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THE LOST ART DRUGS AND SUICIDE

A LOOK

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January 1991, Vol. 44, No. 1

Features

Suspicions by Dorothea Love 3 She shook him. He wouldn't respond. It was like her own personal horror flick. Her worst suspicions were coming true. Why hadn't she said something?

All Steamed Up! by Luan Miller There's not a Ferrari alive today that can capture the adrenalin rush you'll get firing up a restored steam locomotive. You

sanded, scraped, ground, and greased to earnthe right. So go for it!

6

Death Wish by Sonya Glenn 1 A mound of black dirt. A buried casket. Chiseled letters on a cold granite slab. "Tell them that drugs are suicide," John said.

Roni Sasaki: Skier on Course by Russell Smoak 16 The slope falls out of sight below her as the driving snow pelts her face. In a few seconds, she won't notice. It'll be just her stubborn determination against the elements . . . and she'll win, again.

Raiders of the Lost Art by Richard E. Inglish 20 Don't think that Harrison Ford has the corner on spine-tingling adventures. You can have them too. But first you'll need to meet the ancient one and learn the secret password.

Departments

You Said It! Hang the Drug Dealers 14

Kitchen Sink One Hot Day on Mercury!

Ask a Friend Should I Have Sex? 1

The Prime Times Boozeless Cruises 23

26

1

Graffiti Prismic 25

And So Forth Blazing Beetle Bombardiers

Puzzles Rhyme Time 27

Listen Up! The Feminine Mistake 28

One Last Note Hey, Who's Paying for All This? 30

Poster A Penny Saved 31

2 • LISTEN • January 1991

FRONT COVER PHOTO BY RUSSELL SMOAK

31

Tiny beads of perspiration pooled on Drew's forehead

and ran down his cheeks. Instinct

told Carolle that he was in serious

trouble. But she couldn't tell

anyone—it was only a suspicion. What if she were

wrong?

SR Dorothea Love

ILLUSTRATION BY RON LIGHTBURN

The three o'clock bell rang, ending another day of classes at North Hilton High School. Students poured from the large stone building into the bright sunshine.

Carolle Johnson stretched her slim, six-foot frame and looked for the familiar figure of her younger brother, Drew. She squinted, trying to focus her large, brown eyes across the courtyard.

"Where are you, Drew?" She muttered to herself. His behavior, which had changed drasti-cally over the past few weeks, frustrated her. Carolle wanted to talk to her parents about Drew, but she didn't want to be a rat.

"Hey!" Drew's voice startled Carolle. "I could punch you out," she scolded. "What's

with you? You're getting later and later every day."

"You worry too much," laughed Drew. "Let's go home."

A message from Mom was waiting for them when they got home. Your dad and I are working late tonight; I don't know when we'll be home, it read.>

January 1991 • LISTEN • 3

X1.7. Pi

1211119.1

"Good," said Drew. "I'm going out for a while."

"Where?" Carolle asked. "Don't you have homework?"

Drew grabbed his new leather jacket and left without answering.

If only she could talk to Drew. She didn't like him running around with that rough gang at school. She remembered the same guys bullying Drew when he first came to North Hilton High. Now Drew had started dressing like them, with his greased hair and leather jacket. Did he do other things that the gang did—like use drugs?

Carolle finished her homework and started supper. "Drew, you'd better get here soon," she said, glancing at the clock-5:30. How would she explain Drew's absence to Mom and Dad?

Drew rushed through the door an hour later. "Mom and Dad home yet?" he gasped, trying to catch his breath.

"No. What's wrong with you?" He walked away without answering Carolle.

She followed him upstairs to his room. Drew lay down on the bed.

"Are you sick?" she asked. "Leave me alone, Carolle." "I won't leave you alone!" she screamed.

"Something is changing you, and I'm scared." Drew closed his eyes and put a pillow over his

head to block out her angry voice. "You're a pain!" Carolle said as she marched

from the room. Going to Mom and Dad was out of the ques-

tion. They'd blow up if she told them that Drew was doing drugs. Besides, she didn't know for sure. She had to be positive about it first.

"Drew, supper's ready," called Carolle. No answer. "Drew," she yelled, heading for his room. The

door was closed so she knocked. When Drew didn't answer, she opened the door slightly. Drew jumped, and he had a caught-in-the-act look on his face.

"What's going on in here?" she asked. "Nothing. I was just on my way in there." He

motioned toward the bathroom. "I know you're up to something," Carolle said

accusingly. "Get off my back," Drew snapped. When they sat down to eat, Drew picked at his

food halfheartedly. Tiny beads of perspiration pooled on his forehead and ran down his cheeks.

"Hey, you always liked my spaghetti. How come you're not eating?" Carolle asked.

"Just not hungry," he mumbled. "Are you sick? You're sweating," Carolle said,

reaching across the table to feel his head. "Your eyes look funny. Maybe I'd better call Mom."

Drew tensed. "No, I'm fine. You're being silly."

Later that night, Carolle watched television and thought about Drew. Instinct told her that he was in serious trouble, and that she should tell her parents. Loud music blasted from Drew's stereo. "Turn it down," she yelled. No response.

She went to his room and knocked on the door. No answer. Carolle opened the door and pan-icked when she saw Drew lying face down on the floor.

She rolled him over. He was pale, clammy—and unconscious. She shook him but he didn't respond.

Carolle raced across the hall to her parents' bedroom and trembled as she dialed 911. "My brother's passed out and I can't get him to come

LISTEN (ISSN 0024-435X), January 1991, volume 44, number 1, is published monthly by Narcotics Education, Inc., 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, U.S.A. For the U.S.A.: one-year subscription $16.95 (U.S.). Second-class postage paid at Nampa, ID. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to LISTEN, P.O. Box 7000, Boise, ID 83707.


ILLUSTRATION BY RON LIGHTBURN

to," she told the operator frantically. "Is he breathing?" the operator asked. "I don't know," Carolle cried. "Listen to me," the operator said calmly.

"Look at his chest. See if it rises and falls, OK?" "OK," said Carolle. She raced back to Drew.

Kneeling beside him, she watched his chest. It was moving. She ran to the phone.

"Yes, yes, he's breathing, but he's still out!" she said.

"Good. Now get a blanket and cover him," instructed the operator. "The paramedics will be there soon. I'll stay on the phone with you until they arrive."

"All right." Carolle yanked the thick blanket from Drew's bed, covered him, and checked his respiration.

"I've covered him, and he's still breathing," she gasped to the waiting operator.

"You're doing fine," the operator said. "Do you know what happened to your brother?"

"I'm not sure," Carolle said. Before she could

blurt out her suspicions, the paramedics arrived. She let them in and led them to Drew's room. After taking Drew's blood pressure and pulse, they placed him onto a stretcher.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Carolle as she followed them to the ambulance. "Will he be OK?"

