DRUG USE REMAINS STATIC ON CAMPUS

On campus drug use remains consistent this year with previous year's
statistics but slightly above that of other D.C. schools, according to a
recently released AU report.

According to AU's Department of Public Safety, There were 52 cases of drug
violations during last year's semester year, 2001 to 2002. This is only
slightly larger than the previous year's 44 cases, for 2000 to 2001

A drug violation is defined not as an arrest, rather as a disciplinary
action or judicial referral.

According to last year's AU Annual Security Report, there has been a
growing increase in drug law violations on campus each year. During the1999
calendar year, there were 30 total occurrences. The following year, the
number increased to 66 and last year there were a total of 141 reported
cases. The current running tally of drug violations for this year at the
time of publication is 13.

During the summer of 1999, a change in the student code of conduct resulted
in more drug-related cases coming under the purview of Judicial Affairs.

"Speaking intuitively, generally the South Side of campus has two times
more drug cases," said DPS Community Policing Coordinator Gary Folckemer.
Still, he said, both sides of campus have their share of drug problems.

In February six AU students were arrested as a result of a surprise drug
bust executed by officers from the Metropolitan Police Department and with
the assistance of Public Safety, The Eagle reported at the time.

Though both departments can enforce the law on AU's campus, Public Safety
generally assumes responsibility for enforcement of drug laws and code of
conduct violations on campus. Still, the bust showed that MPD and Public
Safety can act in concert from time-to-time.

Student opinion on the matter roughly reflects what the numbers suggest.

"Last year it was pretty evident that we had a drug problem after the drug
bust," said one sophomore who wished to remain anonymous. Another sophomore
who wished to remain anonymous said AU still has a drug problem on campus
but that they're trying to cover it up. The problem is more on the South
Side than the North, the student said.

Each drug violation is treated differently depending on the situation and
the circumstances in which the individual was caught. There is a wide array
of sanctions that follow should an individual be caught which includes
community service, hefty fines and educational programs - called "JAMS
Sessions" - where offenders must attend an 8 a.m. class on a Saturday
morning to be educated on the consequences of drug use, administrators said.

JAMS is an acronym for Judicial Affairs and Mediation Services.

"I've been here for four years now, and I would say it's stayed pretty
static. I don't think there's been any real significant change. We would
much prefer that students not seek out drugs," Folckemer said. "We do our
best to protect you, but if you're doing or dealing drugs, it's illegal.
We'd love to see nobody doing drugs because it makes the campus safer."

AU's alcohol and drug problem is notably larger compared to other D.C. area
universities - at least if one follows the numbers - although other D.C.
schools do not necessarily observe the same prohibitions on alcohol or
patterns of enforcement.

According George Washington University's annual crime statistics report
there were 75 drug and 464 liquor law violations reported in 2001, up from
36 drug violations and down from 479 alcohol violations in 2000. Unlike AU,
GW's campus is an urban one, is non-dry, and its undergraduate student body
is considerably larger at 7,400. The university also has several satellite
campuses whose crime figures are not included above.

At Georgetown the statistics were significantly smaller with only 18
reported drug violations in 1999, 15 the following year, and an even
smaller 13 in 2001, according to the 2002 Crime and Campus Security Annual
Report. Alcohol offenses, however, escalated dramatically from 268 in 1999
to 377 in 2000 and to 568 in 2001. Georgetown is also non-dry, and its
undergraduate student body is smaller than AU's (6,422 versus 5,500).

But B.J. Cunningham, assistant director of Judicial Affairs, discounts the
possibility that drugs are any more prevalent at AU than at other D.C. schools.

"I would suspect that we probably have similar numbers across the board,
but I would suspect that we have a better intervention system," Cunningham
said. "We changed the code three years ago to make it so that we could
intervene more effectively. Our case load basically tripled for alcohol or
drugs after the change, meaning that we're intervening earlier, at lower
level offenses, instead of intervening at the end and saying, 'Okay, great,
you're kicked out.'"

Eagle Staff Writer Evan Wagner contributed to this report.