Almost 70 students were arrested for alcohol violations in 1995, nearly twice as many as the previous year and many times more than the rest of the Ivy League combined.
Eleven students were charged with alcohol violations at Cornell in 1995. There were no liquor-law violations at the six other Ivy League colleges.
The 1995 statistics, published this month in The Chronicle of Higher Education, also show an increase in drug-related arrests of Dartmouth students, up from five to 16 in 1995. The national collegiate average is 13 arrests.
The leap mirrors an 18 percent nationwide increase in drug arrests, a trend the Chronicle linked to tougher enforcement of drug laws. Only Cornell and Harvard had as many drug-related arrests as Dartmouth.
Safety and Security Sergeant Rebel Roberts said the statistics do not necessarily indicate there is more drinking at Dartmouth than at other schools.
"You have to be careful when you look at these statistics," she said. "If there is only a security department working on a campus, liquor-law violations may not be in existence or we may not see these statistics."
Hanover Police Captain Chris O'Connor said alcohol-related offenses have actually decreased relative to many past years. However, O'Connor said, in the case of College students, "the majority of the crimes we deal with have one common variable -- the variable of alcohol."
The number of alcohol arrests for the College may drop in future statistics reports, because the New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union challenged the validity of Hanover police arrests for "internal possession" -- charging underage individuals who are intoxicated with possession of alcohol, even if they have no alcohol on their person.
After reviewing policy, related laws and Supreme Court decisions, Hanover Police changed its policy on alcohol-related arrests and will now "review each case individually and decide whether it should be prosecuted," O'Connor said.
The Chronicle's statistics report also showed that Dartmouth had less robbery, aggravated assault and burglary than other Ivy League schools in 1994 and 1995.
O'Connor said incidents like the March 12 robbery at gun point of a woman on West Wheelock street "do not take place on a frequent level" in Hanover.
"That is what makes Dartmouth special," O'Connor said.
Roberts said the most prevalent campus problem is an increase in theft, mostly by people outside the College community.
Despite these small increases, the College experienced less burglary than other Ivy League schools and was below the 1995 national campus average of 29 thefts.
Yale University had more incidents of burglary than any other college in America, with 256 reported incidents of theft in 1995.
"We're also seeing different dynamics of crimes against people," Roberts said, citing a rise in domestic-violence situations as an example.
