The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 3

Section the Cincinnati enquirer METRO In Business: Oil introduced Procter Gamble has introduced a new cooking oil with soybean extracts to help lower high cholesterol levels. Story, B16 A.M. Report 2 Hero 3 Obituaries 8 EE WE Saturday April 1, 2000 Editor; David A. Wells, 768-8600; fax, 768-8340 TTv 71 ing life, freedom oevice Ky. man is area trailblazer KRISTA RAMSEY of the Heart-Mate blood-pumping device made by Thermo Car-d i -systems Inc.

truding from his belly. That line also supplies power to the pump. Mr. Gadker carries a control unit, batteries, spare batteries, even an emergency hand pump, in a set of shoulder holsters and a waist pack. His mechanically assisted heart can go up to six hours between charges.

Three months ago, doctors say, Mr. Gadker was within days of death. After eight years of struggle with congestive heart failure, he was admitted Dec. 28 to the cardiac intensive-care unit in a nearly comatose state. On Jan.

24, he became the first Tristate resident to get the improved HeartMate pump. The device won FDA XL- 1 I months ago he thought he was going to die. It was amazing to feel so "human again," even though it was a chunk of titanium inside his belly that was keeping him alive. "My strength is coming back. I'm not on IVs.

I'm not on monitors," Mr. Gadker said. "I get to go home this evening and wait for a phone call" that an organ is available for a heart transplant. "Until that day comes, I'm just going to live a normal life thanks to these doctors and thanks to this machine," Mr. Gadker said.

The machine he was talking about is an improved version BY TIM BONFIELD The Cincinnati Enquirer For Merrill Gadker of Villa Hills, a muffled hum and a rhythmic hiss of air are the miraculous sounds of an improbable second chance at life. These mechanical noises were coming from Mr. Gadker himself. They could be heard Friday in the quiet of a press conference when the 58-year-old father of three looked up beyond the ceiling and took a moment to fight back tears of thanksgiving. It was hard for him to describe how it feels to be able to walk away from University Hospital, when just three The Cincinnati EnquirerTony Jones A blood-pumping device like this one, implanted in Merrill Gadker's abdomen, is keeping him alive.

approval about a year and a for Mr. Gadker. Just as the Merrill Gadker The pump helps patients who otherwise would have died while waiting for a heart transplant to live many months even years of fairly normal life. Unlike earlier models, this 2.6-pound pump is truly portable. A cylindrical device, 2 inches thick and 4 inches across, throbs inside his abdomen.

With every assisted heartbeat, the device releases a puff of air from a line pro hospital was completing internal staff training on the sys half ago and has been installed in dozens of patients at transplant centers nationwide. Winding up first was a combination of good and bad luck tem, Mr. Gadker happened to (Please see DEVICE, Page B9) Alumni come through Sex case troubling Son of Beast could be late to district Photos by Tony JonesThe Cincinnati Enquirer Kia Gvant, 15, (left) and Lavender Walther, also 15, study tadpoles in biology class in Walnut Hills High School's new addition. Walnut Hills expands i 1'- a teacher and a student at Kings Junior High. "We didn't want to send notes home that dealt with a sexual matter home with our little ones," Mrs.

Oda said. "Our concern was the kids 'would read the note on the way home from school." Parent Jean Zito, who heads Kings' District Parent Council and has a son at the junior high, said those on the council support the district's handling of the situation. "It's a tragedy on all fronts," Mrs. Zito said. "We're very pleased with the way the district has handled the situation.

This is an excellent school district in a good community. I'm sure we can work through this. I have great faith in our excellent administrators and their choices in teachers." Mrs. Karabinus' husband, John, a social studies teacher at the junior high and assistant high school varsity football coach, is on paid administrative leave through April 24. An attorney from the Ohio Department of Education's professional conduct team has been in contact with Warren County officials, said ODE spokeswoman Carly Glick.

Mrs. Karabinus will be sent a letter next week informing her of a 60-day license suspension with the intent to permanently revoke it. She was granted a four-year license to teach students in grades 7-12 in 1992, Ms. Glick said. It was renewed for eight years in 1996.

"I do think this is a rare occurrence," Ms. Glick said. In the last two years, there have been 18 incidents for which Ohio teachers have either lost or voluntary surrendered their licenses over incidents of a sexual nature. The state report does not indicate whether those incidents involved students. Students put things into perspective How could I have overlooked it, in an election year for pity's sake? Everybody deserves equal time.

A few weeks back I wrote two columns that still are drawing comment. The first had to do with what parents love and hate about teachers; the second, what teachers love and hate about par-f ents. Then the mail started rolling in from students, including bulk deliveries from Diane Jennings' literature classes at Sycamore High School. As one clear-thinking teen-ager wrote, "Aren't we, after all, the point?" Quite so. As a parent and former teacher, I found the students' comments thought-provoking and sometimes poignant.

