Coronado residents will be reimbursed

Katherine K. Gardiner Arizona Daily Wildcat Members of the Tucson Fire Department and a few Coronado residents clean up the second floor the night of last week's flood. The university has decided to reimburse students who received damage to their personal items as a result of the water.

"Normally, student property is not insured," said Steve Holland, director of the University of Arizona's Department of Risk Management and Safety. "In this case, negligence was found on the part of the university."

The flooding, which rose to three inches in some parts of the building and affected about 60 rooms, began Feb. 3 when a well-meaning resident assistant tried to repair a leaky toilet valve in a fourth-floor room.

An emergency maintenance employee tried to talk the RA through the process by phone, but the valve broke off and a fountain of water spewed from the pipe behind the toilet.

Jim Van Arsdel, director of the Department of Residence Life, said he does not blame the RA or the emergency maintenance employee.

"Two people were doing the best they could do and they just miscommunicated," he said. "If someone wants to call that negligence, then so be it."

Van Arsdel agreed that the university is responsible for the flood and the damage to students' property.

While the flood did little building damage, everything on the floors of the affected rooms got soaked, including clothes, appliances, furniture, computer consoles and software.

Coronado residents were overjoyed with the decision.

"I'm surprised," said communications freshman Nicole Tsardoulias. "It took so long for them to tell us. We thought they were trying to put us off."

According to Tsardoulias, a fourth-floor resident, some students' parents had already called lawyers and started preparing to fight the UA for reimbursement.

Tsardoulias said she just wants to file her claim and forget about the incident.

"It's getting kind of old now," she said. "We just want to get our stuff and move on with the semester."

Tsardoulias said the flooding destroyed about $700 worth of personal property in her room.

University Insurance Officer Alan Lee said Coronado residents affected by the flood will receive a claim form to fill out. Students must mail one copy to the state Attorney General's Office and give the other copy to the university, to be forwarded to the state's risk management office.

The university referred the matter to the state risk management office last week, and it decided to reimburse students for their losses, Lee said.

He advised residents filing claims to be completely honest about their losses. "When there's free money on the table, some people succumb to the temptation."

According to Lee, insurance adjusters will check out each individual claim by inspecting the students' property and any receipts.

"If someone said they had an old Picasso hanging on the wall, they'd have to provide some documentation," he said.