One of the paramedics answered her with another question. "How long has your brother been using drugs?"

"What makes you think he uses drugs?" Carolle asked, stunned that the paramedic was echoing her suspicions.

"We found these on your brother's bed," he said. He showed her three tiny, white rocks and a glass pipe.

"What are those?" "Cocaine in rock form, better known as crack.

This is the pipe he smoked with," explained the paramedic.

Carolle's mouth dropped open. She'd been right about Drew. If only she'd told her parents earlier, maybe none of this would be happening.

The ride to the hospital was a blur of fear and panic for Carolle. She prayed desperately for Drew's safety. At the hospital, she gave the nurse basic information about Drew, along with their parents' phone number at work. She paced around the waiting area, hoping to receive word on Drew's condition.

"Carolle! What's happened?" Mrs. Johnson exclaimed as she rushed into the room.

"Drew passed out, Mom. They think it's from drugs," Carolle answered.

"How could this happen?" Mom started crying.

Carolle's father was calmer. "Your brother has been using drugs?" he asked in disbelief.

Carolle nodded. "Did you know about any of this?" he prod-

ded. Carolle shrugged. "I didn't know for sure, but I

suspected it," she said softly. Mr. Johnson let out a long sigh. "Why didn't

you come to Mom or me about it?" "I didn't want to rat on Drew," cried Carolle.

"What if it turned out he wasn't doing drugs?" "Carolle, the point is that he was," Mr. Johnson

said angrily. "I'm sorry, Dad," she answered, wiping at her

tears. Mr. Johnson hugged Carolle. "Me too," he

said. "I didn't mean to snap at you. Mom and I should have been paying closer attention to you and your brother."

Carolle rested her head on her father's arm. Then and there, she made a vow to tell her parents about her suspicions and worries from now on.


WSW

Luan Miller

There's not a Ferrari alive today

that can capture the adrenalin rush you'll get firing up

a restored steam locomotive. You

sanded, scraped, ground, and

greased to earn the right. So go for it!


I

he glory days of steam locomotives are over, but their appeal lingers on. More than a century ago, long black trains filled

with hopeful settlers snaked westward across the plains. By the turn of the century, pictur-esque trolleys—forerunners of

our rapid-transit systems—carried people from the city outskirts to downtown offices and shops.

Today, groups across the country have formed to restore these train engines and cars to their prime. Enthusiasts admit that working with these mammoths of the past often evolves from a casual hobby into a passion.

"Working on a restored train is like being in a different time," says Jim Miller, an engineer with Sumpter Valley Railroad Restora-tion in Baker, Oregon. "Ours is

• one of the last wood-burning

engines in the world. People are fascinated with the idea that anything this big could run on wood."

Cracking the Books Actual restoration usually

begins with research. When Sumpter Valley Railroad (SVRR) discovered one of its original cabooses sitting at a nearby museum, the caboose looked in bad shape. After negotiations with the museum resulted in a permanent loan of

the caboose, the work com-menced.

Volunteers tracked down old drawings and photographs of the caboose—to ensure the authenticity of the restoration—from the days when it was in active service. Many pieces had to be custom-made. The steps and platforms at each end required complete reconstruc-tion, and complications arose because current standard lumber dimensions don't match those used 50 years ago. The restorers commissioned a small lumber mill to custom cut all the wood needed to match original measurements.

Small details and finishing touches were carefully scruti-nized. Window sashes and frames and the small cupola in the roof had to be researched and reconstructed. A retired engineer who had once worked on the Sumpter Valley line remembered the caboose from his childhood and helped with some of the features that couldn't be found in books.

Finally the caboose was painted inside and out with maroon, silver, and gray—the original SVRR colors. "When we first got the caboose, it was just an empty shell," says Jim. "But now we've got a beautiful, carefully restored car. It's the favorite of our passengers."

There are currently more than 225 restored trains—steam and diesel—and trolleys oper-ating in North America. Some, like the Black Hills Central Railroad in South Dakota, are recognizable from their use in movie and TV westerns. Oth-ers, like the well-known Roar-ing Camp & Big Trees Narrow Gauge, in northern California's gold country, bring back the days of mining and lumber camps.

"I started with absolutely no

A STEAIVIE

Volunteers restore an old engine at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden, Colorado. Left inset: Repairing a set of wheel "trucks" from a box-car. Right inset: The engineer pulls back on the throttle of steam locomotive No. 2 on the Cass Scenic Railroad in West Virginia.

The fireman bails a scoop of coal into the firebox of a steam locomotive. PHOTO BY PAULO. BOISVERT

knowledge of railroad work or anything," says John Berube, 20, who volunteers at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. "Any-thing I needed to learn, I was shown how to do. There are jobs enough for anyone who has an interest. There's electri-cal work, shop work, line rail work. Any interest at all can be incorporated into something

useful. The regular people show you how to do the job."

A Niche for Every Novice John is right about the huge

variety of things a train-restora-tion enthusiast can do. In addition to everything involved in restoration and maintenance, there are the jobs having to do with the trains' operation: engineer, ticket agent, conduc-

tor, etc. Some railroads, such as Sumpter Valley, even schedule train robberies to add color to the ride, relying on volunteers to play the bad guys. Whatever your interest, you're bound to find a special niche.

"I've liked trains since I was little," says Ryan Kasten, 16, who works with the St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. in Jackson, Mis-

Working on the Railroad Railroad preservation means people—people who volunteer their time to restore, rehabili-tate, and conserve railroad equipment.

If it sounds like work, you're right. But the lure and romance of railroads attract many teenagers. For example, at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, teen-age volunteers operate steam-powered trains, guide visitors through exhibits, and give brief history lessons. At the Railroad Museum of Pennsyl-vania in Strasburg, volunteers spend their weekends trans-forming weathered steam locomotives into glistening exhibits. In the Midwest, Illinois Railway Museum

can e from

among 400 steam, diesel, and trolley restoration projects. As projects are completed, volun-teers take them out for a spin!

But you don't have to be a skilled craftsperson to join the fun. Museums are happy to have help with cleaning and polishing locomotives, install-ing track crossties, cutting brush, and shoveling stone. Many museums have appren-ticeships and on-the-spot training programs you can join. Or you might choose to sell tickets to passengers or be a car host on a passenger train. If you're 16 or older, you might get a chance to fire up a steam locomotive!

A little summer fun on the railroad could even turn into a potential job. Managers, corn-

puter operators, historic pres-ervation and train personnel, mechanics, librarians, and curators are just a few career opportunities in the field.

By participating in railroad preservation, you can learn about history. You can learn how to use special tools. You can learn about tradition from old-timers.

