Van incident
ups rent costs
ByEricRineer
Staff writer
Stemming from an incident involv
ing Sigma Nu Fraternity and the vandal
ism of three vans from a local chartering
company last February, company own
ers say they will now be increasing
prices on rentals.
Owners of Good Life
Transportation Inc., 8200 Fletcher Ave.,
came to a settlement with Sigma Nu last
February after learning their vans were
trashed after they were returned.
Sigma Nu president Bill Dixon said
he was surprised at the damage he
found inside the vans he and his frater
nity rented for a Valentine’s Day formal
at Sherry’s Dining, Dancing and Sports
Bar in Lincoln.
The vans were smeared on the
inside with syrup and were missing its
hubcaps when he awoke, Dixon said.
“It happened overnight.”
Dixon denied Sigma Nu was
involved in the incident.
Joe Williams, spokesman for Good
Life Transportation, said the decision to
up the company rates was a direct
reflection of the damage done to the
vehicles.
“A few bad apples ruins it for every
body,” said Williams, who described the
damage as both to the interior and exte
rior.
The rates increased from $150 for
four hours last year to $200 for the same
time period this year. For each addition
al hour last year, it cost $35. This year, it
costs $40.
After the vans were returned to
Good Life, Williams said he found
syrup in the vans’ vent systems, along
with several broken arm rests, and the
theft of 12 aluminum rims from the
tires.
The fraternities denied it, Williams
said. “They wrecked our buses - just
stuff where it was really disgusting. We
had to settle out of court because they
refused to talk.”
Dixon said his fraternity was more
than willing to talk. Sigma Nu compen
sated the company for its losses, which
totaled nearly $500.
“We were totally cooperative with
what they wanted us to do,” Dixon said.
“I got the call, and it was something
we wanted to get cleared up as soon as
they did.
“They wanted the money some way,
and they came for us.”
Dixon said he immediately called
on his fraternity to clean up the mess.
“I’m upset about the situation. No
one was ever caught, and there was
never any attempt to catch anyone doing
it.”
Williams said he held Sigma Nu
responsible because the vans were rent
ed in the fraternity’s name. However, he
said he didn’t necessarily believe the
members did it.
He said renting buses or vans to fra
ternities was common.
Many times, Williams said, fraterni
ties will rent vans to drive themselves to
bars or restaurants, or sometimes even
farmhouses for parties or events.
Dixon said Sigma Nu rents vans for
theme parties and formats.
He said his fraternity was not
allowed to drive the vans to the formal
because Good Life has a policy which
does not allow anyone under 25 to drive
their vehicles.
Some of the parents who hosted the
fotmal drove the vans, he said.
“It’s a shame that something had to
happen like this,” Dixon said. “Someone
else decided to damage our vans, but I
think we handled it the right way.”
Linda Schwartzkopf, director of
Greek Affairs, said the Valentine’s Day
formal was an event hosted by the
Sigma Nu Parent’s Association.
“This is an event extremely well
planned and well-organized,” she said.
“The parents make sure it’s a safe event
for everyone who attends.”
Schwartzkopf said she was
impressed as to the manner in which the
situation was handled.
“I think Sigma Nu did the honorable
thing. Even though they weren’t respon
sible, they stepped up and assumed
responsibility.”
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rebecca
Ryen hears the ring, ring of the tele
phone and lunges for the receiver
eager to hear a friendly voice at the
other end of the line.
But then she pauses and checks
her Caller ID box to find out if it will
be a friendly voice after all.
“When ‘unavailable’ comes
across, it’s either a phone company
or a bill collector,” said Ryen of
Bethesda, Md. “And that means I
don’t answer it.”
She is among millions of phone
users hooked on technology that
gives them information before, after
and during calls. A study of con
sumer' behavior by Arbitron
NewMedia found that Caller ID cus
tomers have quadrupled over the past
four years.
“It’s a never-ending source of
amazement how much customers
love these things,” said Terry
Yarbrough, senior director of prod
uct management at BellSouth, where
more than 40 percent of the compa
ny’s customers have Caller ID and 35
percent either use or subscribe to
Call Return, activated by dialing *69
to trace the last incoming call.
SBC Communications’
Southwestern Bell, the main
provider of local phone service in
Texas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma
and Arkansas, boasts an even higher
Caller ID rate: More than half of
their customers have the feature,
with 70 percent subscribing in
Laredo, Texas.
Phone companies are responding
to demand by developing new fea
tures.
The latest example: Bell
Atlantic’s Call 54, which enables
people to find out the name and
address that corresponds to a local
phone number, as long as both the
name and address are listed. To get
the information, a person calls 555
5454 and then dials in the phone
number. A recorded voice reads the
name and address, and even offers to
spell them.
This service is a response to the
u—-*——
Its a never-ending source of amazement
how much customers love these things.”
Terry Yarbrough
senior director of product management at BellSouth
growth of Internet and CD-Rom
search services, say company offi
cials. With Call 54, consumers can
look up three listings for one 75-cent
call.
Since its introduction in 1995 in
New Jersey - followed by rollouts in
Maryland, West Virginia and parts of
northern Virginia - more than 10
million addresses have been handed'
out.
The service leaves out all non
published information. Others can
request that their information be
removed from the database.
Privacy groups say these phone
features can put those who want to
safeguard their home numbers and
addresses at a disadvantage.
“Some of these services can be
extremely problematic to people
who have to protect their security in
their home,” said Beth Givens, direc
tor of the San Diego-based Privacy
Rights Clearinghouse.
With some features, the burden is
on the callers to “opt out” of being
identified by blocking their number
or calling through an operator, priva
cy advocates point out.
“These services show how users
of all kinds of communications sys
tems need to be aware of what they
are unwittingly consenting to,” said
Jim Dempsey, senior staff counsel at
the Center for Democracy and
Technology, a Washington-based
privacy group.
The cat-and-mouse technology
game can get harried: To dodge me
Caller ID system, a caller can acti
vate a feature to block the number
and have it show up as “Unavailable”
or “Anonymous.”
Phone users can one-up the
clever caller by blocking calls from
certain numbers. BellSouth, for
example, offers a message rejecting
blocked calls but inviting callers to
ring again without a blocked num
ber. Ameritech’s Privacy Manager,
introduced last year, intercepts
unknown callers and asks for identi
fication. The recipient then can hear
a recording identifying the caller and
opt to accept or decline the call and
have the Privacy Manager tell the
caller not to call again.
Even Call Waiting, the veritable
grandfather of phone features, is get
ting a makeover: A deluxe version
lets people use Caller ID in conjunc
tion with Call Waiting. Other phone
carriers offer a version for Internet
users that flashes the incoming num
ber on the computer screen. With a
point and click, customers can opt to
disconnect from the Internet and
take the call or send the call into
voice mail.
Such advances could redefine
what consumers consider phone
must-haves. In “deprivation” studies
conducted by SBC, customers in
focus groups revealed their depen
dency when their phone services
were taken away.
“A lot of people just felt like they
had no friends” because they didn’t
know who had called, said B.J.
Mamuzic, senior director of con
sumer marketing. “Some of them felt
insecure.”
Ryen admits she’s addicted to her
Caller ID. She once pulled the batter
ies out of her fire alarm to keep the
gadget running.
“I wanted to get it because every
body else had it,” said Ryen. “Now I
can’t live without it.”
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