The number of DUI arrests beyond campus borders has also increased recently, according to data from the State College Police Department.

Moerschbacher said the increase in liquor law arrests is due to a change of law. The officer only has to prove the person was under 21 years of age and consumed an alcoholic beverage within the department's jurisdiction.

Prior to the law change, the officer had to see the person drinking, he said.

He added that other offenses such as physical and sexual assaults often involve alcohol.

The report also indicates the number of sexual assaults both on and off campus has remained steady during the past three years. There were eight forcible rapes reported in 2001, but there were two in 2002.

Moerschbacher said variation in the number of incidents depends on the victim's decision to report a sexual assault.

"You still have a good number of victims," he said. "It's hard to tell if the reporting is going up and down or the incidents are going up and down."

Since the fall semester began, there have been more than five sexual assaults both on and off campus.

Jamie Cook (freshman-animal bioscience) said sexual assaults and rapes seem the most problematic on campus.

"So many people consume alcohol at parties and that has an effect on how they behave," she said.

Most students agree that sexual assault seems to be an issue at Penn State.

"Recently, it seems like more sexual assaults have been reported," Aaron Levitt (senior-economics and international business) said. "I can't explain why, but I've noticed it a lot in the newspaper."

Marielle Bevan (senior-psychology) said she believes many victims are afraid to report sexual assaults.

"I think it's the most frequent crime, but it's kind of behind closed doors," Bevan said. "It's more in a social context."

Penn State Police Services, University Health Services and Student Affairs compile Penn State's annual campus security report, said Don Reed, police services officer.

Reed said the university is required by federal law to provide students with the report's data under the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.

"If [students] read [the report], it makes them more aware of what's going on on-campus and maybe take a few precautions of their own," Reed said.

The Clery Act was instituted in 1990, four years after Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her Lehigh University dorm room.

Howard Clery, the victim's brother and executive director of Security on Campus Inc., said the annual security report is required to include campus crime statistics and all policy statements.

Schools can be fined $27,000 per violation for not complying with the act, Clery said.

"This is the result of a tragedy and the realization that campus crime was out of control," he said. "Schools are starting to make a lot of progress."

Moerschbacher said violent crimes are not an overwhelming concern right now.

The recent statistics report indicates that the number of offenses such as homicide and robbery have remained extremely low.

"When you look overall, we can say that University Park is a relatively safe place to be," Moerschbacher said. "We are not immune from those problems, but they don't occur in the numbers they do in other areas of Pennsylvania."