This was a safe place to be honest, and they took full advantage of it. So here's what they think: First, they think they fail us. "When teachers and parents tell us that we don't care any more, they're right," wrote one senior. "But guess why we don't care about anything? The constant pressure and nagging from both parties builds up, and after a while we feel we are complete failures because we can't live up to anyone's expectations. So we give up." He signed his letter, "A senior who lost the will to care freshman year." Another student wrote simply, "What I hate about teachersparents: How someone is always upset or disappointed with me." Adults simply expect too much, the teen-agers say.

Parents want high grades, domestic chores and "well-rounded-ness." Teachers want long-term and short-term projects, classroom "engagement," and homework loads the kids say they can't handle, With after-school jobs, sports and extracurriculars, the pressures become overwhelming. "Stress is abundantly higher now because of the pressure parents and teachers place upon us," one student wrote. "Will both groups realize that studentsare only human? We are not your last chance to live up to what you wish you were as kids." Another student wrote that, by high school, "cheating and not sleeping are the only ways to survive." It is no surprise, then, that one of the things students love most is adults who take time to listen, who consider the demands placed on students, and who get to know them as people, not just achievers. They like teachers who "leave the podium to join the class," give second chances, are at least occasionally flexible about deadlines and (sorry but it's true) make learning fun. "The greatest teacher I ever had made me like chemistry -chemistry wrote one student.

"We like teachers who can work such miracles." What they hate at school: busy work (that was unanimous). Lectures. Lectures in a monotone. Public ridicule. Teachers who appear bored with their work.

What they hate at home: nagging. Inquisitions about where, when and with whom. And especially parents who don't know little things, like what classes their children are taking, their teachers' names, or what sports the kids are playing. What they want Mom and Dad to know: "We love you. We really do," wrote one student.

"Yeah, we're constantly screwing up. No secret there. But deep inside every student is a desire to please you two. Encourage that in an environment of love, and you will see just what we can do." That one is taped to my refrigerator. I hope to keep it in mind forever.

BY SUE KIESEWETTER Enquirer Contributor DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP Additional counselors will be brought to Kings Junior High School on Monday to talk with students in the aftermath of science teacher Lisa Karabi-nus' admission that she had sexual intercourse with a rnale student. Junior high students were on quarterly, all-day academic field trips Friday and not in classes, said Linda Oda, district spokeswoman. School officials said they did not believe any other students were involved in similar incidents with Mrs. Karabinus. She was put on paid administrative leave when the allegations surfaced Monday until her resignation was accepted Friday in a special school board meeting.

Warren County Prosecutor Tim Oliver said Thursday there were no allegations of sex between Mrs. Karabinus and other boys at the school. However, he declined comment when asked if police were questioning other students. "We think this is an isolated incident. We have no evidence to believe otherwise," Mrs.

Oda said Friday. The eighth-grade boy in the incident has been in school all week. "My heart goes out to the families that are involved in this," said Superintendent David Query, who talked with the District Parent Council on Friday. "It's a difficult situation for everybody and it's put a black mark on our profession." A letter from Mr. Query advising parents of the availability of counselors in all Kings Schools was sent home with students Friday.

In the letter, Mr. Query refers to Mrs. Karabinus' actions only as a serious incident involving BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE The Cincinnati Enquirer MASON Thrill-seekers anxiously awaiting Son of Beast's debut at Paramount's Kings Island this month may have to wait a little longer. It seems unlikely Kings Island's eagerly anticipated looping wooden roller coaster will open with the park April 15, park officials said. The weather is being blamed.

"Unlike past winters, the snow we got this year stayed with us for a while and didn't melt as quickly, which really limited the amount of work we could do on this project," said park spokesman Jeff Siebert. "Right now, the coaster is about 93 percent complete." Construction crews completed the final section of Son of Beast's wooden support structure Wednesday. Mr. Siebert said all that remains is the laying of the steel track and wiring of the coaster's electri-, cal system, which includes hundreds of remote sensor devices that gauge the cars' speed and location. "We are still hoping to have it done as close to opening day as possible," Mr.

