Greeks’ rates rise
LEXINGTON, Ky. (U-WIRE) - ;
For social fraternities, parties could i
cost more than a vicious hangover. 1
Because of an increasing number of i
lawsuits nationwide, insurance
companies are cracking down on
the greeks by charging higher pre
miums for liability insurance.
Companies like Lloyd’s of
London, which insures the Lambda
Chi Alpha fraternity at the
University of Kentucky, are now
looking more closely at past behav
iors and problems of the chapters it
insures.
“For the first time, the fraterni
ties are seeing the light,” said Joel
Epstein, consulting attorney at the
Higher Education Center for
Alcohol and Other Drug
Prevention. “The companies are
saying, ‘You have to learn to man
age the risk.’”
This risk of injury has not
always been well managed, Epstein
said. At the University of Idaho in
1993, 18-year-old Alpha Phi social
sorority member Regena Coghlan
was left paralyzed after falling
from a balcony. She had been at two
fraternity parties before that fall,
one that was titled “50 Ways to
Lose Your Liver.”
One school, Bowdoin College,
in Maine, has proposed that its
»reek system be expelled by 2000,
and the National Fraternity
Conference is trying to get 800
:hapters to go alcohol free by that
/ear, Epstein said.
The liability insurance covers “a
slip, a fall, some type of accident
;hat occurs within the premises of
ihe fraternity,” said Tony Hayden,
president of the Interfraternity
Council and a member of Sigma Nu
social fraternity.
According to a 1991 risk man
agement report from Phi Gamma
Delta International, if a fraternity
member knowingly violates the
law, i.e. serves alcohol to minors,
;tc., and a claim is filed as a result
nf an accident, the insurance com
pany may not have to pay.
Most claims filed against frater
nities result from fights or falls
from high places, according to the
spring 1997 edition of Knightly
News, published by Sigma Nu. The
lowest number of claims are filed
for hazing incidents.
Several national fraternities
have taken steps toward making
their member chapters substance
free to avoid skyrocketing premi
ums.
According to Fraternal Law, a
publication from the Manley,
Burke, Lipton and Cook law firm,
_
fraternities are the sixth riskiest to
insure, ranking behind hazardous
waste disposal companies and
ahead of engineers, doctors and
lawyers.
In 1987, fraternities and sorori
ties formed the Fraternity
Insurance Purchasing Group, a
nationwide group to which a major
ity of Greeks belong, Hayden said.
In the first three years the group
existed, member fraternities and
sororities developed a loss-premi
um ratio so high that insurance
companies were losing 26 cents for
every dollar they paid out for
claims, Hayden said.
Almost all chapters at UK
belong to this insurance group,
with the exception of about four or
five. For those four or five that
don’t, their nationals have institut
ed a policy similar to the
Purchasing Group’s, Hayden said.
Ultimately, chapters may have
to do away with alcohol if for no
other reason than to keep from
going bankrupt, he said.
“Either go dry and (pay lower
premiums),” Hayden said, “or stay
wet and (companies) are going to
hike them up so high that only the
biggest, richest chapters will be
able to afford them.”
Saigon festival
honors Vietnam
Traditional food, drama featured ]
By Lindsey Deardorff
Staff Reporter
Students who want to simulate
overseas travel can find Saigon,
Vietnam, Saturday in the Nebraska
Union.
The Centennial Ballroom will be
the site of the fourth annual Saigon
Enchantment Night sponsored by the
Vietnamese Student Association. The
evening will be a celebration of the
Vietnamese culture.
“This is a really big event for us,”
said Ngoc Bui, a three-year member of
the association. She said about 200
people usually attend the dinner and
program, and about 400 students
attend the dance at the end of the night
The festivities will begin at 5 p.m.
with a dinner of traditional food catered
by local Vietnamese restaurants.
A local Vietnamese dance troupe
will perform, followed by a play
about a Vietnamese legend and a
dance at 7:30 p.m.
Saigon Enchantment is only one of
i
the Vietnamese Student Association’s
yearly activities. Members meet once •
or twice a month and mainly focus on
doing community service.
Patrick Trinh, vice president and a
four-year member, said the members’
projects include reaching out to new
Vietnamese families in the area, help
ing senior citizens and visiting high
school students to tell them about the
opportunities their association offers
at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln. They also give campus tours
to minority students and sponsor cul
tural events.
Tickets for Saigon Enchantment
will be available at the door Saturday
night. The cost is $8 with a UNL ID
card and $10 without.
For information on the event or the
association, contact Trinh at 488-3278
or Eileen Vu, Vietnamese Student
Association president, through the
Student Involvement office.
-——^
■
Shots fired
A woman’s apartment was
peppered with bullets early
Thursday morning, and police
spent the day following leads.
Police were called to 3909 N.
68th St. by a 32-year-old woman
who said she was awakened by
gunfire and breaking glass.
Officers found that the bullets
had broken through the bedroom
window, and one penetrated the
wall above the bed. The bullet
went into the neighboring apart
ment, pierced another wall, and
landed in an unoccupied bed.
Total damage was estimated
at $350.
Parking fraud
A Lincoln Police captain
warned Lincoln motorists to
beware of people claiming to be
police volunteers.
Capt. Doug Ahlberg said
Thursday that a man claiming to
be a Citizens Handicapped
Parking Patrol member, a volun
teer group for the department,
tried to bilk a motorist out of $50
for parking in a handicapped
stall.
Ahlberg said actual volun
teers wear blue vests with the
title of the program on the back.
These volunteers will also carry
a photo identification badge.
The actual patrol has been
monitoring handicapped parking
for more than two years.
Unauthorized parking in a handi
capped stall carries a $100 fine
for the first offense, $200 for the
second offense, and $300 for
each additional offense within a
year.'
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