But the best part is knowing that you helped make a differ-ence. Without you, the aging steam engine might not have been restored, the tickets might not have been sold, or the track might not have been safe. It's exciting to take credit for helping run a railroad.

Can't you hear the whistle blowing?

—Kurt Bell


All Aboard! You can climb aboard as a railroad volunteer just by asking. Although some groups have full-time paid employees, most still depend on volunteers to make their trains run.

Listed here are just a few restoration groups to get you started. Check with your local chamber of commerce or visitor's center to learn about historical railroads in your area.

• Seashore Trolley Mu-seum, Kennebunkport, Maine: Operates daily, spring through fall. The museum houses the oldest and largest electric-railway collection in the country.

• St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co., Jackson, Missouri: Trains run April to November and offer an evening dinner trip.

• Sumpter Valley Rail-road Restoration, Baker, Oregon: Operates week-ends, Memorial Day through September. The train runs through

historic gold mining dredging and features one of the last few wood-burning engines.

• Black Hills Central Rail-road, Hill City, South Dakota: The 1880 train is one of the oldest, most photographed tourist trains operating. Some of its cars have appeared on TV and in various Walt Disney films.

• Wilmington & Western Railroad, Greenbank, Delaware: Operates Sun-days, May through Octo-ber. Take a train ride through the scenic Red Clay Valley of northern Delaware.

For a comprehensive, illus-trated directory, send $8.00 (includes postage and handling)—add $2.50 if you live outside the U.S.—to Steam Passenger Service Directory, Box 599, Richmond, VT 05477. If you'd like to subscribe to a magazine on train preservation, write for information to Locomotive & Railway Preservation, Box 95, Richmond, VT 05477.

PH

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souri. "I got involved with this railroad project in 1987. I knew the manager. One weekend they were short of volunteers, so she asked if I'd like to help out. I acted as a host for the train. Since then, I've done a variety of things—from being a ticket agent to chiefing, which consists of narrating the trip for tourists."

"I like to hang around the barn and help work on the engine," says 10-year-old Allen Leathlean, who, with his father and sister, volunteers at Sumpter Valley. "Sometimes I work on the engines, tighten-ing bolts and stuff or cleaning out the smoke stack, which is important with a wood-burn-ing engine. Mostly, though, I help out at the depot."

His sister, Michelle, 11, adds, "Sumpter is set in a wildlife preserve, and you can sometimes see deer or beaver from the train. We also have a small graveyard along the route with funny markers. The conductor gives this long, tall story about the people suppos-edly buried there. It's all just for fun."

"I've always been fascinated by trains," says Jim Miller. "When a friend asked me to come up to Sumpter Valley as a fireman, I wasn't even sure what he meant, but I was interested. On a train, the fireman keeps the engine stoked with big pieces of wood and makes sure the boiler keeps a full head of steam. After acting as a fireman for a year, I got the chance to be an engineer. It's great! You feel very important operating something this powerful."

What are you waiting for? Volunteer to recreate a page of history. Keep alive these "iron horses" of the past. At the very least, catch a ride on one. Special thanks from the editors to the staff of Locomotive & Railway Preserva-tion for their generous assistance, especially to Kurt Bell, 18-year-old editorial assistant.

Trainman Kurt Bell (left) tapes a commercial for the USA cable-television network after a day's run on the Wilmington & Western Railroad in Green-bank, Delaware.


Sonya Glenn

A mound of black dirt. A buried casket. Chiseled letters on a cold granite slab. Teen suicide.

"Tell them that drugs are suicide," John pleaded.

I told them I was writing an article for teenagers about teen suicide.

"What do you want me to tell them?" I asked the group of six teens. All of them were patients on the adolescent psychiatric unit where I'm a counselor.

They looked back at me. Their expressions were odd mixtures of confusion, sorrow, embarrassment, and hope. Each had been admitted to our unit because of suicide attempts.

Don't breathe a sigh of relief too soon, I reminded myself. Although they were medically stable, they weren't yet safe from themselves. The danger was still there and very real. Now the hard part would begin. I needed to move gently and cautiously as they struggled with the decision to live or to die. I wanted them to choose life!

"What do you want me to tell them?" I repeated to the group. "You're the experts."

There was a pause as they gathered their thoughts. Fidget-ing nervously in the metal chairs, they carefully avoided

ILLUSTRATION BY KEVIN BEILFUSS

eye contact in the hope that someone else would volunteer to talk first. It was almost a ritual to stare at each other's shoes when we first began.

Terri Terri* finally spoke. "I wish

I'd never done it." She hesi-tated, struggling for the right words. She twisted long strands of blond hair around her fingers and examined them for imaginary split ends. "I thought nobody cared about me. I'd been thinking about suicide for a long time. Then my boyfriend and I broke up.

"I swallowed a bottle of pills from my mom's bathroom and then went riding with my best friend. She wondered why I seemed so calm after crying all day. We went to the mall and after a while I couldn't stand up. I finally told her what I'd done, and she brought me to the emergency room. I sure hurt a lot of people." Terri's eyes filled with tears.

John John*, a skinny 15-year-old,

told his experience. It almost

seemed like he was talking to himself. "Everything was black for me. I told some people that I was going to hang myself from a tree in front of the school. They said I was too chicken to do it. I showed them, didn't I?" He looked away in embarrass-ment. His face flushed red.

John—always the outcast, I thought. He made his mark at school by acting crazy. He claimed to be a Nazi, shaved his head, took lots of drugs, and never passed up a dare. He liked to interrupt school events by grabbing the microphone and shouting war slogans until he was carried away.

The night he was brought to the hospital, a friend had called the police to get him out of a tree in front of the school. He'd been drinking and doing other drugs, a lethal combination. For a day or two, we didn't know whether he'd even make it to our floor from intensive care. He did survive, but suffered permanent damage to his liver.

"I don't know how I'm going to make it. I don't know how to be normal. And I don't know how to stop doing the drugs. I


know I'm addicted. But I don't know if I can stop—or even if I want to. It's scary to think about living without drugs. But if I keep on, I know I'm going to die. Maybe that's what I want."

John's hands trembled violently. He clasped them together in an attempt to keep them still. "I thought I was really being cool. Now look at me. Drugs are suicide, man. Tell them that drugs are sui-cide."

John shoved his chair back to the wall and left the room. This had become his usual behavior as soon as he had shared. He

couldn't take the closeness. He probably thought he'd blown it for good.

The others began to share their experiences.

Brent "During my suicidal period,

I could only think of one thing—wanting to die. I felt that I had no reason at all to live. I guess I just didn't care. What made it worse was that I had no idea why I was de-pressed."

