Right now, anyone could contact a local law enforcement agency and obtain a list of registered sex offenders in their community. A year from now, Northwestern students will be able to request the same information about their dormmates.

The U.S. Department of Justice added an amendment, the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act, to the Higher Education Act at the end of October. The new act forces states to obtain information about sex offenders on college campuses.

NU must now provide information in its annual security report to students and staff on how to find information about registered sex offenders who might be on campus. This change was effective Oct. 28, and NU must include the new disclosure in its reports due on Oct. 1, 2003.

Currently, sex offenders register with local police departments according to their permanent address, which the police then compile. Under the new subsection, any members of the college community with past offenses must register with the university police department, even if the students don’t live on campus, said Carol Williams, public service administrator with Illinois State Police.

Williams said the change will take time to implement because the new system requires training.

University Police officials said the law doesn’t completely solve the problem but will benefit the community.

“It’s a well-intended, good law that requires the offender do what they are supposed to,” said Lt. Glenn Turner of UP.

Turner said offenders’ responsibility to register is a weakness of the system because the public is not aware of crimes unless offenders report them. The only way police departments can charge sex offenders who do not register is if the criminal is caught for another crime.

Offenders currently register through Evanston Police Department. UP receives the city’s records every month to update the list. A current listing of registered sex offenders is available at samnet.isp.state.il.us/ispso2/sex_offenders/index.asp or at UP communications center, 1819 Hinman Ave.

The new law also requires universities to tell the campus community where people can obtain information identifying registered sex offenders who are enrolled or employed at the institution. However, it does not require the university to gather information or make inquiries.

Turner stressed the importance of publicizing sex-offender information as an exception to student privacy rights.

“It’s most important for people to be aware of where they can locate sex offender information,” Turner said. “Almost every state has an online listing.”

Other university members said NU does make this information available to the public.

“If anyone calls we make that information available,” said Renee Redd, director of the Women’s Center. “A lot of this has to do with changes in universities across the country as result of previous legislation.”

Both Turner and Redd suggested most sex offenders are older than college age.

“It’s rare we get a student who has been a sex offender, and I’ve never seen a professor registered,” said Turner, who added that the only staff registered for sex offenses have been food services employees with convictions from many years ago.

One concern is not with the sex offenders themselves but with public response, he said.

“Some problems with retaliatory action exist,” Turner said. “From a law point of view, we don’t want that either.”

This new law is similar to Megan’s Law passed in New Jersey in 1994. The state took the lead in requiring sex offenses committed against children to be reported to local police. This was the result of an 7-year-old girl’s rape and murder in 1994 by a paroled sex offender who had moved into her neighborhood. The law’s intention is to make residents aware of the offenders.

“Sex offenders have high instances of recidivism,” said Turner, who added that Illinois law requires that people register for 10 years.

Women’s Coalition President Nell Haynes said she didn’t think the law would decrease crimes but would increase awareness.

“The awareness of surroundings and potential situations is necessary for self-defense,” said Haynes, a Communication senior.

She said the university does a good job of making statistics available without “shoving them down your throat.”