NIU to host seminar on fallout from VTech shooting

Northern Illinois University will be the location this June of a seminar on campus crime, just months after a former student opened fire in a classroom on Valentine's Day, killing five students and then himself.But an official from the group presenting the seminar said the location is a coincidence and was chosen before the shootings.

After Feb. 14, "the registration did slow down," said Catherine Bath, vice president of Security on Campus. "I would hope that [people] would be more likely to come."

About 40 people have signed up, she said, and 100 to 200 could attend. The seminar is designed for college staff, legal counsel, other professionals and victims' advocates.

Security on Campus, based in Pennsylvania, is a nonprofit organization founded by the parents of Jeanne Clery, a Lehigh University student who was raped and murdered in her dormitory in 1986.

Under a federal law passed in 1990 that was later renamed after Clery, colleges and universities are required to publish selected crime data annually and alert the campus community about ongoing threats and how to seek help if a crime occurs.

The NIU seminar will discuss legislation proposed in Congress in response to the shootings at Virginia Tech last year in which a student killed 32 people and himself, Bath said.

"Schools are going to be required to have a security plan in place," and give a warning within 30 minutes in the event of an emergency, she said.

However, the seminar, one of five nationwide this year, will cover all crime that needs to be brought to students' attention.

Data reported under the Clery Act show that NIU's 25,313 students are much more likely to be the victim of a rape or burglary on campus than they are to be murdered. Sexual assault, burglary, aggravated assault, robbery and theft were the most common crimes reported from 2004 to 2006, according to figures the school supplied to the federal Department of Education.

"On campus, the worst crime would probably be theft," said Lee Blank, 23, an NIU student and reporter for the Northern Star. He added that sexual assaults will likely be underreported, "no matter what."

NIU reported 10 forcible sexual offenses on campus in 2004, eight in 2005 and six in 2006. Most occurred in residence halls. There were 60 burglaries in 2004, 66 in 2005 and 44 in 2006. Aggravated assaults jumped from zero in 2004 and 2005 to eight in 2006. Robberies doubled from two in 2004 to four in 2005 but stayed steady in 2006.

During this time period, NIU reported no instances of murder or negligent manslaughter. Nationwide, an FBI survey of about 550 colleges in 2005 found five reported cases of murder or manslaughter. Also, no incidents at NIU were classified as hate crimes.

Statistics showed only one arrest at NIU for on-campus illegal weapons possession in 2006. But there were three disciplinary actions for this category in 2004 and 2006, with none in 2005. (NIU does not allow students to have weapons in campus residences and requires they be kept in the University Security Office with permission.)

However, off-campus crimes, particularly muggings, are a problem, Blank said. Those incidents are handled by DeKalb police.

NIU's police chief and security officer were unavailable for comment Tuesday.