Brent*, the hunk—as the girls called him, was an athletic 16-year-old who had slit both wrists. He pulled on his stitches

as he talked. There were more than 70 of them.

"Once I jumped in front of a police car. My friends pulled me back. The cops asked me what I thought I was doing—trying to get myself killed? I just shrugged and told them I was fooling around. So they let me go."

Last year, Brent had been out riding three-wheelers with his younger cousin, Joey. They'd come to a major highway. Brent made it across safely. Joey got hit by a semi and died in-stantly. Brent had held Joey's mangled body until the police pulled him away.

"I couldn't go to the funeral. It was my fault," he'd say softly when he talked about it. "I told Joey it was clear. I didn't see the truck coming. I wish it had been me."

Somehow Brent couldn't see the connection between Joey's death and his own wish to die. I wish it had been me had taken root in his mind.

Angie Angie* touched his arm. "I

know how you feel. I never understood why I was de-pressed either. I understand my feelings better since I've been here. I thought maybe I was going crazy." She giggled nervously. Different members of the group liked to tease each other about being psychos.

"I thought it was my fault when my dad died. He was an alcoholic. I remember him beating my mama. He'd come in drunk and start hitting her. I'd hide in my bedroom and cry. Sometimes, I wished he was dead. I'd pray and ask God to take him away."

She tried to hold back tears. "Well, he did die. He died of a heart attack on my tenth birthday. I still wonder if I killed him by hating him so much." She hid her face in her arms and let the tears come.

Angie took an overdose on


her sixteenth birthday. She laid down to die, got scared, and called her best friend, who brought her to the emergency room. Since she'd been in the hospital, the attractive, likable redhead had done a lot of soul searching and a lot of grieving.

After the tears had subsided, she looked up and brushed her face with her fingertips. "I just wanted the pain to end. I didn't really want to kill myself. Now I'm dealing with all those feelings I've kept hidden for years. You know, it feels pretty good too."

We smiled at each other. Angie had grown up trying to be strong for her mom. Now it was her turn to heal.

Matt Matt* laughed nervously as

he began. "I know it sounds crazy now, but I didn't want to die either. I didn't really think of suicide as dying. I guess somehow I thought I'd still

wake up again the next day. "It really blew me away

when you asked me to tell you what I thought would happen to me after I died. I wondered why you were asking me that. It sounded like you thought I might stop living or something. It really started me thinking about what I was doing. Suicide means you die. It's permanent. Seems kind of stupid that I didn't see that before."

Jennifer Jennifer* broke in. "I thought

I had to be perfect. When things got tough, I knew I wasn't perfect and never would be. But I didn't know how to fail." Jennifer was the model student—straight A's, well-liked by peers and teachers, great at sports. Her suicide attempt right before graduation came as a shock to everybody.

"I'm glad I didn't die. I'm glad I got a second chance. Tell

them in your article that if they're thinking about suicide, to give themselves a second chance."

Way to go, Jennifer, I thought. You're going to make it.

Six teenagers. Six attempted suicides. They survived. Five thousand others die each year.

If you're thinking about suicide, tell someone and get help. Don't try to face your problems alone. Tell your school counselor. Talk to your youth pastor. Call your local mental-health clinic, hospital, or suicide hotline if your community has one. You're not alone.

Don't respond to temporary problems with the permanence of suicide. Choose solutions that leave you with future options. Choose life!

* All names (including the au-thor's) have been changed to protect privacy.

The Deadly Connection The suicide rate for teenagers has tripled in the past decade. In fact, as many as one out of seven teenagers in America may have attempted suicide, according to a 1988 survey funded by the U.S. Depart-ment of Health and Human Services. Suicide now ranks as the second leading cause of death among 15- to 24-year-old Americans, claiming 5,100 lives each year, according to 1990 statistics released by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics. (The acci-dents/adverse effects category ranks first with 20,000; malig-nant neoplasm—cancer, etc.—ranks third with 2,100.)

Clinical observation of high-risk groups indicates that drug use is a major piece of the frightening suicide puzzle. Drug-rehabilitation counselors

have long felt the danger of suicide is directly linked to drug use. A 1990 study of 298 adolescent patients at four drug-treatment centers found that teenagers using drugs are at least three times more likely to attempt suicide than their drug-free peers. In over half of suicide attempts or completed suicides, alcohol and other drugs are involved—frequently having been used within eight hours of the incident.

Many teenagers use drugs mistakenly believing that a snort of this, a hit of that, or a couple of beers will help them cope with life. Experts say that although many factors enter into a person's decision to try suicide, drug use aggravates or initiates suicidal behavior because of the ways in which

various drugs affect the psyche.

Depressant drugs—alcohol, PCP, LSD—give users "lows" that can trigger suicide at-tempts. Stimulants—crack, cocaine, speed—can give users "rebound lows" that are equally dangerous. Cocaine use, for example, is increas-ingly being linked to suicide attempts. In one study, a whopping 54 percent of cocaine users had attempted suicide at least once.

The bottom line is that drugs don't help teens cope. Teenagers who use alcohol and other drugs kill or attempt to kill themselves significantly more often than teenagers who don't use drugs. Suicide is one more way drugs have proven themselves a deadly connec-tion.


What's hip? What's happening? What's new? Here's the latest word according to our best sources—you!

What is the best way to keep teens off drugs? The best way to keep kids off drugs is to have an open mind about their questions, concerns, and general curiosity regarding drugs. If you've never experienced something, you're obviou y going to be curious about it. Pare teachers, and friends who are really in to ith teens should pick up on this— and Id be open and tell them the facts. Scare ics, campaigns, and telling kids they're ause they try drugs only has a limited effect. Teens need understanding, not criticism and scolding. —Jennifer Calderbank, 17, Lacombe, Alberta

If caught selling drugs, teens should be tried as adults. A mandatory 10 years should be served in jail. After all, if dealers don't care about other lives, why not keep them off the stre s in order to save useful people. If cau t on drugs while driving, teens should not allowed to drive any longer. And we need re money for rehabilitation. We need better facilities to keep teens off of drugs. —Jason Upchurch, 15, Budd Lake, New Jersey

I'm a Japanese staying in the U.S. as an exchange student. In Japan we don't have any problem with drugs in schools, because the teenagers don't know how to get them. "We must not use drugs" is a very valuable sentence for the Japanese. The police, teach-ers, and everyone else except drug sellers try to avoid having drugs in Japan. To observe

rules strictly is the Japanese way. —Kaori Maki, 18, Ozawkie, Kansas

Teachers who provide students with drug-prevention information shouldn't emphasize the scientific points—these don't impress the students in particular. Instead, they should show movies about how a teen's life is changed when he or she starts doing drugs. The schools can also try to bring a person that used to do drugs to talk to the students and tell them how drugs affected his or her life. Drug hotline numbers should be posted on bulletin boards. Teachers should encourage students to form clubs against drugs. —Alina Kantor, 14, Acton, Massachusetts

