Last August, Joe and Mary Mahoney began looking at colleges for their 17-year-old daughter, Maureen. With a checklist of criteria in hand, the Dallas family looked around the country visiting half a dozen schools. They sought a university that offered the teenager's intended major, one located near a large city, and a campus where their daughter would be safe.
" The safety issue is a big one," says Joe Mahoney, who quickly discovered he wasn't alone in his worries. On campus tours other parents voiced similar concerns, and the same question was always asked: what about crime? But when college officials always gave the same answer-" That's not a problem here." -Mahoney began to feel uneasy.
"No crime whatsoever?" comments Mahoney today. " I just don't buy it." Nor should he: in 1999 the U.S. Department of Education had reports of nearly 400, 000 serious crimes on or around our campuses. " Parents need to understand that times have changed since they went to college," says David Nichols, author of Creating a Safe Campus. " Campus crime mirrors the rest of the nation."
But getting accurate information isn't easy. Colleges must report crime statistics ( 统计数字) by law, but some hold back for fear of bad publicity, leaving the honest ones looking dangerous. " The truth may not always be obvious," warns S. Daniel Carter of Security on Campus, Inc, the nation's leading campus safety watchdog group.

To help concerned parents, Carter promised to visit campuses and talk to experts around the country to find out major crimes issues and effective solutions.
56. The Mahoneys visited quite a few colleges last August _______ .
A. to express the opinions of many parents