Campus crimes around the country are on the rise.The U.S. Department of Education recently reported that serious crimes were on the rise for the nation’s 6,300 college campuses. Campus crimes across the nation had risen from 1998 to 1999.Richard Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education under the Clinton administration, prepared a report for Congress Jan. 18, according to University Wire. The report informed students and parents of prospective students about the potential dangers on college campuses.The report also was intended to convince colleges of the need to make changes in the training of officers and to reinforce the need for better technology, better lighting, electronic locks and better policing.Gene Deisinger, manager of special operations for the Department of Public Safety, said all of these components are given close attention at Iowa State.”We try to provide easy access for students to places they need to be and not-so-easy access to places they shouldn’t be,” Deisinger said.He also said it is important to monitor lighting on campus in order to discourage criminal acts.Chuck Cychosz, manager of crime prevention, research and training for DPS, said crime rates at Iowa State have been fairly steady.”In general, the types of crime change from year to year,” Cychosz said.Cychosz said Iowa State has followed the national downward trend in aggravated assaults.However, the sexual assaults on campus were up in 1999, he said. This may have been due to an increase in the number of reports and not because more people were sexually assaulted than in previous years.According to a recent U.S. Department of Justice report, almost 3 percent of college women will experience rape or attempted rape each academic year.The Story County Sexual Assault Response Team, which has members from DPS, deals with sexual assault on campus. Cychosz said SART’s efforts may have contributed to the number of reports made.”We have put extra resources into trying to identify the crimes and encourage people to come forward,” Cychosz said.The national report from the Department of Education also showed an increase in drinking-related incidents, reporting that American universities are struggling with binge drinking.Iowa State is also dealing with binge drinking, Deisinger said, and DPS responds to a number of incidents related to drinking.”Iowa State does struggle with binge drinking — however, not any more than any other school does,” he said. Deisinger said there is also a direct correlation between alcohol and violence. This is a major issue concerning binge drinking on college campuses, according to the report from the Department of Education. While there is crime in the ISU and Ames community, Cychosz said Iowa State is a safe campus.”We work hard to keep Iowa State a safe community, and when put against a major municipal, we are a safe place,” he said.