The Daily News from Lebanon, Pennsylvania • 7

4. ijfe Saturday, May 30, 1998 fftbation jJailp yrtog 7 TTJ V'v 7 TvO-'E vi 4m- 'V-A. yi A 4' roller-coaster fan can find a lot to love at Hersheypark, which now has more of those beloved thrill rides than any other park in Pennsylvania. -v C3 1 i rfS J-' f4 3 a i At "tf y'ii. Hersheypark photo The Great Bear, a $13-million steel inverted roller coaster, snakes its way through Hersheypark.

New coaster at Hersheypark a bear of a ride Latest attraction an attention grabber, but older rollers still rack up plenty of thrills, nostalgia El By ELIZABETH ARNESON Staff Writer With this years addition of developed the move to escape enemy airplanes.) A tight corkscrew twist follows, and after The second loop is technically an immelmann, in which the coaster starts looping but halfway through converts into a barrel roll. some high-speed S-curves, a more gentle corkscrew takes riders upside-down for the last time. For nearly three minutes, my legs dangled and my pulse quickened as the $13-million coaster looped, immelmanned, twisted and turned. The Great Bear, designed and manufactured by Switzerlands Bollinger Mabillard, the same company that designed inverted coasters for several Six Flags and Busch Gardens parks, definitely deserves a thumbs-up. After our first ride on the Great Bear, a short walk to the sooper-dooperLooper, through which the Bear is intertwined, provided a sense of nostalgia.

Today, the Looper appears almost quaint, a one-loop coaster in a world of Bear-like thrill rides. In the years after it debuted in 1977, however, that one loop was an imposing challenge for me as a young girl. In fact, the 45 mph, 90-second ride was the first looping coaster on the East Coast. Remember the I survived the sooperdooperLooper T-shirts? I earned one and wore it proudly. My father loves to tell the story of how my flailing arms knocked his glasses off when we reached the height of the loop as we braved the sooperdooperLooper for the first time.

I contend that he should have paid more attention to the pre-ride instructions, which recommend securely fastening loose items. It still makes me smile to recall dads pride in north of Hersheypark. After that, there is little time for sightseeing as the coaster hits banked turn after banked turn, a total of 11 turns as the coaster crosses through or over itself 20 times during the course of the ride. Perhaps the noisiest of the parks coasters, the Wildcat hits you with 3.5 G-forces, which, according to a special I saw on the Discovery Channel during Memorial Day weekend, is the maximum you want on a roller coaster. The Wildcat shares its name with one of the parks first coasters, which was a gift to the town of Hershey from Mil-ton S.

Hershey in June of 1923. The original Wildcat was replaced by The Comet in 1946. On our way to the Trail-blazer, we paused to watch the Sidewinder, which opened in 1991, take its riders through three inversions forward, then through those same three inver- Hersheypark photo Hersheyparks Wildcat roars around a curve as riders shriek with the combination of fear and joy that roller coasters inspire. catching his glasses before they could fall to the ground. the Great Bear, Hersheypark is now home to six roller coasters more than any other amusement park in Pennsylvania, according to the parks general manager, Franklin Shearer.

Armed only with a sense of adventure that some may look upon as borderline insanity, my husband and I recently braved five of the six coasters. Previous experience in the form of nausea taught us to avoid the boomerang-style Sidewinder. First on our agenda was the Godzilla of Hersheypark roller coasters, the gleaming new Great Bear. A 32-passenger, long steel inverted coaster built using 4,500 yards of concrete (450 cement trucks worth), the Great Bear paradoxically gives riders an exhilarating sense of freedom while theyre strapped securely into a seat. It should be noted that there is a special line for those daredevils who want to sit in the Great Bears first row of seats, and it is from this perspective that my opinion is offered.

We rode the Bear twice, both times in that front seat. Also, the day we visited was clear and warm. According to Robert Brown, Theme Parks guide for Internet service The Mining roller coasters often are faster after it rains, especially if the trim brakes are still a tad slippery. How a coasters trim brakes are set is" the greatest factor in changing overall speed. Brown also says that coasters generally get faster once theyre broken in, assuming they are well-maintained and properly lubricated.

