When Jae Aron ’11 was awoken in the middle of the night on Saturday Nov. 1, she was surprised to find her floor in Butterfield C covered in two inches of water. Aron went out into the hall to investigate the source of the water, where she found that an inebriated hallmate had fallen asleep in the shower and was sitting on the drain with the water running.

“I thought he had died,” Aron said.

Aron first called a friend who took the student out of the shower. She then called the Residential Advisor (RA) on duty, who called Public Safety (PSafe) and a custodian, who mopped up Aron’s room and took her rug out for cleaning.

This inconvenience, however, was just the beginning in a series of annoyances for Aron.

“I naturally assumed that I would be reimbursed in some way, especially considering the stress that this put me under,” she said.

While the University shampooed Aron’s rug, and those of other students in her hall whose rooms were affected, the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) informed Aron that she would not be reimbursed by the University for any damages her room suffered because she did not have renter’s insurance, something she was previously unaware of. “My impression was that the school is like the landlord and we are like tenants,” she said. “I’ve never heard of renters insurance.”

According to the housing contract, without renters insurance the University will not pay for any damage caused by mechanical mishaps, theft, fire, wind, flood or other catastrophes.

“Students are encouraged to take out renters insurance if they are not covered by their personal homeowners policies, and are given a brochure about renters insurance when they check in,” said Assistant Director of Residential Life Melissa Powers.

Despite the brochures and its mention in the housing contract, many students are still unaware that renters insurance even exists.

Qianqian Lin ’11, who lives on the floor in Butterfield B underneath Aron, was kept awake all of Saturday night because of water dripping from her ceiling onto her radiator. She did not have damage in her room, but nonetheless was surprised to hear of Aron’s predicament.

“I had never heard of renters insurance until I talked to Jae,” Lin said.

Aron, who did not have renter’s insurance, is trying to look at the bright side of the situation.

“I’m lucky,” Aron said, “I’m OCD and don’t keep a lot of stuff on the floor.”

Some damages were incurred, however. Aron’s computer charger was destroyed, as well as several throw pillows. Aron noted that perhaps her largest cost was the time and work she had to spend cleaning up her room.

“I was up that whole night and the next day cleaning. I had to do ten loads of laundry,” she said.

Director of Physical Plant Cliff Ashton said that the student responsible for the flood got lucky in terms of the amount of damage that was caused, not only in terms of Aron’s cleanliness, but also because of the structure of the Butterfield dorms.

“Since Butterfield is a steel and masonry structure, damage is minimal, limited to stained ceiling tiles and any water damage to the students’ books, clothing, etc,” he said. “The student who caused this flood will be charged for this work.”

The student who caused the flooding has been charged $100 for the cleanup, but has not been subject to any further disciplinary action.

“The student who caused the flood would only be billed for damage to the building and rugs by Physical Plant,” Ashton said. “If the student [Aron] wanted restitution for personal property that was damaged by another student’s action, [she] would need to pursue [that] judicially via the Student Judicial Board.”

The student who fell asleep on the bathroom drain spoke to The Argus on the condition of anonymity.

“I don’t think any students’ property was damaged,” the student said.

Aron disagreed.

“My concern was primarily for his safety,” she said. “The afterthought now is what do I do about my stuff.”