We could hang drug dealers, take over Columbia and give them help, and test kids for drugs. Schools should be locked up during school hours to keep drug dealers out. Parents should be home when kids get home. —Brad Harrington, 14, Meriden, Kansas

I think the best way to keep teens off drugs is to enforce penalties for drug use. School and government officials have been too lenient with drug users and pushers. I feel manda-tory random drug testing should be done in all schools in grades 7 through 12—including teachers and administrators. —Becky Baker, 12, Excelsior Springs, Missouri

Kids should find out very early in life the effects that drugs have and how drugs can ruin lives and futures. Drug education should be just as important as math or English. Learning about drugs should be a part of the students' curriculum as soon as they enter school. In this way they will know how bad drug-taking really is before it can ruin them. —Cathy Pilone, 14, Flanders, New Jersey

Reader responses don't necessarily reflect the views of LISTEN.


•

Don t let cold weather freeze your exercise program. Cheak out these calorie-burning winter activities (calorie consumption listed

is per hour a activity by a 158-pound adult):

ice hockey-900, cross-country skiing---700, snow shoveling--610, sledding-425, ice skat-

ing (leisure)--;-350.

—Campus Life

In Egypt, "1-low do you sweat?" is a

commonly

used greeting

—Mihael Caine's Almanac of Amazing Information

The current population of Los Angeles, Cali-fornia, is only slightly less than that of the

whole1.3.S. 200 years ago. —Naional Geographic World

One marijuana joint releases five times more carbon monoxide into the bloodstream and three times more tar into the lungs than one cigarette. Also, more pot smokers than tobacco smokers

get heart disease.

—Sassy

The national average cost

of operating a car is

27.3 cents a mle, which adds up

to more than $4000 yearly if you drive 15,000 miles. This

doesn't include the price of the vehicle.

---GEICO Direct The

temperature on A/lercury, the

closest planet to the sun, hits 800 degrees Fahrenheit during the day.

--American Astronomical Society A new

Us. survey reveals that more than 3 million teenagers think smokeless tobacco prod- ucts such as

they tobacco and snuff are

safe—even though they cause

cancer and other

serious health problems.

Americn Academy of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery

In general, high-school athletes, especially blacks and Hispanics, do as well (or better) in class as students

who don't participate

in

s, sports, according to a recent tudy.

--Sports Illustrated Par ICids show.

Lecturing and grounding are the

methods most

used byparents to

punish teens, survey results

—Group Boys cry as much as girls until the age of 12, but between

the ages of 13 and 16 girls cry

four times more often.

--Seventeen Teens using drugs

are at least three times

more

itice/y to

attempt suicide than their drug-free peers, concludes

a /990 study.

--(See "Death Wish,"page 10)

0

OHN BAKER

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Russell Smoak

The slope falls out of sight below her as the driving snow pelts her face. In a few seconds

she won't notice. It'll be just her stubborn determination against the elements .. . and she'll win, again.

Beep, beep, beep. The electronic timer at the starting gate begins its rhythmic beat as the starter yells, "Skier ready—three, two, one—skier go!" Muscles tense. Action.

Roni Sasaki, a member of the United States Disabled Ski Team, bolts out of the starting gate and wings down the steep slalom course. The words "Skier on course" hurl down the mountain from gatekeeper to gatekeeper. The driving snow makes it difficult for her to see more than one gate ahead. For Roni, it's just an-other "small" obstacle to overcome.

Most people's idea of skiing well is getting down a slope without falling—slow and easy, using both legs. But that's not Roni's idea of skiing well. For this peppy, pretty, outspoken world-class athlete, skiing

Left: Roni Sasaki picks up speed as she balances herself using outrig-gers for poles. Top inset: Waiting for the "go." Bottom inset: Being interviewed by a Rocky Mountain News reporter.

means blazing down the slopes at 45 to 60 MPH on one leg!

Roni is an amputee and has been since birth. She was born with her right knee attached to her hip joint. There was no possibility of reconstruction or of saving what was left of her leg.

Roni, 26, started skiing six years ago and began racing almost immediately. She entered a disabled beginners' race, winning a bronze medal in the slalom and a gold in the giant slalom. This earned her first place overall. "I always wanted to be good at some sport. Skiing gave me a chance to excel."

Roni skis in a category called LW-2 or "three-tracker"—a term used to describe a person who skis on one ski with two outriggers for poles.

In February and March, she participated in the 1990 World Disabled Skiing Champion-ships held in Winter Park, Colorado. Of the 191 skiers from 17 countries who at-tended, only 33 were women.

Roni says she's afraid that disabled women aren't being given the chance to learn how to cope with their disabilities as well as they might. Her goal is to inspire these other women to try attaining their own seem-ingly impossible dreams.

She wants to provide what she never had. "I grew up with one leg, and I always wanted to be an athlete. Nobody ever encouraged me to be athletic. It took me two years to find someone who could teach me to ski."

Sports have always played a major role in Roni's life. She bicycles, swims, and played volleyball in high school. She's even tried skateboarding, which she admits was a little crazy for a one-legged person.

At a third-grade track meet, she entered the broad jump. She used her crutches like a pole in pole-vaulting and set a school record—one that put her name on a plaque and still stands today.

Roni's mother remembers the time when Roni, a high-


Roni takes a quick breather between races. She consistently places third or fourth, frequently challenging those who usually come in first.

111111111HE vi

school junior, entered a Miss United Teen pageant. Roni was awarded first runner-up!

Roni admits that keeping a positive attitude hasn't always been easy. She's fought to overcome some very difficult barriers. Low self-worth has been the worst.

"I felt I was so different, having one leg—less of a per-son. I finally overcame this when I was in high school. It's hard to grow up different." Many times Roni went home in tears because she was the last one chosen to be on a team at school.

"My parents have always been very supportive. They're responsible for my feelings of being normal. I was never coddled. They taught me to be a high achiever, to reach into myself and be all that I could be."

Her parents weren't the only ones who refused to give her special treatment. Roni spent some time at a hospital for


crippled children. The staff wouldn't allow her to think that she was disabled. The doctor even refused to write a letter for her to get a disabled person's bus pass.

Their firmness paid off. Today Roni skis because she can and because she believes that the word disabled is only a word describing a condition—not lack of ability.

Two years ago, Roni married Derek, whom she calls one of her most avid supporters. "He yells at me if I don't work hard enough," she says with a smile. "He really encourages me to work out."