Wooden coasters, he added, usually are at their fastest after a full day of riding. But back to the Great Bear. The anticipation builds as you climb the initial 90-foot hill. Then on the down slope (a 124-foot helix drop the coaster dives into Comet Hollow), the front row of four riders dangles for several moments before starting the gravity-enhanced portion of the ride. Before I could catch my breath from the drop, the coasters first loop sent us upside down, the first of several perspective-distorting effects.

What seemed to be a brief pause at the apex of the first loop came as a surprise and provided the first of several opportunities for me to exercise my vocal cords. The second loop is technically an immelmann, in which the coaster starts looping but halfway through converts into a barrel roll. (The immelmann is named for Max Immelmann, a World War I fighter pilot who still a delightful ride. A walk across the park brought us to Midway America and Ilersheyparks other wooden coaster, the Wildcat. The top speed is listed at 45 mph at Hersheyparks Web site, but the ride feels much faster.

The $5.7 million Wildcats initial 85-foot drop twists to the right after giving riders a great view of Route 39 and the land quires at least one trip to the Looper as part of every visit to Hersheypark. A real classic, the Comet, was up next. A wooden coaster giving riders plenty of room to pop out of their seats, the Comet is one of my all-time favorites. Although my husband and I both experienced less air time on this excursion than during previous visits, it was During my repeated adventures many years ago, I screamed regularly on the Looper. After the Great Bear, however, the Looper felt slow and somewhat tame as it rolled through its single loop and many curves, not inspiring a single shriek.

Still, tradition re (See A GREAT, page 2B) Expense underscores need to find better ways to prevent and treat addiction Drug, alcohol abuse costs each of us $1,000 every year STRAIGHT TALK hoi Abuse and Alcoholism director. The magnitude of these costs underscores the need to alcohol and drug abuse in America. According to a recent National Institute on Drug Abuse report, the economic cost of alcohol and drug abuse was $246 find better ways to prevent and treat these disorders. 1 By KEVIN SCHRUM For the Daily News Got an extra thousand bucks you don't know what to do with? Too bad if you dont have a grand to spare. Youre going to have to fork it over whether you like it or not, this year and every year.

Oh, I forgot to mention that youll have to cough up another $1,000 a year for each of your children if costs of drug abuse is due to real changes In drug-related emergency room episodes, criminal justice expenditures, and service delivery patterns. Interestingly, the cost to society for alcohol abuse hasnt changed over the years. The researchers concluded that the alcohol estimates for 1992 were very similar to the average of cost estimates produced over the past 20 years. On the other hand, the costs of drug abuse have shown a steady and strong pattern of increase since 1977. The authors state that rising drug abuse costs can be explained by the emergence of the cocaine and HIV epidemics, an eightfold increase in state and federal in carcerations for drug offenses' and about a threefold increase in crimes attributed to drugs.

(See DRUG, page 2B) rick Harwood and his colleagues. About 45 percent of the cost of alcohol abuse is borne by those who abuse alcohol and members of their households; 39 percent by federal, state, and local governments; 10 percent by private insurance; and 6 percent by victims of abusers. For drug abuse, 44 percent of the cost burden is carried by those who abuse drugs and members of their households, 46 percent by governments, 3 percent by private insurance, and 7 percent by victims of drug abusers. This study confirms the enormous damage done to society by alconol-and drug-related problems, said Dr. Enoch Gor-dis, National Institute on Alco- Substance abuse and addiction have serious medical and social consequences, said NIDA director Alan I.

Leshner. This study indicates that emergence of health problems from the cocaine and HIV epidemics during this period substantially increased drug-related costs to society. Prior to this study, the most recent comprehensive estimates of these costs were based on data for 1985. The new estimates are 4 percent higher for alcohol and 50 percent higher for drugs than estimates from a study of 1985 data, which significantly underestimated the costs" of alcohol abuse. In contrast, over 80 percent of the increase in estimated billion in 1992, the most recent year for which sufficient data were available.

This estimate represents nearly $1,000 for every man, woman, and child living in the United States in 1992. The figures were taken from a recent study which estimates that alcohol abuse and alcoholism generated about 60 percent of the estimated costs ($148 billion), while drug abuse and dependence accounted for the remaining 40 percent ($98 billion). Much of the economic burden of alcohol and drug problems falls on the population that does not abuse alcohol and drugs. said study author Hen- they arent old enough to pay taxes and buy insurance. What are you going to get for your thousand bucks, you ask? Nothing, really.

The fact is that your hard-earned money is being used to nay the costs of A f- I.