Study targets nationwide roots of campus violence

Violence remains a problem on college campuses, often going unreported, a higher education health group says.

The American College Health Association released a report Feb. 5 with information on campus violence, offering solutions to help make universities and colleges safer.

An average of 479,000 college students aged 18-24 were victims of violence on campus each year from 1995 to 2002, according to the survey.

The survey also states that only 35 percent of violent acts toward college students were reported to the police during that period.

At UNC, there were 1,758 reported incidents of overall crime in the 2003-04 academic year.

The University’s Department of Public Safety classifies violent crimes on campus into four categories: murder, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault.

In 2004, there was one murder, one recorded case of forcible rape, no cases of aggravated assault and three cases of robbery, said Randy Young, DPS spokesman.

He said the numbers were on par with those from last year.

The ACHA report also states that underage drinking could be a factor in campus violence, as 19 percent of students who drank alcohol reported being physically injured.

“I think it is safe to say lessening your control increases your chance of becoming a victim,” Young said.

To combat the levels of violence, the report provides a series of suggestions, including the availability of substance-free dormitories to students.

Other suggestions include warning students of criminal activity at students’ orientation and implementing tougher punishments for rule-breakers.

“We are lucky to have programs like C-TOPS,” Young said. “We don’t want to shock, but we do want to alert people that this is a real town. … We are not immune.”

DPS provides students with a variety of opportunities to have a safer college experience.

One program, Project ID, allows students to inscribe their initials into their personal belongings in order to combat theft.

DPS also holds information sessions at residence halls and seminars about personal security.

“We have a fantastic Rape Aggression Defense class,” Young said, referring to 12-hour classes that offer self-defense training for college students.

Also, a UNC-system task force was created to examine safety issues at system schools after two students were murdered last year at UNC-Wilmington. It was dedicated to reforming safety measures on the 16 system campuses.

Still, the crime rate on UNC-system campuses is one-sixth of the state’s total crime rate, according to the group’s final report.

The system is working on reforming application processes to include a database to track the history of applicants, said Bobby Kanoy, senior associate vice president for academic and student affairs and chairman of the task force.

“It is a database where if you are expelled from one campus, you are expelled from all 16 by statute,” he said.

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.