Her training requires a lot of effort. Five days a week, Roni rides a Life Cycle two to three hours and then skis four to six hours. "I always say I'll get into better shape," she laughs.

Jennifer Kennedy, a trainer and coach for the U.S. Disabled Ski Team, says Roni will be a major threat at the 1992 world skiing championships to be

held in France. "Roni is one of the most improved athletes that I've seen. It took us all by surprise. She's just a sweet-heart—very supportive and very stable."

"I was really intimidated when I started skiing," Roni says. "I was the underdog, the nobody. My teammates be-lieved I could do things before I believed I could. Even my competitors knew I was better than I thought I was, and gave me tips on how to do things."

Since December 1989, Roni's times have improved dramati-cally. "I was tired of being last. No one took me seriously. I wanted to be a competitor."

Now Roni consistently places third or fourth in races, fre-quently challenging those who usually come in first. She often posts times that are only a few tenths of a second shy of times posted by some able-bodied world-class skiers.

"When you compete with this class of athlete, the disabili-ties go away," Roni's mother says.

One aspect of Roni's training is avoiding alcohol and other drugs. She and her family have seen too many friends' lives hurt by drug use. For Roni, using drugs isn't an alternative under any circumstances.

Roni has done what few people have ever had a chance to try, and she's done it on only one leg. "Society thinks that rather than adapting to some-thing, you're better off not even trying. We're all too fear-of-failure oriented." If Roni shared this belief, she wouldn't be posting the excellent times in slalom, downhill, and giant slalom that she is. And she wouldn't be bringing home medals—lots of them.

Roni is looking at two more years on the race circuit. Then she wants to settle down and have a family. Meanwhile, her training goes on and so does her winning attitude.

PHOTO BY RUSSELL SMOAK

.11

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be sexual with you, and you'll still happen. He'll still want to

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-,-. Anders say to yourself, "There's life, a better life than I can imagine right now, beyond this relationship."

I'-• Have a question about friendships, family relations, drugs and health, or other teenage p concerns? Ask a friend lack Anders, parent, counselor, and social worker. Address your questions to "Ask a Friend," LISTEN Magazine, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904. Jack is sorry that he cannot answer letters individually.


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Don't think 1 that Harrison Ford has the corner on spine-tingling adventures. You can have them too. But first you'll need to meet the ancient one and learn the secret password. • • • • • • • • • OOOOO • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

With a sigh, Drucilla wiped the perspiration from her brow. The heat of the jungle was overpower-ing. She should be close to it now—very close. Soon all of her hardship, struggle, and pain would be rewarded. She hacked at the vines with her machete.

The expedition had gone badly from the beginning, due to foul weather and treacherous trail. Then, on the fourth day, Emilio—her hand-some but scornful guide—had turned purple and died quite suddenly. That caused a panic among the native porters who, fearing witchcraft, ran screeching into the jungle. It hadn't gotten any better.

But now, 11 lonely, exhausting days later, victory was in sight. There stood the crumbling ruins of the ancient temple in the shadow of a hill. Breathless, she raised her trembling knuckles to knock on the moss-covered door.

Knock, knock. The door jerked open, revealing a short, squat figure. The pale, gray face that scrutinized her had a strange, almost reptilian look—the eyes were far too small, the mouth too wide—but it was somehow unthreatening.

"What come you for?" the voice rasped. "I-I've come for the Secret," stammered Dru-

cilla. "What secret want you?" The already tiny eyes

narrowed. "I seek that which will transform me. All my

life I've been boring; no one wants to talk to me. I-I want to know how to talk to people," Drucilla whispered.

The gray face looked thoughtful. "Many suns no one has come this knowledge to find." Sud-denly the keeper of the temple leaned forward,


staring at her intently. "Listen!"

Drucilla held her breath, waiting. But the two tiny eyes only stared at her. Minutes passed. A cricket chirped. At last she could endure the silence no longer.

"Um—listen to what?" "Listen!" Again Drucilla waited, her embarrassment

deepening. The reptilian face looked skyward and muttered something she couldn't quite make out.

Suddenly Drucilla's hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes shot wide open. "Oh," she gasped. "You mean listen!"

The ancient one nodded vigorously and grinned, quite literally, from ear to ear. "Perhaps hope there is for your generation. Go you in peace."

The Secret Revealed Most of us haven't hacked through a jungle to

find the answer, but along with Drucilla we wonder, "What's the secret? How do I talk to other people successfully?"

If it were just a matter of talking, you could buy a megaphone and take lessons from an auctioneer. The trouble is, what you want is a conversation with someone. To make a conversa-tion work, the other person has to want to talk to you.

Maybe the real question is, "How do I get people to want to talk with me?"

Well, you could shave your head, wear a tuxedo to school, and walk backward every-where. But that would make you more of a conversation piece than a conversationalist. You want people to talk with you, not about you. Just getting noticed isn't enough.

The answer to this dilemma is deceptively simple, yet surprisingly difficult. It's also so

ILLUSTRATION BY KERRY MANWARING

obvious that most people miss it. Listen.

Everyone likes and needs to have people listen to them. It doesn't matter whether that person is a senator in Washington, D.C., or a goat herder in Tibet; we all need to be listened to. It's one of the few things that our super computers and high-tech hardware can't do for us. We still need real, live people to listen to us.

If someone stops for a minute to listen to you talk, it feels good. It's like they're saying, "You have something interesting to say. Your thoughts

• OOOOOOOOOO • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

"Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice."

—Shakespeare

• • • OOOOOOOOO • OOOOOO • • • • • • • • • •

are worthwhile." It's kind of like giving your Labrador retriever a pat on the head. (But hey, we all need a pat on the head now and then.)

It feels a whole lot better when someone takes the time to listen to all you have to say and find out what you think. It validates you as a person, makes you feel important. When someone seri-ously listens to you, you're not just another carbon-based bipedal life form; you're Somebody. We're talking major ego stroking here.

That brings us to a very important question: If

listening is such a great thing, how come it's a lost art? The answer is so simple that it sounds stupid—but it's true: Because we're all too busy talking. That's our whole problem.

The solution to the problem is also simple: Get radical; do what no one else is doing. Stop talking so much and start listening more.

Think about it; if most people prefer talking (and they certainly do), then few people are willing to listen carefully. So good listeners are in demand, because there aren't enough of them.

You've probably known a good listener or two. They're the ones people describe as "good con-versationalists," "understanding," and "easy to talk to." Everyone likes a good listener, and with a bit of effort and practice, you can learn the art of listening.

Listen Up First of all, what is listening? I'll give you a

hint. It's not what you're doing five minutes before the bell rings to end your last class on the day of the basketball semifinals. There's more to it than letting sound run in one ear and dribble out the other.


