Amberwood
Continued from Page 1
through a door accidentally left open
or unlocked.
Residents still nervous
Desiree Hajj, an 18-year-old UNL
freshman biological sciences major,
said she moved into her apartment the
week McMenamin was murdered.
She was so nervous, she said, that
she asked a friend to stay with her and
her 16-year-old sister for a few weeks
after the murder.
Hajj said she was concerned about
her safety because she lived only with
her younger sister.
“I’d like them to do something,”
Hajj said. “It might cost more, but it
would be safer.”
Brigette Weier, who has lived in
the complex for almost nine months,
said that after the murder she was
scared and requested the management
install a deadbolt lock on her door.
Now she feels more'comfortable,
but she still keeps an eye on unfamiliar
people in her building.
“I’m very suspicious, even six
months later,” Weier said.
She said she hadn’t seen any addi
tions in security since the management
took over, only re-roofing and pink
and blue flags scattered throughout the
complex.
“Everything V ve seen has been cos
metic,” Weier said. “The management,
as far as security, has not addressed it
at all.”
Although management changed the
locks to each apartment, Weier said
she didn’t think that security improved
much because people could break into
an apartment whether the lock was old
or new.
The apartment units now have
deadbolt locks on every door. Not all
doorknobs have locks, but tenants are
free to install their own.
Bob Fiedler, a Lincoln fire investi
gator, said apartment tenants were lim
ited to two locks on their doors for a
auick escape during a fire or other
isaster. A lock is any device that
requires special knowledge, such as a
code, or a special device, such as a key
or wrench, to open.
Weier said she felt safer than most
tenants because she lived with her hus
band and her apartment was on the
third floor.
But, she said, she thought younger
people living alone in the complex
would be concerned for their safety.
Weier said she would like to see
additional security, such as access con
trolled locks, because she is pregnant
and fears for her child’s safety.
Katherine Miles, a UNL agronomy
graduate student, said when she moved
in a year and a half ago, she was
surprised to see that the outside doors
“Everything Eve seen has
been cosmetic. The
management, as far as
security, has not
addressed it at all. ”
BRIQETTE WEIER
Amberwood resident
of the apartment didn’t lock.
Miles moved into apartments ex
pecting to get an extra door between
her and the outside, she said.
The apartment units are accessed
through common hallways, which can
be entered from the outside through
unlocked doors 24 hours a day.
Miles said she was disturbed that
anybody could freely flow in and out
of her building. She said she was more
concerned after the murder.
“I was angry about the lack of secu
rity,” Miles said.
She said she now thought the build
ings should have more security.
“The locked doors I think are the
biggest thing,” Miles said.
She said she understood that entry
systems such as electric locks with
intercoms could be expensive and raise
rent. But having locks on the four
outside doors of each building didn’t
seem expensive, Miles said.
Miles said she also was concerned
about the new management’s method
for changing the locks on the doors of
each apartment unit.
When Miles returned from winter
break, she found a locksmith changing
the lock on her apartment door, she
said. He told her to get her new key in
the complex office.
When she went for her key, the
attendant in the office asked only her
apartment number before giving her
the new key, Miles said.
“That was kind of strange,” Miles
said.
Anyone who knew her apartment
number could have gotten the new key
because no one asked for identifica
tion or even a name, she said.
Other complexes
Some apartments in Lincoln keep
buildings secure through controlled
entry systems or security services.
Nancy Akins, a manager at Meadow
Wood apartments,
Seventh and Superior streets, said ten
ants were given a key that unlocked the
doors to the building.
Meadow Wood also has windows
outside that prevent access even when
opened,she said.
The Z-window design uses three
panes of glass that let air in and keep
intruders out. When one pane is slid
over, another remains in place in front
of it so air blows in between the two.
Tl\e management also publishes a
monthly newsletter with security tips
and has a 24-hour phone line tenants
can call if they see anything suspi
cious, she said.
Sarah Siefkes, complex manager
for Claremont Park Apartments, 1341
N. Ninth St., said its parking lot^are
patrolled by Metropolitan Protection
, Service at nights and weekends. All
tenants are given a phone number for
MPS to report any disturbances or
suspicious activity.
Trade Wenzel, property manager
for Chateau Development, 1025 N.
63rd St., said the complex had locks
on patio doors and windows and a
well-lit parking area.
The complex does not have con
trolled access, she said.
Bill Rohren, senior account agent
for Allstate Insurance, said apartment
complex owners could get reduced
premiums for having security mea
sures in their buildings.
Allstate reduces apartment insur
ance premiums by approximately 5
percent if the buildings have both
deadbolt locks and fire extinguishers,
Rohren said.
An electric security system would
take about 10 percent off premiums,
he said.
The company would evaluate any
other security systems and offer a dis
count appropriate to the complexity of
the system, Rohren said.
Improving security
Vicki Whitehom, Amberwood
complex manager, said management
had ideas for improving security, but
wouldn’t explain them.
“I’m not at liberty to go into those
right now,” Whitehom said.
