Living in Nelson can be dangerous.

Nelson Hall, the eight-month-old new residence, has been the place of car break-ins, dripping pipes in the underground parking lots that are eating the paint off of cars, broken parking gates and various other persistent rumors that the foundation is crumbling.

Stephanie Sanchez, a resident of Nelson, is mad since she received a double whammy when her car was broken into and dripping pipes ate the paint off her car’s roof.

“Between the security cameras that are always off or not recording to catch the criminals who break windows, and the drips from the pipes that eat paint off the cars, there is hardly even time to focus on academics,” Sanchez said.

Five car break-ins occurred during the blizzard and were reported on March

20. Stolen items included car registrations, ski boots, CDs and stereos. Security cameras were not functioning at the time of the thefts because of the storm.

The university is now offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension, arrest and conviction of the thieves.

Ty Mills, interim director of the Department of Campus Safety, said that the department has not received any leads.

Warren Smith, the university’s public relations spokesman, said that the thefts

appeared to be the “work of students” because students would be the primary people who would have access to the garage during the blizzard that paralyzed the city.

Mills said that the investigation has not been narrowed down to students.

“I don’t believe that it was someone from the outside [but] someone who lived in those areas-Nelson, the apartments or J-Mac-that might be involved with that,”

he stated.

Mills said that the nature of the break-ins seems to point to inhabitants of the campus because the nature of the crime was “totally different from other types” of break-ins that have occurred on campus.

However, Mills said that Campus Safety has changed the camera system in the

parking lot so that security will be alerted sooner if the camera system fails.

He also encouraged students not to leave any valuables in their cars and to take in face-plates to their stereos as well. He also said students with information on the break-ins should call Campus Safety’s anonymous tip line at x13130.

An undetermined number of vehicles have also been damaged by a dripping pipe in the first-floor parking garage. The liquid dries to a light beige color that cannot be removed in a car wash and eventually eats away the paint on the car.

Mark Rogers, DU architect, blamed the leaky pipe on the blizzard. He said that the courtyard reacted like an over-filled bathtub as a result of all the snow that filled it.

When the snow melted, the drainage system in the courtyard could not accommodate the snow melt, and the extra water seeped into the cement in the garage.

Rogers stated that according to Scott Schrage, assistant director of facilities, the water “leached out some of the calcium” in the cement, creating the liquid that has damaged the vehicles.

Rogers said that the university “couldn’t simulate this” before as the blizzard was such a rare occurrence. He said that the leak “was not a design flaw.”

Those students whose vehicles were damaged because of the leaky pipe will not be reimbursed by the university for the damages. Smith said that it is clearly stated on all parking passes that the university is not liable for any damage, and that the university will stick to this policy in this instance.

Smith said that the staff will be “monitoring the situation for the rest of the year,” and that they did not anticipate this sort of event occurring again.

Smith said the gates at the garage entrance are being monitored and all those who have broken gates have been captured on camera.

Smith said that the university’s security is working jointly with the residence staff to identify students who break the gates.

If caught, students will most likely be referred to the Committee of Citizenship and Community Standards, Smith stated.

A rumor circulating in the dorm says that the foundation of the building was unstable and that the university would have to tear the building down in a few years and rebuild it, and was suing the contractor.

Rogers laughed at this idea, stating that the foundation of the building was well supported since it is sunk into the bedrock and is further supported by the two parking garages under the building.

He also stated that there was “no lawsuit, nor any reason to have a lawsuit.”

Rogers said that DU is currently “auditing the books” to check over the costs of the building, something DU also plans to do with the new law school, but is not pursuing a lawsuit with the contractor.

Rogers said that the university was “seeking financial compensation” from the manufacturer of the showers for the flooding that was encountered with the showers.

Severally handicap accessible showers at Nelson had drains that were installed at a high point, causing the water to drain into the bathroom, flooding it, rather than draining into the drain.

Rogers said that this is because the manufacturer claimed the showers did meet the proper standards, although they did not.

As a result, the university has been forced to replace these showers. Most were replaced during winter break and the rest will be replaced during the summer, Rogers explained.

The final rumor about Nelson that has been circulating is that the building was painted with the wrong type of paint, and that the university would have to re-paint every wall within the building every year.

Rogers denies this rumor as well. He said that Deb Tyson, director of

Residence Life, did request a higher-gloss paint in the hallways for next year “to make [the walls] easier to clean.”

He said that they “expect to repaint the hallways quite often…depending on wear and tear and who’s living there.”

If there is a great amount of damage done to the walls by residents, then the residence staff will probably be re-painted accordingly.