Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 8, 1995                   TAG: 9506080064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CARBONDALE, ILL.                                LENGTH: Medium

VIOLENCE, ALCOHOL CAUSING TROUBLE ON U.S. CAMPUSES

The survey of nearly 30,000 students was released by a Southern Illinois University at Carbondale research group.

``Are America's campuses in trouble? I don't know if I would say that,'' said Philip Meilman, co-director of the study by the Core Institute on Alcohol and Other Drug Studies at SIUC. ``But it's certainly a concern when one out of eight students on college campuses feels unsafe.''

Meilman also is director of the student counseling center at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

Some findings of the report, which surveyed 29,935 students on 73 college campuses around the nation:

7.5 percent carried guns, knives or other weapons at least 30 days before the survey for reasons not related to work or hunting.

39 percent binged - or had five or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting - in the two weeks before the 1994-95 survey.

51 percent believe their campus atmosphere promotes drinking, and 23 percent say it promotes drug use.

10 percent received threats of physical violence; 7 percent were racially harassed; 5 percent were physically assaulted or had forced sexual fondling; and 4 percent had unwanted sexual intercourse.

Alcohol and drug use preceded many of the incidents. Seventy-seven percent of students who reported unwanted intercourse, for example, said they had used drugs or liquor beforehand.

``Students place themselves at high risk for trouble when they're under the influence,'' said Meilman. ``Judgment is impaired. People say and do things that may be problematic.''

Kimberly Clemens, an SIUC senior in social work from Mahomet, Ill., carries Mace in her purse when she's out at night. She has not been a victim of violence but knows a student who was raped.

``I feel safe on campus, except at night, and that's simply because I'm a female,'' Clemens said. ``But I don't feel like I'm in danger all the time.''

The Core Institute has polled undergraduate and graduate college students about drinking and drugs annually since 1989. This is the first time researchers asked about campus violence.

One positive finding was that 28 percent of respondents drank less last year than the year before; 12 percent said their drug use was less.

The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The poll's margin of error was 2 percent.