The academic fibers of universities are being ripped by a host of social problems, according to a recent national study of campuses.

The study was a joint project of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the American Council on Education.

The findings were based on interviews with teachers, students and administrators from 18 campuses across the nation.

The study found 52 percent of college presidents said the quality of campus life is a greater concern now than a few years ago.

Student Association President Huda Scheidelman disagrees. “I think students were more actively involved in their campus life a few years ago than they are now,” she said.

Crimes went up in the last five years, said 43 percent of college presidents.

Albert Ekstrom, training and police and community relations assistant for the University Police, said campus crime at NIU has risen since 1985.

The figures for the Fiscal Year 1986 show that there were 1,224 crimes reported, a mixture of 20 different criminal offenses. The number dipped in FY87, when 1,127 crimes occured, Ekstrom said.

In FY88, the number jumped to 1,271 crimes reported, an increase of about 50 from two years earlier.

One out of four presidents said racial tension is a problem on their campuses.

“The relationship that exists between different races on this campus is far from ideal,” Scheidelman said. “When their relationship improves, then the racial tension is going to decrease.”

Sixty-two percent of presidents at research-oriented universities said sexual harrassment is a problem.

Scheidleman said a lot of sexual harassment complaints have been reported at NIU, but she said she knows more harassment goes on than is reported.

The study also showed 62 percent of student affairs officers said their campus had a written policy on bigotry.

Scheidleman said she does not think it is specifically written down, but is “self evident” by the rights that are protected in the Human Rights Clause of NIU’s constitution.