How safe are students at NDSU?
Six sex offenders attend classes or work at NDSU
When the kidnapping and murder of Dru Sjodin shook the community of Grand Forks, N.D., it reinforced the nation’s need for tighter security and better procedures.
The creation of a national sex offender database, having restrictions on school accessibility and national tracking are steps towards preventing another occurrence like the death of Sjodin.
Sjodin’s death in the neighboring community caused a ripple of fear through students.
“I was definitely more cautious after I heard about what happened to Dru,” Kayla Skunberg, a junior child and family development major, said.
Dru’s Law is part of the larger Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act which requires sex offenders to update information on where they live, work and attend school more frequently.
It also requires sex offenders to verify their information every three, six and 12 months, depending on the severity of the offense.
Two assaults took place at NDSU last semester.
One happened on Aug. 29 at 4:50 p.m. when a female student was grabbed from behind in RF-lot.
The second assault took place in T-lot at 11:30 p.m. Sept. 25 when a female student was sexually assaulted and robbed by an unknown male.
“We encourage people to call with any suspicious activity, no matter how little it may seem,” University Police Captain William MacDonald said.
Any registered sex offender who is attending or employed at NDSU is required to register with the University Police Office.
“This list of sex offenders is available to the public,” MacDonald said.
There are six registered sex offenders who are employed or attend NDSU.
A level three (high risk) registered sex offender will be released from Cass County Jail Tuesday, Feb. 6 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. throughout the week to find employment and housing in Fargo, N.D.
The offender was convicted of gross sexual imposition in Cass County in 2000 and the victim was a female under the age of fifteen.
“I was surprised when I heard how many sex offenders were actually at NDSU,” BreeAnn Gronowski, junior in animal and range sciences, said. “I was a little uneasy when I realized how close they live to me.”
Roosevelt Elementary School has prevented registered sex offenders from entering school property without permission of the school board.
“Families want assurance that their children are safe at school,” Sen. Tim Mathern (D-11 Fargo).
Tracking sexual offenders is an idea proposed by Sen. Larry Robinson (D-Valley City).
Ten computerized sexual offender registration sites, or “kiosks,” would be established around the state.
“There are over 1,100 sexual predators in the state, 154 of which are classified as high risk, ” said Robinson. “Needless to say, we have serious challenges trying to 'track' these individuals.”
To see a list of sex offenders employed in or attending NDSU, visit the University Police Office at 1801 15th Ave. N.
To search for sex offenders in the Fargo-Moorhead area visit www.sexoffender.nd.gov.
Violations have nearly doubled since 2005-06
Recent statistics show university police are cracking down on students.
Traffic violations, speeding tickets and DUI arrests nearly doubled from 2005-06.
“Safety is always a concern to us,” University Police Captain William MacDonald said. “It’s for the students’ benefit.”
Students, however, don’t always agree with authority figures.
“I think they should try leaving students alone more,” said Cody Panasuk, junior majoring in construction management.
Tyler Stiefel, sophomore in business administration, added that they could find better things to do than issue more and more speeding tickets.
Students have tried to understand why the increase in enforcement is occurring.
“It doesn’t seem like there ever was a huge threat on campus to start with,” Kevin Buxa, a freshman agricultural economics major, said. “The crackdown on students could possibly be from complaints from other people.”
Some students manage to escape the enforcement.
“I speed all the time on campus, and I’ve never gotten in trouble,” said Jessie Koepplin, a senior accounting major.
Last August, what is known as the “power shift” initiated the crackdown, taking place before the Johnny Holm dance on the first day of classes.
Fargo officers wrote 33 citations in four hours—13 for minors consuming alcohol, 11 for consuming alcohol in public and nine for urinating in public.
Two people were also arrested for resisting a police officer after trying to flee from officers. Six campus officers and Cass County deputies worked in the inside of the event while four circulated outside the Bison Sports arena on bicycle.
University Police Station received a grant to help enforce MIP, public consumption violations in August 2005.
Although students feel a bit frustrated with the high increase in traffic violations and speeding tickets, they support the increase in DUI arrests.
“More DUI arrests are always a good thing,” said Koepplin.
More than 80 people have been arrested for DUI at 21 checkpoints in Fargo since 2004, Sergeant Michael Bernier of the Fargo Police Department said.
In 2004, 16,694 people died in alcohol-related crashes —57 percent were killed when the driver had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 g/dL or higher.
The legal limit for BAC is currently .08 in all states in the US.
At this rate a person will die from an alcohol-related crash every 31 minutes.
2005—Traffic Violations Warned: 659 2006—Warned:
1023
Traffic
Violations Cited: 267 Cited:
339
Speeding
Tickets Warned: 244 Warned:
420
Speeding
Tickets Cited: 126 Cited:
227
DUI arrests:
26 DUI
arrests: 38