Listening means actively directing your

attention toward another person and the words that he or she is speaking. It's an effort to learn what the other person is thinking.

The most important step in good listening is to be interested in what the other person says. I know—some people are really boring. But if you try hard to listen, you might be surprised at the entertaining, intriguing things you hear. Be patient; stick with it.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • OOOOO •

"Nature has given to man one tongue, but two ears, that we may hear from others twice as much as we speak."

—Epictetus • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Of course you have to show people that you're interested. Otherwise they won't feel comfortable talking to you. Fortunately, showing interest is easy. Look at the speaker and concentrate on what he or she is saying. You don't have to stare and tape record every utterance, but pay atten-tion.

While you're at it, make a little noise (but not too much). An occasional "Hmm" or "Really?" can provide a lot of encouragement, especially if the speaker is shy.

A brief, suitable question now and then is good too: "How did you feel about that?" or "What did you do next?" The idea is to let people fully explain their ideas, so don't use too many yes/no questions. It's all part of discovering what the other person is thinking.

Don't get carried away with questions, though. You don't have to take a vow of silence, but try to keep your talking to a minimum while learning how to listen. If you have some witty point or anecdote, swallow it. Let the other guy talk.

If the speaker has a problem, don't give loads


0 • of advice or talk

about your problems—let him or her talk it out. As often as not, the person

will come up with a solution and think that you're a brilliant advisor. A little silence can make you look as wise as Confucius.

Take care while you're learning to listen, because there are some pitfalls. Whatever you do, don't pretend to listen. People can spot a phony pretty quickly, and pretending that you're listen-ing can get you a reputation as a fake in no time. If you don't have the time to listen, politely say so.

The same warning applies to distractions. To be a good listener, you have to concentrate on what someone else is saying. Letting your atten-tion wander isn't going to impress anyone.

Some of the biggest distractions, unfortunately, come from the speaker. It's very easy to critique someone's clothes, hair, age, or voice while you're "listening" to him or her. Resist this temptation. Remember, diamonds are found in dull, gray rocks, and pearls come out of ugly, old oysters. The 83-year-old grouch or the kid with the purple mohawk might have some very profound thoughts to share.

Mastering the lost art of listening can take a lot of patience and tongue-biting, but the payoff is big. If you let people talk to you, they'll want to talk to you.

• OOOOOOOOOOOOO • •••••••• OOOOO • Learn to Listen • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • . • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

For more tips on the art of listening, take a trip to the nearest library. Here's a short list of books to get you started, but they aren't the only ones. If you can't find any books on listening, ask a librarian for help.

• Successful Listening, by Carol A. Roach and Nancy J. Wyatt. © 1988, Harper & Row.

• Listening Made Easy, by Robert L. Montgomery. © 1981, American Manage-ment Associations.

• Listening: The Forgotten Skill, by Madelyn Burley-Allen. © 1982, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

S M

Energize it! Make January your Club Evaluation Month. Assess what you've accomplished so far and then brainstorm plans for the new year. As a club project, devise a strategic planning calendar for the year. Link important club goals to specific dates and chart them on your calendar.

PRIME IDEAS FOR YOUR DRUG-FREE GROUP

They drank it dry On January 16, 1919, Ne-braska became the 36th state to board the prohibition train. The sale of alcoholic bever-ages became illegal in the U.S. one year later when the 18th Amendment took effect. The dry season ended December 5, 1933, when the 18th Amendment was repealed.

T

A LISTEN SPECIAL

JANUARY 1991

Boozeless cruises After several years of watching college students host an annual "Booze Cruise," Youth to Youth members in Hamilton, Bermuda, decided to join them—with the cruise part, that is.

Four years ago they planned the first "No-Booze Cruise," a four-hour cruise-ship excursion along the coast of Bermuda. Tickets for the cruise, which has become an annual event, are about $10 per person. The passengers, mostly local high-school students, enjoy music, food, and conversation—all without the presence of alcohol and other drugs. The boat holds about 240 people and, according to for-mer Youth to Youth leader Cal Ming, is always sold out. A dis-

count from the boat company and income from youth-run concession stands also help finance the cruise.

"We're getting a good response from businesses," says Ming. "In our community, there's not a lot for teenagers to do, so the parents are also very supportive." The cruises are so popular that this year the group added a drug-free "Valen-tine's Cruise."

Malik Showers, a 19-year-old who's been on four No-Booze Cruises, describes them as "a lot of fun and good company." He says, "The cruises provide young people with a place to go that's chaper-oned and that's considered safe by parents. A lot of people drive into Hamilton and hang out, maybe go

to a nightclub illegally. The cruises give them something to do in-stead."

The idea of hosting drug-free cruises has caught on in other cit-ies, including Warwick, Rhode Is-land, and Cincinnati, Ohio.

—Richard Moyers

Using a newsletter to get noticed How does a drug-free group grow from 5 members to 40 members in less than a year? Cathy Elstrom, Youth to Youth program director in Walla Walla, Washington, thinks that the key to her group's dra-matic growth is its quarterly Youth to Youth Newsletter.

The Walla Walla Youth to Youth group sends its four-page newslet-ter, which includes photographs, stories about Youth to Youth ac-tivities, and a calendar of upcom-ing events, to 450 community lead-ers. "We targeted adults in busi-nesses, churches, and educational

institutions," says Elstrom. "I've had many conversations and notes of encouragement."

The Walla Walla Youth to Youth chapter, with representatives in eight local high schools, planned a Youth to Youth conference in Sep-tember that attracted a large num-ber of participants.

If your drug-free group would like to publish a newsletter, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Businesses may donate their services if you ask. Local businesses donated typesetting, writing, and design services to the Walla Walla

Youth to Youth Newsletter. Cathy Elstrom says it wasn't difficult to get this help. "It was a matter of sending young people to the busi-nesses. It was easy to get that kind of support."

• It takes research to create a mailing list. If you don't already have a list, your local chamber of commerce can provide you with a list of businesses; your school dis-trict can provide a list of educators; other organizations may be willing to share their lists; and parents can be a great resource.

NEWSLETTER, next page

NEWSLETTER oo .wo2 woo wow

-Red Ribbon Week" urges drug-free commitments

Walla Walla Weekly YTY Meeting

uncle's, to 1.0 p *tot* vr. Vonvral ChapO 140614•PIN 1661 Da**harp 5566

NEWSLETTER. from previous page

• If you're scared of rising postal rates, remember that nonprofit organizations can apply for third-class bulk-mail permits for mailing at a fraction of the regular cost. To get the good rate, you have to do some sorting, bundling, and label-ing. Check with your post office.

