CAMPUS CRIME UP SLIGHTLY IN 2004

Campus crime edged up in 2004, with thefts from automobiles seeing the
biggest rise, according to preliminary figures compiled by USA police.

In all, there were 92 automobile burglaries on the USA campus last year,
and one arrest. The next most common crime was marijuana possession, with
26 reports filed and 17 arrests.

Police cautioned that comparisons to 2003 may be inaccurate, because the
figures are preliminary and subject to re-categorization. Campus police
departments are required by law to submit crime statistics to both the
state and federal governments, but the standards for reporting vary.

"If you take $5 out of a desk drawer, we used to count those as thefts"
said Chief Paul Houlsen. "Now, because the person enters a building with
intent to steal we count them as burglaries." Houlsen added that changes in
standards midway through the year means that USA now reports theft from
vending machines as burglaries.

Houlsen said this may account for the 100 percent increase in reported
burglaries, from 13 in 2003 to 26 last year. He is sure, however, that auto
burglaries are significantly more common.

"We know that because there was a significant rise in auto burglaries in
[Mobile]" he said. "Our numbers reflect the city's numbers."

Figures were not immediately available from the Mobile Police Department,
but according to the FBI, a preliminary study found that property crimes of
all types were up 10 percent in Mobile as of the end of June. Crime in the
city in general was higher, with the most significant jump in forcible
rape, which doubled in 2004. Reported rapes on campus, however, declined by
60 percent, from five reports in 2003 to two last year.

Concerning the increase in reports of burglaries and thefts of all kinds,
Houlsen said he did not have a sense that the actual crime rate was
significantly higher, but that students were simply reporting crimes that
they might not have in past years.

"We've encouraged people to call the police," he said. "Any time a police
department becomes more community-oriented, the numbers of reports
increase." Houlsen expects reports to continue to increase for several
years, because "there are still a lot of things people don't report.
There's the actual number [of crimes] and the reported number. We still
don't know what the actual number is.

"We've had people call [to report stolen] oranges, a chocolate bunny, a
piece of cheese," Houlsen said.

Those are only three of the 27,173 calls to which USA Police responded last
year. Over the course of 2004, they made 873 traffic stops and made 13
felony and 43 misdemeanor arrests. They responded to four calls of
attempted suicide.