Renter’s insurance ‘important for students’
■ --—:-4
By Jamie Suhr
Staff writer
Renter’s insurance isn’t some
thing many students think about
when moving into a new house or
apartment, but experts say the extra
security can be valuable in an emer
gency.
“It’s something students should
have,” said Nancy Davis, office man
ager at Allstate Insurance, 2700 N.
27th St.
Still, many students are unaware
of renter’s insurance and how it
works.
Most students are covered under
their parents’ homeowner’s insurance
if the students are under the age of 25
' and enrolled full time.
If students are not covered by
their parents, they can go to any insur
ance company and apply for cover
age.
Renter’s insurance covers losses
incurred from offenses such as theft,
fire and vandalism.
Renter’s insurance is available in
two forms - one insures die property
according to its purchase price, and
the other funds tjje loss at its current
market value, or blue book value.
David Thiel, property and casual
ty policy analyst for the Nebraska
Department of Insurance, said blan
ket policies that cover specific dollar
amounts also are available.1
These blanket policies cover
items such as compact discs, televi
sions and appliances. Coverage for
items such as jewelry is limited in
most policies and must be additional
ly insured, he said. -
“It’s important for students to
make sure they’re insured enough,”
Thiel said. “If you get a $10,000 poli
cy and realize, ‘Hey, I have $15,000
worth of stuff,’just bump it up.”
Thiel said apartment complexes
only are responsible for the buildings
themselves, not any personal items
inside. Apartments cover damages
when they are found negligent of
building upkeep.
Abby Barnes, a senior elementary
education major at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln, said her parents’
insurance did not cover her.
Barnes said she paid $100 a year
with a $250 deductible for a $10,000
policy that also covers personal
injury. —
“My sister had a fire in March,
and since she had renter’s insurance,
she had everything replaced,” Barnes
said. “It also covers moving in, so if I
damaged anything moving into my
apartment, I could replace that, too.”
Some college students believe the
chances of their houses being broken
into are slim and opt not to get the
insurance.
“I don’t feel I have a need for it,”
said Cameya Ramirez, a UNL junior
criminal justice major. “I don’t think
anyone will break in. I have security
locks at my apartment.”
The university does not provide
coverage for students living in resi
dence halls, said Doug Zatechka,
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UNL housing director. Many students
are covered by their parents while liv
ing in residence halls.
“I advise students to get with their
parents and check the parents’ policy
to see if the student is covered. Most
homeowner’s insurance covers the
student,” Zatechka said.
Thiel also had a warning for stu
Matt Haney/DN
dents living in an apartment or house:
Just because your roommate is
insured doesn’t mean your property is
covered.
“Renter’s insurance only pertains
to your stuff, not your roommate’s,”
he said/
“If he doesn’t have renter’s insur
ance, you cannot cover him.”
Drought brings UJNL center to spotlight
Organization stresses preparation, the creation of‘drought plans’
By Becky Jacobsen
Staffwriter
The National Drought Mitigation Center at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln was a communica
tion hot spot this summer Mien die worst drought of
the century hit the northeastern United States.
The center got a workout as newspapers and tele
vision stations nrom across the country called to get
drought information throughout the summer
months.
Mark Svoboda, climatologist at the center, said
at die height of the drought this summer, the center
fielded around 150 to 200 calls in one month.
Specialists at the center help institutions develop
and implement measures to reduce regions’ vulnera
bility to drought.
The specialists at the center - which is the only
one of its kind in die world - stress preparation and
risk management Mien it comes to dealing with a
drought
The center was formed in 1995 with a grant from
die U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The center receives calls from all over the world,
including Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and
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Africa, as well as much of the United States and
many tribal governments, Svoboda said.
Don Wilhite, director of the center and an agri
cultural climatologist, said interest in the center is
growing. He said many countries have shown inter
est in modeling new centers after UNEs center.
Anew instrument-the Drought Monitor-high
lights emerging trouble spots for state and federal
agencies and can help reduce the effects of drought,
Wilhite said
The tool was introduced to the center Aug. 11,
and can be accessed on the Internet at
http://enso.unl.edu/monitor/.
