The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 12

DEATHS B-2 METRO DIGEST B-4 OHIO NEWS B-8-9 EDITOR: JAMES P. DELANEY, 369-1003 THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 1984 Suicide Looms Over Students, other Warns Sky walk Has Businessmen Perplexed BY J. FRAZIER SMITH Enquirer Reporter Skywalk merchants want assurances of police action for crowd control near their shops, but no one including police quite knows what form those assurances should take. Norman Gassman, owner of Foot-Lites shoe and accessory shop, 32. E.

Convention Way, and president of the Skywalk Merchants Association, said he is stymied as to what to do about Juveniles hanging out on the Skywalk. HE SAID the merchants group has sent letters to council members requesting a meeting March 29 to brainstorm for ideas about solving problems with Juveniles on the walkway. Gassman said he doesn't have the answer, but hopes the session will produce at least some ideas. "More police?" he asked rhetorically. "No." "Canines? that won't work." He threw up his hands.

Gassman and Skywalk detail police officers said reaction was mixed to Wednesday's move by Cincinnati City Council to shelve a resolution offered by councilman J. Kenneth Blackwell that urged "vigorous enforcement of the law" downtown and on the Skywalk. "The proclamation has no teeth We want to do something to maintain security," Gassman said ft A Vr i 1 sit '5'vC WT TC Thursday. Sitting in his stockroom, Gassman was furiously answering phone calls, trying to sell shoes and handle public relations after the Skywalk's latest brush with limelight on St. Patrick's Day.

ACCORDING TO the owner of Farmer's Garden restaurant, 123 W. Convention Way, Gassman said, more than 300 black youths packed Into the corridor near the restaurant sometime after the parade ended about 1:30 p.m. Sunday. The merchants want. Gassman to be their spokesman.

One city official said youths were "break dancing" at one point and had to be dispersed by police. "They were a little loud, blocked entrances to escalators and some merchants up there had to close, is what I am told," Gassman said. "The kids had to be moved from the enclosure because of fire law." The manager at the Skywalk Cinema neighboring Gassman's store reported that he had to "throw some kids out of the theater" after the parade, Gassman said. "Kids hollered obscenities at customers and left," the manager told him. In both incidents however, there were no injuries and no arrests.

(See SKYWALK, Page B-3) to help her cope with her own grief. NATIONAL STUDIES estimate that five teen-agers commit suicide every day, but that probably doesn't give a true picture of the probleem's magnitude, said Mrs. Thieman. "The causes of death on police and coroner reports are sometimes falsified because of the stigma attached to suicide," she said. Concern over the serious emotional problems that can seize any youngster led Ottawa Middle School officials to ask Mrs.

Thieman to speak to their She gave three separate talks to a total of 479 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders. "Kids have great 'poker but there's a lot going on Inside them," said Ray Sersion, a counselor at Ottawa. Parents often underestimate the amount of pressure and anxiety that young children and teenagers are capable of feeling, said Cheryl Pelz, another counselor at Ottawa. "THEY'RE NOT aware of the stresses that go on in kids' lives," she said. "They think their kids have no problems.

How can kids be expected to learn when they have all these emotions going on inside them that they're not dealing with?" Parental divorce and separation, personal loss, abuse of drugs and alcohol, loss of health, the end of a romantic affair, family alienation, and a hereditary predisposition to feelings of loneliness and depression are among the leading causes of teen-age suicides, said Mrs. Thieman. Mrs. Pelz began a counseling group this school year for Ottawa students with divorced or separated parents. The program, in which the students talk about their feelings with each other as well as with Mrs.

Pelz, was supposed to end after 10 weeks. But the demand for and the success of the program prompted school officials to break It into two groups and to extend It to the end of the school year. "KIDS BRING all their problems from home to school," said Sersion. "Schools have to be willing to spend the time focusing on kids' problems." For the past four years, Indian Hill schools have made a special effort to monitor and provide continuing emotional support for students with especially disturbing problems, he said. This school year, counselors in the Indian Hill School District have even begun to work with kindergarten pupils and first- and second-graders.

Mrs. Thieman told the Ottawa students that depression is easy to cure if caught and treated early enough. "But, like cancer, If It grows and spreads, it will kill the victim," she said. Sometimes Just a short conversation with a parent, teacher, school adminstrator or counselor is enough to erase a child's anxiety, said Sersion. Mrs.

