Previously, schools were only required toreport crimes that happened on their campusesproper. Now, they must report any crime in a"reasonable geographic" area surrounding campus.
For example, Harvard would be obliged to reportlast week's mugging of a graduate student onBryant Street near the Divinity School, a crimehandled by the Cambridge Police Department.
The change in reporting will undoubtedlyincrease the number of robberies reported byHarvard.
Other Ivy League schools in urban areas moredangerous than Cambridge can expect a hugeincrease in crimes reported. According to theDaily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper of theUniversity of Pennsylvania (Penn), campus policereported only 10 percent of robberies to Pennstudents; the other 90 percent occurred in theenvirons of downtown Philadelphia.
Ironically, the portion of the law that Cartercalls his organization's "greatest success" willhave no affect on Harvard.
Federal law will soon mandate that allinstitutions of higher education maintain openpolice logs. Similar laws already exist inMassachusetts and at least six other states.
Board Plan
Although more about the number of students whogo before Harvard's Ad Board will become public,the tribunal's version of exemplary justice wouldseem to remain intact, at least for theforeseeable future.
Carter, long a critic of Harvard's system, saysthe school will not be required to disclose thedisposition of alcohol-related hearings, onlytheir occurrence.
Harvard bucks a national trend that isoutpacing congressional action, as more and moreschools nationwide are opening up their campuscourts.
Still, the law's most significant impact willbe on interested students, parents and applicants,who will have a more honest accounting of just howmany times students are victims of crime.
After Clinton's expected signature, theDepartment of Education (DOE) will write theregulations to match their congressional mandates,a process that could take at least a year.
And that may prove difficult. The DOE isalready overburdened with federal mandates and maynot have the money initially to enforce these newlaws.
There's no question, though, that Congress willscrutinize the safety of higher education moreclosely than ever before