Trends of physical violence and harrassment at NIU are on the upswing with stress and alcohol as leading factors, NIU Judicial Office Director Larry Bolles said.

“Students are under stress all day at classes so they go out and get drunk to relieve their frustrations, and they take it out on other students,” Bolles said.

He cited incidents of students beating up their friends and fighting over a radio after coming back from a day of work.

He said, “They (students) go through a hard day at work and come home saying, ‘this is it, I’m not taking anymore.’ Then they blow up over anything.”

Bolles said he handles physical violence cases about three to five times a week. “Rage used to be name-calling—now it’s physical violence,” he said.

Brawling, fighting between two groups of people, has become so common, the judicial office has separated it from the physical abuse category.

Bolles said an example of brawling would be two groups of friends coming back from the bars and getting into a fight.

Other cases rising in number are sexual and racial related incidents. Bolles said he believes sexual harassment and racial discrimination are not necessarily increasing in number but are being reported more often.

Bolles said seven sexual-related cases and seven racial-related cases went through the judicial system last semester.

“Out of the 10 years I’ve been here, I have seen meaner things happening (this year),” he said. The actions of the violations regarding racism and sexual harassment have increased, he said.

Male freshman hold the highest count for committing offenses, Bolles said. He said this always has been a trend. “The towers (Grant and Stevenson residence halls) seem to have a high number (of reports) because the students tend to be livlier there,” he said.

He said freshman offenses are reported more than other students because often it is their first time away from home and they learn the rules as they go.