Alcoholic beverages or other controlled substance violations were at a five-year high in the 1997-98 school year, according to the Annual Report of Student Conduct Violations released by the Dean of Students Office.

The past school year there were 121 reported violations, up from 70 in 1996-97.

“I think that number will go down in the next few years,” said Steph Klein, senior in hotel, restaurant and institution management. “With more of the fraternities pledging to go dry, the violations will probably decrease.”

Violations of city, state and federal laws also were at a five-year high in the 1997-98 school year, with 158 violations reported. There were only 87 violations reported in 1996-97.

In contrast, reports of assault were low, with nine violations last year, down from 18 in 1993-94.

Another category of violations that was low last year were off-campus violations. There were five violations reported, compared with 28 violations in 1995-96.

“I think the off-campus violations are low because mostly older students live off-campus,” said Vicki Larsen, senior in journalism and mass communication. “A lot of off-campus students are graduate students or older students who are probably more responsible.”

The report lists such violations as academic dishonesty, assault, off-campus violations, destruction of property/vandalism, failure to comply with residence hall rules and numerous other violations.

Grace Weigel, director of Judicial Affairs, said the department publishes the report annually to keep record of the violations.

“It’s really a record-keeping system,” Weigel said. “[The report] helps us know what is happening on campus.”

The report gives the past year’s violations and also presents data from the previous four school years for comparison.

Weigel said the records are kept in accordance with state and federal regulations. She said the department also keeps track of these statistics to watch out for trends that may occur.

“If we see any certain trends occurring, we keep a close eye on it and from that may implement a plan or program in order to control the situation,” Weigel said.

Other violations listed in the report are theft, forgery, harassment and hazing, bribery and extortion, fire safety violations, failure to comply with a judicial order and misuse of computers.

The total number of complaints received and investigated in 1997-98 was 492. This number is up from 360 in 1996-97.