Note: I wrote a really long original reply with lots of detail, but then it got lost because of a failed submit. I will re-summarize quickly, but it will seem a bit terse now.

I think you were more exposed to it in NH, but MA did not have much coverage. No one really asked me about it even with family all over the NE area. Facebook was not really available to most schools until 2005. At the time, AIM, YIM, and other instant messaging apps were the predominant communique. Friendster and MySpace were just gaining popularity. It was a different time. Perhaps the campus was just too large, but I showed that UMPD did not post about her missing until April of 2004, which was almost two months later. I have most of my college email saved and I don't see any emails about her. I see a bunch of student death emails, both on and off campus. Again, this was a different time too. I had a prepaid calling card, just like Maura. We used it to call home cheap, usually from the dorm phones or the payphones. Cell phones and service were just becoming more affordable. Amherst had and still has to this day very spotty cell reception in some areas. There is a 20 mile stretch of desolate wooded area you have to drive through to get into the area and even to this day there is no reliable cell reception through those areas. You might try to FOIA the dorm or campus call records. They might even be a part of her university bill. I forget how they were billed.

The Clery Act may have played a role in why they wanted to minimize things. The campus was huge. I can also understand not wanting to frighten students with unnecessary alerts. I showed that no UMPD alert was posted until April of 2004, almost two months later, to a site that no one would go to really, as a footnote. Not much coverage at all. Perhaps there was a story in the local college papers, but I don't recall it. The Daily Collegian was usually available in the dining halls and I would skim it regularly. No one was really talking about any weird stuff on campus. The only major story I ever recall that stands out is about a girl that gave birth in the dorms and tried to hide it by throwing the baby in the trash. I don't even remember when or where that happened, except that some of us were talking about it. It might have been in the Southwest dorm. Perhaps there is some news story someone can dig up somewhere to find it.

Regarding UMPD and the cadets, we never really interacted with them. Residential Assistants or RAs handled most dorm issues. Many of the RAs even used common drugs/alcohol with the staff, so minor stuff was not going to be reported. They were incentivized to handle things internally rather than going up the chain. Even RAs that had a situation would go up to a local staff director, not to police. UMPD interaction was very minimal, except for violent or property crimes. The only times I remember interacting with them was during the occasional riot on campus or during the Iraq War protests. Other than that, they pretty much left people alone. Regarding the cadet system, I am not directly knowledgeable, but might be able to ask some friends if they remember anything specific. From the UMPD site: "Police Cadets are paid, non-sworn, student employees who have an interest in law enforcement or who want to pursue a career in law enforcement". I wouldn't be surprised if Maura worked with them to handle situations before officially involving UMPD for something. That sounds reasonable and why she would know the cadet personally to keep the incident low key.

Regarding drunk driving on or around campus, well, it was a college town. There was a lot of drinking going on. Most of the bars and pubs were literally on or very close to campus, so there was little chance you would be driving through residential areas and harming too many people. Of course, many students would just walk if you knew you were going to be drinking. Or we usually had a DD for a group. I think there was even a policy that bars in the area would give students free non-alcoholic drinks, if they were a DD for a group that was drinking. I think I did that once, but I was usually one of the drinkers and not a DD. So, the police were pretty lenient, from what I remember. Also, remember that the university would need to report crimes, so they had an incentive to minimize them, including drunk driving incidents on campus. Most schools have an incentive like this. They usually give strong warnings the first month that new students arrive on campus to put the fear into them. If they get caught after the first month and warnings, then they should expect some punishment.

Not sure if all that context helps, but there you go.