Thieman left the students with a final thought: "Suicide does not cure the pain," she said. "It only displaces it on the shoulders of those you love. I read that somewhere and have never forgotten it, and I don't want any of you ever to forget it." BY STEVE KEAAME Enquirer Reporter Talking and laughter echoed In the school auditorium as 165 seventh-graders noisily filed in. But when Theresa Thieman began speaking onstage minutes later, the only audible sound in the large auditorium in Ottawa Middle School in Indian Hill was her voice over the public address system. Her first words riveted the students' attention.

"I want to make you understand the best way I can, the feelings and emotions of a suicide victim," she said. "And I want you to know how the victim's mother and father feel after such a tragic event." SUICIDES AMONG teen-agers and young adults in the United States have been increasing sharply in recent years. From 1960 to 1980, the number of suicides in the 15-19 age group Jumped from 3.6 to 8.5 per 1,000 people, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. In a soft, steady voice, Mrs. Thieman told the seventh-graders on Thursday morning about her son, Ken, who killed himself two years ago on his 25th birthday.

A few years earlier, Ken's future had looked as bright as anyone's. As a business administration and marketing student, he graduated from Xavier University with cum laude honors. He left Cincinnati to pursue graduate studies on a full scholarship at the University of Hawaii. BUT HIS asthma forced him to return home after only four days In Hawaii. Unable to survive in the tropical climate, he had spent his entire stay in Hawaii on a respirator in a hospital.

"That was the beginning of Ken's depression," said Mrs. Thieman. Other physical problems worsened his mental outlook. His depression deepened. "Ken never cried, he was never irrational, he simply withdrew," Mrs.

Thieman said. "I tried to persuade him to get professional help, but he resented my interference. So I hrd to back off." Then, two years ago, her son killed himself by funneling carbon monoxide into his car. "I have a broken heart, and I always will," Mrs. Thieman said to the hushed audience of seventh-graders and some parents.

"But now I'm experiencing life like I never have before." "I'M CHERISHING my husband, my other three sons, my mother and my other relatives more than ever. I've learned that life is very valuable and that life is very tenuous." Although her son was 25 when he took his life, the deep depression and sense of hopelessness that he felt can also be experienced by adolescents and even pre-teens, she said. Suicide is the third-highest cause of death among American teen-agers and the second-highest cause of death among American college students, said Mrs. Thieman, who earned a master's degree In guidance and counseling at XU a year after her son's death. She is now a counselor In the Survivors After Suicide Support Group, which offers help to relatives and friends of suicide victims.

Mrs. Thieman Joined the group shortly after Ken's suicide The Cincinnati EnquirerEd Reinke MUDDY WATERS: With temperatures reaching a high of 73 on Thursday, the weather was perfect for spring cleaning on the Serpentine Wall along Cincinnati's downtown riverfront. Here, recreation department employee Kevin Lewis squirts mud off the wall while co-worker Vince Brandy assists. 'Heritage Center' Proposed For City Target Is '88 For Park area, Union Terminal and Eden Park." But Slmpkinson cautioned, "There Is no obvious spot for us to go without any problems. Robert M.

Galbralth, a historical society board member, said his group has owned land near Eden Park in Walnut Hills for some time and it might be suitable. "We thought we'd better grab a tract when it was available Galbralth also warned against enthusiasm for existing, but unoccupied or under-used buildings in the city. Remodeling could be costlier than starting anew, he explained, given the problems of creating environments required for preserving paintings, stuffed animals, manuscripts, etc. FAILURE TO win a bicentennial endorsement would hurt communitywide fund raising, museum president Oliver M. Gale conceded, but both Institutions need new facilities regardless of what the Bicentennial Commission does.

The 20 of the donors who give 80 of the money know that and expect to be solicited In any event. But Slmpkinson said initial support for the Heritage Center (See CENTER, Page B-3) an eight-foot statue of the group's Roman farmergeneral namesake. To cost more than $100,000, the statue will stand at Sawyer Point on the riverfront. LEARNING OF museum and Historical Society space needs and moving plans, Clnclnnatus brought them together and negotiated the common proposal that went to the Bicentennial Commission Thursday for endorsement as an official "permanent legacy" to the community. "We can think of no more exciting way of observing the 200th anniversary of our settlement than by providing a whole new museum complex to meet the physical needs of each of these two splendid organizations," Slmpkinson explained.

By June, officials will know whether the Clnclnnatus proposal will get the desired Bicentennial Commission endorsement. Museum and historical society boards have yet to approve the move. If all goes as hoped, construction could begin In three years to coincide with the beginning of the bicentennial program. THE CINCINNATUS proposal said the likeliest locations "are on the riverfront, In the central business district, the Central Parkway mon location would not be a merger, presidents of the two institutions stressed. While they might share an auditorium, parking and heating planteach Institution would retain its Identity and financial independence.

