Officials discuss last spring’s crimes

By Tammy Sholer

Although some students are believed to have “beaten the system,” judicial reviews for the 115 students charged with improper registration last spring still are being held through NIU’s Judicial Office.

Judicial Office Director Larry Bolles said he does not believe every student who improperly registered was caught. He said of the thousands of students whose records were looked at, 115 students were charged.

Each student found guilty received deferred expulsion and disciplinary probation for two years or until graduation, he said.

Bolles said students also received a combination of the following sanctions: stiff work assignments, loss of credit for all or part of last spring’s semester, or reimbursement of financial aid which was borrowed from either federal or state funds.

“Students (on the judicial board) were much tougher than faculty when it came to sanctions,” he said.

Thirty students pleaded guilty and accepted their sanctions while 44 students pleaded guilty and appealed their sanctions claiming they were too severe, Bolles said.

He said that after the appeal some students’ sanctions were lessened, and other students had to keep the original sanctions. He said 24 of the cases were dismissed for lack of evidence.

The judicial board still is hearing the cases, he said, and is trying to be fair and is attempting to use its best judgment with each case.

Other cases the judicial office processed last spring included two acts of racial discrimination and sexual harassment. No one was suspended or expelled from NIU for either offense, Bolles said.

He said the racial discrimination contained mainly verbal abuse and the offender was not necessarily an NIU student.

Verbal and physical violations are connected with sexual harrassment, Bolles said.

University Police Lt. Ron Williams said that between July 1, 1987 and June 29, 1988 there were five reports of sexual assault and 16 reports to the UPs of sexual offenses on campus.

Bolles said alcohol-related violations last spring totaled 263 for residence hall incidents. He said, “90 percent of violations (on campus) come from the dorms.”

Williams said traffic violations involving alcohol totaled 18, while 295 cases of theft and 210 of vandalism were reported.

Freshmen committed most of the 745 violations last spring followed by sophomores, juniors, seniors and graduate students, Bolles said. The majority of the crimes are committed by caucasion males, he said.

The City of DeKalb Police Department’s annual report states theft has the highest number of cases for the city with 182 incidents in 1987.