The number of reported burglaries at campus residence halls more than doubled last year, according to statistics just released by the College's Department of Safety and Security. College figures show 34 burglaries at campus residential facilities last year, up from 16 in 2002 and 12 in 2001.
The number of arrests for alcohol violations occurring in areas deemed "non-campus properties" sharply increased as well, with 51 arrests in 2003 -- a 143-percent increase.
"Non-campus properties" include recognized Greek organizations and undergraduate societies that are not College-owned.
Overall, alcohol-related police arrests were up 21 percent; paradoxically, the amount of College disciplinary violations for alcohol was down the same amount. In contrast, drug arrests were off sharply, from 31 in 2002 to six last year, while Dartmouth sanctioned 11 percent more students for drug offenses.
Alcohol and drug-related violations are also at their highest levels in the past few years, according to figures provided by the College in a federally-mandated report. The report came in accordance with the provisions of the Clery Act, a federal law named for a Lehigh student brutally killed in her dorm room in 1986 that requires colleges to provide a three-year crime report annually by Oct. 1. College Proctor Harry Kinne, who heads Safety and Security, declined to comment on the report Sunday.
The College also released information on disciplinary cases handled during the 2002-03 academic year via the same BlitzMail message.
There were 21 cases involving the Academic Honor Principle, including one where a female student's attempts to avoid punishment resulted in more serious consequences.
The student "forged a number of letters and e-mails from faculty members, physicians and a hospital administrator during the course of the College's investigation," the report says. The Committee on Standards subsequently found the student's denial "implausible."
The report indicates the student was suspended for eight terms, making her one of 12 students suspended for three or more terms for honor violations.
The number of disciplinary cases was up 20 percent, to 588 from 490, but there were fewer serious, or suspension-level, cases than in previous years. Overall, the College handed down some type of sanction in 82 percent of cases, up slightly from past years.
The amount of warnings, the least serious punishment, was up from recent years, while suspensions were off about half from 2001-02. More students were expelled from Dartmouth altogether, however, with five students last year receiving separation compared to one the year before.
A total of 241 students were disciplined for public intoxication in 2002-03, jumping from 187 the year before and mirroring a 70-percent three-year rise in alcohol and drug cases.