Siebert said. "In fact, we still haven't completely given up on the possibility of opening it on April 15." Because of the potential delay, park officials have had to reschedule event days for season pass-holders and other groups. Son of Beast, Kings Island's 13th roller coaster, will be the world's only looping wooden roller coaster. It is expected to rival its predecessor, The Beast, which at 7,392 feet is the world's longest wooden roller coaster. At an estimated $15 mil-.

lion, Son of Beast is the single largest investment in Kings Island's history. Walnut Hills High School alumni raised more than $9 million for the school's new Arts and Science Center. School dedicates new wing today BY LEW MOORES The Cincinnati Enquirer With a teaspoon, Laverne C. Maurant took a drop of water with a tiny tadpole suspended within and placed it on a glass slide, before each student slipped the slide under a microscope. "I want you to observe the increase in growth since the last time we looked, especially the tail," Ms.

Maurant told her ninth-grade biology class at Walnut Hills High School. While the microscopes were hardly new, the classroom was, spacious and airy, with plenty of light, the bet-, ter to illuminate the growth of a tadpole's tail under a microscope. Ms. Maurant's classroom, where she teaches biology, zoology and geology, is one of 30 in the new, Arts and Science Center that opened to students and faculty in October and will be dedicated at 2 p.m. today.

"I like the new labs, compared with the old labs," said million project directed by the Walnut Hills High School Alumni Foundation, which raised more than $9 million for it. Another $2 million will be raised for an endowment. The college preparatory high school has 1,950 students in grades seven through 12, and scored highest among Cincinnati high schools last year in the state's 12th Grade Proficiency Test. About 95 percent of its graduates go on to college. While today's dedication is designed to showcase the (Please see ADDITION, Page B9) freshman Lavender Walther, 15, as she peered through her microscope.

"In the other building, biology rooms were just like English classrooms." The new wing, constructed in the same Federalist style as the current building, blends almost seamlessly into the old, but with more distinctive appointments. A sculpture pavilion is at one end, but the new wing's centerpiece is a scientific courtyard, an outdoor lab that will be used to study ecosystems and will become functional in May. The new wing was a $10 Area-code changes take effect today We're stuck with Hustler, city says The good news: The 10-digit calls won't cost more because they're still local calls. You don't even have to dial 1 first. For the next six months, calls will go through if you forget to dial the area code or dial 606 instead of 859.

But starting Oct. 1, misdialed calls won't go through, and a recording will tell callers to redi-, al the 10-digit number with the correct area code. Blame technology for the extra digits. New cell phones, pagers, fax lines and even lottery machines, automated tellers and grocery checkouts that take credit cards have used up so many phone lines that a new area code was needed. By using the area codei Cincinnati Bell will be able to prolong the life of the 513 area code by using the same prefixes on both sides of the river.

BY LUCY MAY The Cincinnati Enquirer "Dial the code" day is here. Starting today, callers on one side of the Ohio River should dial the area code plus the phone number to reach friends or businesses on the other side. On top of that, Northern Kentucky gets its new area code today. The new 859 -which spells UKY on phone sets replaces the familiar 606 in 19 counties. "It is two changes at once," says Libby Korosec, a spokeswoman for Cincinnati Bell.

"It's something that folks are going to have to get used to." The change means Ohio callers with the 513 area code must dial 859, then the usual seven digits, to reach Northern Kentucky. Kentucky callers with the 859 area code must dial 513 to reach Ohio. go to hell." Standing outside his Elm Street store beneath a giant banner emblazed with the adult magazine's name, Mr. Flynt said the city is the one doing the slapping. "I'm not picking on them," Flynt said.

"They're coming after me." He denied that he and his brother, Hustler publisher Larry Flynt, opened their third store downtown as a way to get even with officials who have shut them down twice before. "This is about being a thorn in the side of Cincinnati," Mr. Shirey said during a press conference at City Hall just minutes before the neon "Open" sign clicked on in the Hustler store. "I am very disappointed that Larry Flynt has continued his ven- Barbs traded as adult store opens BY ROBERT ANGLEN The Cincinnati Enquirer The opening of a downtown Hustler store is a slap in the face to "the good citizens of Cincinnati," City Manager John Shirey said Friday. But those are the citizens Jimmy Flynt said he hopes to serve and some of the same ones who were lining up behind the counter, hands full of store merchandise.

"The perception of stores like this is all they sell is porn and dirty movies," said Lynne Greenwell, who stopped by the store with some friends Friday afternoon. "They have clothes, they have candles, they have things that won't make you The Cincinnati EnquirerSteven M. Herppich Dustin Flynt, Larry Flynt's nephew, rings up purchases for Beth Tucker of Amelia on Friday. efforts have gone nowhere," said Councilman Phil Heimlich, who drafted an ordinance four years ago banning sex-oriented businesses from the city. "When we talk about (Please see HUSTLER, Page B9) detta against the good people of Cincinnati." If the Flynt brothers are a thorn, however, some city council members are wondering if the city helped to grow the rosebush.

"It's another example where economic development.