CAMPUS ALCOHOL AND DRUG ARRESTS ROSE IN '96, SURVEY SAYS

Alcohol arrests rose by 10 percent and drug arrests by 5 percent on college
campuses in 1996, the fifth consecutive year that reported violations of
substance abuse laws have increased, according to a survey being released
on Monday by The Chronicle of Higher Education, an independent newspaper
that covers higher education.

In 1995, alcohol arrests increased by less than 1 percent, but drug arrests
climbed by almost 18 percent.

Then as now, college law-enforcement officials and administrators
attributed the rise to stricter enforcement of laws rather than to more use
of drugs and alcohol.

"We have seen a dramatic increase in binge drinking," said Dr. Randolph
Canterbury, director of the Institute of Substance Abuse Studies at the
University of Virginia, where he is chairman of the Department of
Psychiatric Medicine. Dr. Randolph said he had found more people reporting
incidents because of "a greater concern with civility." According to the
report, an annual survey of crime at 500 of the nation's major colleges and
universities, there were 16,237 alcohol arrests in 1996, up from 14,759 in
1995, and 7,060 drug arrests, up from 6,725. The increase is in keeping
with national trends, as is the drop in the number of robbery and burglary
arrests in 1996. The drop was by 6 percent for robberies and 5 percent for
burglaries, for a total of 16,226 arrests. But for the second consecutive
year, sex offenses and murders rose. Colleges reported 19 murders in 1996,
up from 15 in 1995, and 1,161 forcible sex offenses, up from 1,013.
Nationally, the number of sex offenses has gone down, but officials note
that younger women more readily report such assaults. The survey, based on
reports that the institutions are required by Federal law to prepare,
compiles the number of crimes committed on campus at four-year colleges.

The survey is scheduled to appear in the May 8 issue of The Chronicle of
Higher Education.

Michigan State University led the country for alcohol violations in 1996,
with 574 arrests.

Next came the University of California at Berkeley, with 523. There were
412 incidents at the University of Wisconsin at Madison; 383 at the
University of Minnesota, and 378 at Purdue University. The institution with
the greatest number of drug arrests was the University of California at
Berkeley, with 193. It was followed by San Jose State University, with 160;
Michigan State University, with 158; Arizona State University, with 117,
and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, with 114.