In comparing Public Safety statistics from September through November of 1999 with those from this year, college officials are noting a significant increase in campus citations. These increases do not necessarily mean that more violations of campus policy are taking place; however, the number of violators being caught has increased substantially.
Many have attributed the increase to a larger, rowdier freshman class.
"I think the freshman class this year is more rowdy than the classes past. I also believe the decline of campus activities has been a major contribution to the rise in alcohol violations," says one sophomore girl who wished to remain anonymous.Others disagree. "I think the increase is not primarily the attitude and lifestyles of the incoming freshmen but the administration changing policies and cracking down [on violators]," said sophomore class vice-president Rebekah Beckett. "Sure I think some of the freshmen are rowdy but so were [the previous freshman classes]. It's the new policies ... since the student center was burnt there has not been an outlet for students [to relax and hang out]."
Public Safety Director Jerry Roderick said, "With the large freshman class, the whole campus is in a cycle of change. Students perceive a big change [concerning Public Safety's enforcement], but nothing has really changed - Public Safety enforcement has stayed the same."
According to statistics concerning alcohol violations, there were just two citations issued in September of '99, compared with 22 in September of this year. During October, '99, one citation was issued, compared to 11 in October of '00. For November, the number increased from one citation last year to five in that same month this year.
"The alcohol citations are going down [from month to month] - that is a very positive thing," said Roderick. "The most significant change over the past year was that not a lot of Public Safety officers were strongly enforcing the alcohol policy. [Because of this], there was some staff turnover. During training periods for new officers, enforcement goes down a bit. Fortunately, we've been able to keep a strong staff over the past year."
Ironically, the statistics show that substance-free Queen Anne's House has the most alcohol citations this year, with a total of seven. Somerset trails with six. Last year, there were no alcohol citations for either dormitory.
All statistics were taken from Public Safety's records.
According to Roderick, "We've worked with the staff on fair and consistent approaches to enforcement. Officers are asked to be reasonable in addressing violators of college policy: use discretion where applicable, and use enforcement where applicable."
He continued, "One major thing that has changed students minds about campus life is not being able to have the large social events in the quad area. I think that we all need to explore better ways to promote campus [social] life."
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