1997_03 The Daily Collegian March 1997

              Men's basketball team
grabs Pacific Division title
  Page 6	
Bulldog Baseball team defeats
Antelopes in three-game series
  Page 6	
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Volume 107, No. 94
California State University, Fresno
ASI budget impasse may come to an end
By Derek Walter
The Daily Collegian
With a semester marked by bit¬
ter conflict fresh in their minds.
Associated Students, Inc. officials
may be coming closer to reaching
a deal on the unallocated $ 132.000.
"It's taken this long to get the
wounds healed," said Tommy
Monreal, ASI president.
"We're cautious, there's a know¬
ing distrust," said Gabriel Ciucur,
Board president pro-tempore
Monreal said he hoped to see a
proposal from Reality senators
early this week. He said this would
allow ample time to work through
any disagreements.
"We have to see what they agree
on," he said.
Last semester was marked by
sharp disagreements between both
sides, culminating with a shouting
match that ended the semester's fi¬
nal meeting. This semester's start
wasn't too friendly, either.
It looked as if the stalemate over
the administrative vice-president
slot would never end. It was tabled
until last Thursday when the board
appointed Brady Daniel.'Monreal's
choice, in exchange for two Real¬
ity senators.
Monreal said he was pleased
with the first sign of cooperation
between the independent president
and the Reality party-dominated
senate.
Monreal was disappointed, how¬
ever, with how far into the semes¬
ter the move took. Monreai ques¬
tioned how sincere Reality's ges¬
ture of cooperation was.
"They're looking forward to the
election," he said.
Another point of tension this
semester was Monreal's veto of a
budget proposal sponsored by
Senator Ron Brattain.
While negotiations over the cur¬
rent budget proposal continue,
many issues have to be negotiated
Please see ASI page 5.
Paul Martinez — The Daily Collegian
1
Utes hand Bulldogs
first loss in WAC season
By Tom Sepulveda
The Daily Collegian
Fresno State women's softball team
Head Coach Margie Wright probably
didn't think the second-ranked Bulldogs'
first loss would come in their WAC home
opener.
The Utah Utes. ranked 29th in the USA
Today/NSCA pre-season poll, pulled off
a major upset when it snatched the sec¬
ond game of the double header 5-3 in 12
innings yesterday at Bulldog Diamond.
"Our team is very good, and when
everybody's out to get you. you have to
be on the top of your game every single
game, you can't let down." Wright said.
"They got the hits when they needed '
them, and we didn't. It's that simple."
The hits the Utes got were huge. After
managing only two hits in a 4-0 loss in
the first game, Utah banged out 13 hits.
Please see SOFTBALL page 5.
Dept. of Ed. releases first
campus crime report;
critics question accuracy
By Colleen DeBaise
Colleen Press Sen'ice
WASHINGTON—For every 100.000 col¬
lege students. 65 were the^victims of a vio¬
lent crime in 1994, the Education Department
said in its first-ever survey on campus crime.
Broken down into categories, that means
nine students were raped out of every 100.000
students. 21 were robbed and 35 were as¬
saulted. Only one out of every I million stu¬
dents were murdered, the report said.
Also, 257 students out of 100.000 were
the victims of burglary or car theft.
The reports are required by the 1990 Stu¬
dent Right-to-Know and Campus Security
Act, which mandates that colleges and uni¬
versities receiving federal funds must dis¬
close campus crime statistics. However, crit¬
ics of the report say many campuses still
underreport crime on or near campuses and
that campus crime logs and disciplinary hear¬
ings remain closed.
The Education Department was required
to issue a report on campus crime statistics
by 1995. David A. Longanecker. assistant
secretary of education, told reporters that it
was 18 months late because "we simply
couldn't get started and completed by the
deadline."
The report indicated that crime rates were
higher at universities with on-campus hous¬
ing.
At colleges with on-campus housing, there
were 113 violent crimes per 100.000 students,
compared to 29 crimes for those without.
More than 10 percent of colleges failed to
publish crime reports; also. 16 percent failed
to use FBI or state crime definitions required
by the law.
But critics say the biggest problem with
the department's statistics is that they do not
paint a true picture of campus crime.
That's because the statistics don't include
incidents reported to officials other than the
police, such as counselors at rape crisis cen¬
ters and deans, says Security on Campus. Inc..
a non-profit watchdog group.
The group was founded in 1987 by
Howard and Connie Clery. whose daughter
Jeanne was raped. sodomizecLand murdered
in her dorm room at Lehigh University.
"Although these crimes are required to be
reported under the Campus Security Act. we
have found that a culture of nondisclosure
persists due in large part to an almost total
lack of enforcement by the U.S. Department
of Education." said S. Daniel Carter, the re¬
gional vice president of Security on Campus
In its report, the Education Department
acknowledged that other crimes may have
occurred on campus but were not reported to
local officials. "For example, forcible sex
offenses are widely considered to be vastly
unreported crimes, both in the community
and open campuses.'-' the report said.
Security on Campus argues that image-
conscious universities don't report crime sta¬
tistics because they fear loss of enrollment
or endowment.
"When crime information is withheld by
a school, their students are put at risk because
they can't make informed decisions about
security precautions." Carter said.
The group's president, Benjamin F Clery,
whose sister was murdered, says the report
is "an absolute flop, as far as the Department
of Education is concerned. They can't attest
to the accuracy of any of this."
Security on Campus has been the driving
force behind a congressional bill introduced
Feb. 12. the "Accuracy in Campus Crime
Reporting Act of 1997."
The bill would require universities to open
campus police logs and confidential, on-cam¬
pus disciplinary proceedings.
"University disciplinary boards are the
only closed courtrooms in America." said
Jennifer Markiewicz, former editor of Miami
University of Ohio's student newspaper
Markiewicz sued the university in 1996
when she was unable to obtain information
about criminal incidents being handled by
Miami's disciplinary board. The Ohio Su¬
preme Court heard arguments in January and
is expected to rule later this year.