Rising assaults bring few changes

Student-driven assault cases are on the rise, but the Division of Public Safety is - for the most part - sticking to its current crime-fighting tactics.

Officials have, however, put some pressure on area bar owners, and they say that more police officers may be dispatched to closely monitor large on- and off-campus parties.

There have been 25 aggravated assaults in the campus area so far this year, compared to 12 in the same period in 2005 and eight in 2004.

DPS officials also say that a greater number of students have been admitted to the hospital this year for intoxication but would not give exact figures.

Patrol Capt. Joseph Fischer recently called a meeting for bar owners in University City in light of September and October's high assault rates.

"We felt it was important to remind [bar owners] of their obligations - not serving intoxicated patrons, vigilantly checking identification . and general liquor-control enforcement," Fischer said.

Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush said the primary objective of keeping a closer eye on parties would be to ensure that students returned home safely after parties break up.

"It's aggravating to us," Rush said. "We work to protect students from perpetrators, and now we have to defend students from each other."

Additionally, Rush said police officers have responded to a number of cases that did not end in arrests, but required police officers to intervene when intoxicated students were acting belligerently on the street.

While Rush said some of the surge is violence seeping into the community from retail establishments, such as the 40th Street McDonald's, a majority of the rising numbers are the result of student-on-student assault.

According to a representative from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, nearly 700,000 undergraduates and graduate students are attacked by a fellow drunken student each year.

Despite these figures, universities across the country have been unable to slow the increasingly endemic alcohol abuse on college campuses, she said.

DPS officials agreed, saying that intoxicated students often show a dangerous lack of inhibition. Rush cited a recent incident in which a drunk undergraduate verbally assaulted and attacked several uniformed police officers and was arrested for disorderly conduct. She would not comment further on the case, or say when it occurred.

Students are also noticing the trend.

Wharton sophomore James Riley said he often sees drunk students fighting around 40th Street and Baltimore Avenue and has also seen "antagonistic" students crowded around 37th and Spruce streets.

"Drinking definitely makes people more prone to violence, since some people tend to have more aggression when their inhibitions are lower," Riley said. "People who are being antagonized should just walk away because all they want to do is rile them up and have an excuse to" fight.

Still, the police insist that they cannot be held responsible for baby-sitting students.

"We're not a social service agency; we're law enforcement," said DPS spokeswoman Karima Zedan. "We can't stop people from consuming alcohol and we can't stop . a lack of maturity in . students discovering independence."

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