
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 16, 1993                   TAG: 9312160169
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: FAIRFAX                                LENGTH: Medium

NONSTUDENT MOVES IN, IS ARRESTED

George Mason University mistakenly allowed a man who is not a student to move onto campus, where he allegedly harassed women, a school spokesman said.

Michael G. Sitzmann, 23, was arrested Monday night after a woman filed a complaint against him, campus police said.

Daniel Walsch, a university spokesman, said the school made an error when it admitted Sitzmann to on-campus housing.

Sitzmann posed as a Northern Virginia Community College student, which would make him eligible for GMU housing under an agreement between the two schools, Walsch said.

"We took him in without a chance to really confirm" his student status, Walsch said. "Ordinarily, we do. The safety of our students is a top priority."

The spokesman said Sitzmann registered at GMU on Dec. 6 after telling housing officials he was desperate for a room and knew about the housing exchange with the community college.

Because the exchange program is advertised only to students at the two schools, Walsch said housing officials assumed Sitzmann was a student.

"Then we received several complaints over a short period of time from women who said he was harassing them," Walsch said. "We checked him out, found he was not taking classes here or at Nova."

Walsch said women reported that Sitzmann was following them around campus and attempting to initiate conversation.

"Everything culminated when he did, in fact, grab a female student's arm," Walsch said.

Campus police charged Sitzmann with simple assault, a misdemeanor. He was released from the county jail Tuesday on $500 bond. A trial has been set for Jan. 11.

by CNB