John Eifler, an Elkor regional di
rector in charge of Amberwood, said
the complex was adding extra lighting
to the complex.
Incandescent lights will be replaced
with'brighter fluorescent lights in all
the exterior fixtures and 12 to 24 lights
will be added outside, Eifler said.
As standard procedure for the cor
poration, the door locks for each apart
ment unit were replaced, Eifler said.
The replacement eliminated a mas
ler lock system with which a single
master key could open any door, he
said. The master key system was dan
gerous, Eifler said, because so many
copies are given to maintenance work
ers and apartment staff.
Eifler said the new management
would add any other security needed
in the complex.
“We’re continually evaluating se
curity needs,” he said.
Eifler said Amberwood manage
ment was considering controlled ac
cess entry but had not decided for sure.
“I can tell you it’s being looked into
for cost benefit and to examine secu
rity effectiveness,” he said.
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Daily Nebraskan
Worship Section ]
BELIEVERS
FELLOWSHIP
BRINGS FROM WAR TORN St. Mark's On The Campus
MACEDONIA (Episcopal) 13th & R
Tommie Neumann & Ash Wednesday Services: Feb. 21
o3.cn3 v uietic
11:45am and 5:15pm
ebruary 25th Holy Communion and Imposition of Ashes
am an pm Sunday Eucharist-Sundays, 8:30 & 10:30a.m./5p.m.
Youth Complex Building The Episcopal Church Welcomes You!
State Fairgrounds
464-2162
Bomb explodes in
double-decker bus
LONDON (AP) — An explo
sion tore through a double-decker
bus in central London on Sunday
night, injuring at least eight people
and showering the street with shards
of glass and twisted metal.
There was no immediate claim
of responsibility, but suspicion im
mediately fell on the Irish Republi
can Army, which broke its 17-month
cease-fire on Feb. 9 with a truck
bomb that devastated the Docklands
business center, killing two people
and wounding scores.
A second bomb was defused in
London’s theater district last week.
The IRA said it had planted that
device.
Police said they had received no
warning before Sunday night’s
blast. In the early hours Monday,
police could not confirm the explo
sion was caused by a bomb.
Ambulances and five fire en
gines rushed to the Aldwych area of
central London Sunday night, emer
gency services officials said, after
the explosion on Wellington Street
near the Strand at 10:38 p.m. (5:38
p.m. EST)» Scotland Yard con
firmed eight injured, four seriously,
and a number of “walking
wounded.”
“I was walking down the road
and I saw a big white flash in the
sky,” eyewitness Anthony Yates
said. “I looked and then I saw a
double-decker bus but there was
nothing left of it, it was completely
blown to pieces.”
The bus, on a scheduled route,
exploded outside the Waldorf Ho
tel near Covent Garden, an area that
would have been filled with
theatergoers on any other night but
Sunday, when most London stages
are dark.
Several hours before the blast,
Gerry Adams, leader of the IRA
allied Sinn Fein party, appealed for
talks with British Prime Minister
John Major.
“At this very dangerous and this
very risky phase of our struggle we
offer the hand of friendship to John
Major. We say to John Major,' Pull
back from the abyss’,” Adams told
about 1,500 supporters in Catholic
west Belfast.
“Don’t see our hand of friend
ship as a sign of weakness,” he said.
“It is a sign of strength.”
Adams maintains that the IRA
decision to end its 17-month cease
fire came as a surprise to him. But
like the IRA, he blames Major for
not moving the peace process
quickly enough.
:i
Two killed in jet crash
of Navy ‘Tomcat’ fighter
SAN DIEGO (AP) — An F-14D
“Tomcat” Fighter jet crashed into the
Pacific Ocean during routine flight
exercises off the Southern California
coast Sunday, killing the two crew
members, a Navy official said.
The jet was part of the Fighter
Squadron 1 i , which was takingpart in
a two-week operation with the USS
Carl V inson, said Doug Sayers, spokes
man for Miramar Naval Air Station in
San Diego.
The crash happened about 120 miles
off the coast, he said. The circum
stances of the 12:30 pjo. crash were
not immediately known.
Sunday’s crash was the 31st in
vohving an F-14 jet since 1991.
Last month, a Navy F-14 returning
home to Miramar slammed into a Nash
ville, Tenn., neighborhood shortly af
ter takeoff. Two crew members and
three people on the ground were killed
in the Jan. 29 crash.
The commander of that squadron,
Fred Kilian, has been relieved of his
command because of its poor safety
record. Fighter Squadron 213 only re
gained its flight status Wednesday fol
lowing a safety stand-down. 4
On Friday, Marine Capt. Ronald C.
Walkerwicz was killed in a training
accident in eastern North Carolina.
The pilot, who was flying an AV-8B
Harrier jump-jet, was buried Sunday.
All You Care To Eat
Original Sauce Spaghetti <&. Two
Slices Garlic Cheese Bread
Offer good for Lunch or Dinner
Mon., Tues., & Wed. only. Must
H present coupon when ordering.
Not valid with any other coupon.
^^b Expires February 28, 1996
■ 228 N. 12th St • Lincoln
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