The Clery Crime Report indicates on campus liquor law violations have increased. 

There was an increase of 31 referrals between 2011 and 2012, going from 72 referrals to 103 referrals, according to the Clery Crime Report released by the UNA Police Department.

Violations increased by nine referrals between 2010 and 2011, going from 63 referrals to 72 referrals, according to the report.

A liquor law violation at UNA consists of the use, possession or distribution of alcohol by any student under 21, said Assistant Director of Residence Life RJ Chittams. 

 “I think it’s kind of the norm,” said Bob Pastula, UNA police chief. “I think we’re under (the) norm. I think (liquor law violation) happens more at other places than it does here.”

On campus liquor law violations can be violations that have taken place on campus property, such as at the intramural or the football fields, Pastula said.

“If you go to a campus and you have zero liquor law violations, I would scrutinize their entire records because I’ve never seen a campus with a zero,” said Vice President of Student Affairs David Shields. “I’d like to see (the crime numbers) all be zeros, but I guess that’s an unrealistic thing.”

Higher numbers in crime reports sometimes indicate policing efforts have improved, Shields said.

While on campus liquor law violations have been increasing, violations within campus housing have not correlated with referrals for on campus violations, according to the report. There were 27 liquor law violation referrals in campus housing in 2010. The referrals increased to 29 referrals in 2011. Liquor law violations in campus housing went down by four referrals, going from 29 referrals to 25 referrals, in 2012, according to the report.

The residence life staff follows the university’s policy for alcohol use in on campus housing, Chittams said.

“The way the numbers are broken is not individual instances but students involved,” Chittams said. “So, where for 2012 you see 25 reported liquor law violations, that could  — and, again, this is speculation and this is just explaining how the numbers work — but there could be one situation where there are 10 people present. So for Clery numbers, that equals 10.”

Chittams said he has been employed at three other universities before being employed at UNA. UNA has had the lowest number of liquor law violations in campus housing of any university he has ever been employed by, he said.

Student Katie Lindsay said alcohol rules at UNA are reasonable. 

“I feel that the alcohol rules are reasonable because (residence life officials) follow the federal laws,” Lindsay said. “If you’re under 21, you shouldn’t be in possession of alcohol according to federal law, so it makes sense that you aren’t 

allowed to have it in your dorm room at that age.”

UNA student Adrienne Mechaw said she feels neutral about liquor laws.

“I don’t drink personally, so it doesn’t affect me,” Mechaw said. “Other people can do what they want. I’m kind of neutral about the alcohol rules on campus.”

UNA does a good job of being proactive and educating students about alcohol, Chittams said.

“I’m proud of how UNA educates students in response to those issues, but I’m also proud in our student body and how students at UNA approach alcohol,” Chittams said. “It is something that I’ve honestly never seen before.”

Editor’s note: News Editor Pace Holdbrooks contributed to the reporting of this story.