The proposed center would provide "an adequate and comprehensive facility that can present the physical objects that recall our local history," Clnclnnatus spokesman John Slmpkinson told reporters. The museum now displays less than 1 of its collection, Director DeVere Burt said, blaming a shortage of space. And the Historical Society has lots of material, from train and boat models to manuscripts and clocks, it would put before the public, given the room, President John Diehl said. Slmpkinson said Clnclnnatus acted because Its members were "disappointed and upset" by the lack of any permanent legacy after the national bicentennial in 1976. "We weren't going to let this happen to our city.

We don't have an exhibit of our heritage, and that bothers us." Clnclnnatus, with a membership of about 100 civic leaders, already had commissioned its contribution to-the 1988 celebration, BY BEN L. KAUFMAN Enquirer Reporter The Cincinnati Association Thursday proposed moving the Museum of Natural History and Cincinnati Historical Society to a new site, creating a "Heritage Center" to celebrate the Queen City bicentennial in 1988. Advocates said such a museum park would permit expanded exhibits, draw more visitors, serve more students and scholars, and, possibly, draw groups with similar interests. Cost could run into tens of millions of dollars and might involve public money, enthusiastic spokesmen acknowledged at a Bankers Club press conference, but 94 of the 100 community leaders they polled Indicated private funding would be there for the right proposal. Such a center might save money, however, since the Natural History Museum and Historical Society need larger homes and shared facilities could avoid "costly duplications.

BUT MOVING from their separate Eden Park facilities to a com- i 'P if 1 Bat Ride Won't Fly Again This Year got to the point where it was down longer than other rides. It was frustrating to us to have people waiting in line and have to tell them i7's not running." Bill Mefford, park official Crews are expected again this season during the review process. According to Norman Scott, vice president of marketing for ArrowHuss, the company has manufacturered two other simlliar coasters. One with a space theme Is under construction at Astro World In Houston, Texas. It is called XLR8, according to Ann Blondl, Astro World operations staff assistant.

The other is under construction at Busch Gardens In Williamsburg, according to Scott. One of the Bat's mechanical problems Involved a misaligned chain dog, a piece of metal on the passenger train which locks Into the chain drive to pull the loaded train up a hill. Another time a new paint Job was washed down into loaded cars by a heavy rain which caused the system to shut down. "WE'RE NOT in a big hurry, we Just want to find out why It is Inconsistent," Mefford said. "It's a big investment so we want to make' sure it works.

There is no real pressure to get It (review) done we have 40 rides." But Mefford emphasized the closing is only temporary. "This does not mean we're closing down the Bat for good. If there's a way we can open It we will," he said. This season's closing of the Bat comes as the park prepares to unveil Its newest coaster, the King Cobra, which carries riders standing up. BY MICHELE ORZANO Enquirer Reporter KINGS MILLS-The Bat at Kings Island has been grounded.

The $3.8 million suspended roller coaster the first of Its kind In the world will be closed all season for a review of continuing mechanical problems. "We'll have It under review the entire year and we probably won't be running it," said vice presidentgeneral manager T. Lewis Hooper. The Bat opened in 1981 and was plagued with a series of minor mechanical problems that shut the ride down from time to time. The solution to those problems has stumped Kings Island officials so they felt It was necessary to close the ride to avoid further inconvenience to customers.

"WE DON'T really know what's wrong with it," said Bill Mefford, manager of marketing communications. "It got to the point where it was down longer than other rides. It was frustrating to us to have people waiting in line and have to tell them it's not running." In 1981, Kings Island officials said the coaster was out of operation 30 of the time but did not have down time figures for 1982 or 1983. Most rides at the park average about 5 down time. Several times riders had to be evacuated by walking down catwalks to safety because of a variety of minor mechnical problems.

tomers were given discount coupons to return another day after having their ride cut short. There have been no Injuries on the ride. Mefford described the safety system in the computerized ride as "ultra-sensitive." "It can shut down anytime and did. Then we had to do an all-systems check which took a lot of maintenance manpower," Mefford said. "Everything's computerized.

It's Just loaded with redundancy In safety systems." THE COASTER, a prototype manufactured by ArrowHuss of Clearfield, Utah, has two trains each with seven cars. Each car holds four people and the cars hang down seven feet on a steel chassis and swing to the outside on curves. ArrowHuss crews spent several months at the park during the 1981 and 1982 seasons trying to unravel the mechanical problems. 111 LQ. 1982, The Cincinnati Enquirer KINGS ISLAND'S Bat is the world's only suspended roller coaster, but park officials now have the ride under review..