> The monitor is primarily designed for drought
and water planners and policy-makers and measures
drought factors such as rainfall, heat and soil mois
ture.
The Web site works as an information clearing
house, receiving an average of 100,000 hits a day,
Wilhite said
Wilhite said the site is updated by different peo
ple scattered around the country. These people mea
sure changes in precipitation levels. The map rotates
to a new set or specialists
every month.
The center has won
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three international and one national award for the
site.
Svoboda said droughts are tough to predict, so
the new instrument would probably have not helped
prevent the devastating drqjught that hit the north
eastern United States this summer.
According to the center’s Web site, the impact of
drought is so widely spread that it is difficult to come
up with financial estimates of die damage.
The hardest hit areas in the United States includ
ed West Virginia, Viiginia, New Jersey, Maryland
and die eastern parts of Pennsylvania, New York and
North Carolina.
Svoboda also said most people don’t realize die
extent of damage droughts can cat^e.
Svoboda said states are looking to approach the
drought problem in a different way.
“Many states are revisiting their drought plans to
figure out a way to respond to the situation in a
proactive way instead of reactive,” Svoboda said.
“We want to help states develop plans to mitigate
drought”
Death penalty
panel to meet
From staff reports
The Nebraska Crime
Commission will meet today to dis
cuss details of its coming study of
Nebraska’s death penalty.
This study, commissioned by the
Legislature last May, will look at
data on hundreds of homicide cases
as well as signs of unfair administra
•tion of the death penalty.
The meeting is open to the public
and will be held from 11 a.m. to 1
p.m. at the Crime Commission
office, fifth floor, Nebraska State
Office Building, 301 Centennial
Mall South.
check us out on the Web
dailyneb.com
American, Canadians
kidnapped in Ecuador
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - An armed
band has kidnapped an American and
seven Canadians who were working on
an oil project in Ecuador’s eastern jun
gle near the Colombian border,
Ecuador’s military said Sunday.
They alsokidnapped four European
tourists visiting Ecuador’s Cuyabeno
ecological reserve.
The workers were installing a
pipeline in the province of Sucumbios,
30 miles from the Colombian border,
and were being guarded by Ecuadorean
soldiers when they were ambushed
Saturday by about 25 armed assailants,
regional commander Col. Luis Ramirez
told The Associated Press.
He said (me Ecuadorean soldier was
killed during the attack, which ended
with the armed group taking the
American and Canadians hostage.
Ramirez said the hostages were
employees of a Canadian contracting
company, United Pipelines Systems,
working under contract from Canadian
based City Investing oil company.
He identified the American as
Leonard Carter, 23, but did not know his
hometown.
The Canadian oil workers were
identified as Harry Mayer, 47; Steven
Bren, 23; Neil Barber, 33; Collin Fraser,
30; Raft Pumbar, 34; Brad Scheler, 22;
and Gran Ranking, 30 - all from the
Edmonton area.
An eighth Canadian, identified as
Mark Shaw, was rescued by
Ecuadorean armed forces, according a
military press release.
Ramirez said that soon after the
attack the armed group set up a road
block on a nearby jungle highway,
where it~stopped approximately 15
vehicles and took hostage a Belgian
woman, identified as Sabine Roblain,
and Spanish citizens Jesus Maria
Magunagoicoechea, Ander Mimenza
and his sister Maria Jesus Mimenza.
A source close to the oil workers
said on condition of anonymity that the
European tourists were instructors from
the Latin American Radio Broadcasters
Association.
An Ecuadorean police officer also
was detained and disarmed at the road
block, but was released unharmed,
Ramirez said. Military officials said
they were investigating whether the kid
nappers were leftist rebels who had
crossed over from Colombia.
Ramirez said the kidnappers, all
heavily armed, had strong Colombian
accents and that their faces were cov
ered by camouflage paint. No ransom
demand had beat received as of Sunday
evening, military officials said. *
A spokesman for the Foreign
Affairs Department in Ottawa said:
“We, of course, do not negotiate with
terrorists, but we will work with the
Ecuadoran military to see what can be
done.”