CATAWBA CREATES STRICTER RULES FOLLOWING DEADLY INCIDENTS

SALISBURY, N.C. - A string of deadly incidents at Catawba College last
academic year has helped persuade school officials to get tough.

They've outlawed smoking in dorms. The dean calls the parents of any
students under 21 caught drinking, without exception.

And if you're a visitor causing trouble on campus, you're banned, reported
to police and arrested for trespassing if you come back.

No one can say if that will help the private, liberal arts college 40 miles
northeast of Charlotte rebound from the fire and two shootings that left
four dead.

"These events - because of their effects on the students - have opened the
door to a serious look at what is fairly typical behavior," says Catawba's
new president, Robert Knott. "The college has a way now to work with
students to help improve their lives. This creates an opportunity to talk
about, to think about, drinking behavior."

Alcohol or drugs were involved in each of the incidents at the school
affiliated with the United Church of Christ, officials said.

Sophomore Andrew Grooms died from severe burns suffered while trying to
escape a dorm fire at Catawba last October. An autopsy found a small amount
of alcohol in his blood.

In January, star linebacker Darris Morris died in a shootout outside of a
Catawba dormitory. Six students from nearby Livingstone College have been
charged in his death and are awaiting trial. Students involved had been
drinking, police said. Marijuana and crack cocaine were taken from a car
driven by the Livingstone students.

And in April, two 19-year-old freshmen were shot in the head and killed off
campus in what police say is a drug-related crime.

That's why the school is emphasizing its alcohol and drug policy this year.
Officials left notes on the beds of all incoming freshmen to remind them of
the rules and required them to attend an alcohol and substance abuse talk
on how drinking interferes with learning and life.

The school has also installed a $500,000 system that will alert the
Salisbury fire department and campus security officers of any smoke or fire
on campus.

Sylvia Chillcott, the school's new director of public safety, is improving
lighting and ordering the trimming of shrubbery that could hide criminals.

She is also encouraging the school's 10 security officers to mingle with
students and have lunch in the cafeteria with them.

"We want the students to know they've got someone they can turn to,"
Chillcott says. "It's not about us. It's about them."

Roy Baker, the new dean of students, feels the same way.

"My goal is to create a sense of community on this campus where people feel
like they matter," he says. "It's not just about rule enforcement."

Knott recruited Baker from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, where
administrators credit him with turning around a fraternity system Baker
says was out of control.

He has already created parties on campus that begin at 11 p.m. and go until
3 in the morning, surprising his staff with the work hours.

"He has a lot of really neat ideas," says Michelle Kowalsky, a senior and
president of Catawba's student body. "And he's on the same page as us.

"I have a good feeling that everything's going to be a whole lot better
this year. I don't know how it could be any worse."