor laws.

Many campus police officers and safety experts also attribute the increase
to changes in the reporting guidelines, passed by Congress in the fall of
1998, to require colleges to include crimes that take place just beyond the
campus.

The number of murders, forcible and nonforcible sex offenses, aggravated
assaults, and arson and hate crimes also increased, according to The
Chronicle's survey. A smaller rise was seen in arrests for violations of
weapons laws.

At the same time, the number of burglaries, motor-vehicle thefts, and
robberies declined slightly.

The Chronicle's crime survey, which has been conducted for the past eight
years, is based on the most recent statistics that colleges and
universities are required by federal law to disclose annually. The survey
is based on the responses of 481 four-year institutions, each enrolling at
least 5,000 students. (Community colleges are not included because they are
largely commuter campuses, and typically do not experience as many crimes
as do four-year institutions.)

Liquor, drug, and weapons arrests are among the most-watched crimes, though
campus-crime experts monitor all the categories. In the most recent survey,
four institutions -- Michigan State University, the University of North
Carolina at Greensboro, the University of California at Berkeley, and the
University of Wisconsin at Madison -- were among the campuses with the most
arrests or the largest increases in two or more of those categories.

The total number of liquor arrests on all campuses rose to 23,261, up from
18,708 in 1997. Wisconsin, Michigan State, the University of Minnesota's
Twin Cities campus, Western Michigan University, and Berkeley each reported
more than 380 liquor arrests.

Wisconsin, with 792 liquor arrests, placed No. 1 by a large margin. In
1997, it had ranked fifth, with 342.

Wisconsin's increase of 450 arrests also put it at the top of the chart for
year-to-year change. The university was followed by Washington State,
Florida State, San Diego State, and Ball State Universities. Each reported
increases of more than 175 liquor arrests in 1998.

In the narcotics category, five institutions -- Berkeley, Rutgers
University at New Brunswick, U.N.C. at Greensboro, the University of
Arizona, and Virginia Commonwealth University -- made 122 or more arrests
in 1998.

U.N.C. at Greensboro, Berkeley, San Diego State and Clark Atlanta
Universities, and the University of California at Davis experienced the
largest numerical increases in drug arrests from 1997 to 1998, with each
reporting a rise of more than 50.