Cathy Elstrom thinks her group's newsletter was worth the effort. Although the first issues were aimed at adults and building support in the community, she

wants to target future issues to-ward teens, and have young people take over production. With the new members' enthusiasm, that should be no problem. —Richard Moyers

Jump in! Has your drug-free group come up with a great project or program? Send us a brief description of it, along with your phone number and address. LISTEN may contact you for further info, and fea-ture your group in The Prime Times. Write to The Prime Times Correspondent, LIS-TEN Magazine, P.O. Box 10548, Silver Spring, MD 20904.

January's a super mont Football lovers of America love January. There seems to be a "bowl" for everyone! There's the Orange Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, the Sugar Bowl,

the Rose Bowl, and the Super Bowl. What a great reason to plan a party!

Plan an all-day Super Bowl party. Begin with a Sunday brunch. Have each person that comes contribute something to it. Good ideas for a brunch are bagels and cream cheese, scrambled eggs, waffles, pancakes, muffins, fried potatoes, and orange juice. Start your brunch around 10 or 11 o'clock.

After brunch, organize your friends into two teams and play football—even if it's snowing! The exercise will help work off the brunch and get you ready to sit down and root for the team of your choice in the afternoon.

If your team didn't make it to the BIG one, choose a team to root for anyway. Get into that team spirit and have partiers wear the colors of the team they're cheering for.

Super snack —pits pizza Use whole pita-bread rounds as the pizza crust. Spread on pizza sauce. Put your favorite toppings on. (One great advantage to doing these individual pizzas is that people can have their favorite kind!) Cover the toppings with mozzarella cheese and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees or until light brown and bubbling. —Janya Mekelburg

Party Line

THE PRIME TIMES

"RAT'S NEW Stamp out drug use!

A new, privately issued antidrug stamp series, has been released to help people "lick" drug problems in their commu-nities, according to Thomas R.* Neslund, executive director of the International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (ICPA).

The stamps, available as a collection (five each of six different illustrations), graphically depict colorful cartoonlike characters stomping on syringes and kicking bags of cocaine. Each stamp is ac-companied by a slogan such as "I am a drug-free zone."

"We hope people will use these stamps to encourage their families and friends to fight back against drug use," Neslund says. Drug-free groups are purchasing large numbers of them to sell in fund-raising projects.

A single sheet of 30 stamps—in English, Spanish, or French—costs one dollar, and reduced prices are available for bulk orders through the ICPA, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, Maryland 20904.

AIM

C

5

I'm so sorry I ate that piece of pie. I couldn't help myself. The strawberries were so big and juicy; the glaze was just right; the crust was baked to perfection; a dollop of whip cream delicious!! Maybe I'm not so sorry after all.

—Debra Sondall Ames, Iowa

Can ponder your meaning. Laughing silliness Gives way to serious contemplation As another side of your character Shows through.

—Jackie Ostrowicki Harrah, Oklahoma

1

vim J am.J

r• rr I rode the swing at my babysitter's

house Like a postcard princess White sandals and hair the color of

ripe sunshine The air hazy all around me My toes nearly touched the sky When I pulled myself to full

extension on the upswing My legs shuddering as I stretched the

muscles To wiry stiffness—just missing the

clouds Kicking back as hard as I could at the

base of the pendulum slide I would imagine spinning off into the

sky With no shoes and a fistful of rose

petals And a jump rope to lasso the wind.

—Mitzi Iserman New Canaan, Connecticut

)"*3441% \ I •..o0/4°

Just when I thought I knew you I saw you In a different perspective. Prismic. The Light shines through. The color's red; Another time it's blue. When will I see The real you? You hide your feelings In a fog of words. . . . Where those who are perceptive

Each month, LISTEN Magazine looks for short, well-written, thought-provoking manuscripts from teenage writers. The subject may be anything that interests teenagers. Limited space lets us print only a few of the best entries, but if we print your poem (no longer than 20 lines, please), you'll receive a $10 prize. The author of a printed story or essay (300-500 words) is awarded $15 to $20. Address your submissions to "Graffiti," LISTEN Magazine, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904. Be sure to tell us your age, and always include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Blazing Beetle Bombardiers The beetles go marching two by two, hurrah, hurrah. Blasting as they march along, hurrah, hurrah. You can almost hear the rally song rolling through the countryside as one very strange creature called the bombardier beetle prepares to battle. Scientists have known for some time that this beetle has a nozzle on its south side and a potent chemical factory inside. When faced with an enemy, the beetle can swivel its rump, take aim, and let loose with a searing, blister-raising spray.

Now researchers at Cornell University have discovered (with


the aid of super-fast strobe photography) that this bizarre beetle's spray is actually being blasted out at 500 rounds a second. Quite an impressive automatic weapon, dude.

The beetle mixes together a chemical potpourri—hydrogen peroxide, an irritant, and special enzymes—in an abdominal reaction chamber. Voila! A series of micro-explosions propels the vile mix at whatever or whom-ever the little warrior wills. Chemical warfare at its finest. And you thought the government was trying to catch up with another country.

How Swell! 3-D Is Back DA haircuts and poodle skirts were groovy the last time people watched this stuff. They crowded into movie theaters and put on cardboard 3-D glasses while the Creature from the Black Lagoon reached scaly hands into the air over their heads. Three-dimen-sional films were shocking, but unbelievable. The focus was poor, and flat screens and imperfect technology created 3-D effects that yanked the eyes in all sorts of uncomfortable directions.

But that was the fifties. Now Canadian filmmakers have perfectly aligned and focused two stereoscopic images; they've also stretched movie screens into six-story-high wraparounds. Using computer graphics and super-wide film formats, Imax Systems has created films with an amazingly real, pop-out-in-front-of-you technology called Imax Solido. Movie-goers' goggles are battery-operated, and the lenses are filled with liquid-crystal diodes, the same stuff that forms the numbers on a digital watch. The goggles' lenses operate like a camera shutter, opening and closing 24 times a second, alter-nating left and right, in synchro-nization with two Imax projec-tors. The movie screen is what makes this 3-D believable, though. In the old 3-D, when images grew large enough to overlap the screen, they appeared to snap back onto a flat plane. But Imax wraparound screens extend beyond the viewers' field of vision, so the images remain 3-D and touchably real.

Imax Systems operates a 3-D theater in Vancouver, British Columbia, and plans to build one in Galveston, Texas, and another in Taiwan. Don't look for 3-D at a theater near you any time soon, however. Imax says that while 3-D may be hot now, trends die quickly. Besides, people always want more, and since we only see life in three dimensions, it'd be tough to create a movie follow-up. Like what would they do-6-D?

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL ALAN THOMPSON

NUMBER SQUARE Milt Hammer

Rearrange the numbers below on the blanks in such a way that each row totals 65 in all directions: vertically, horizontally, and diagonally.

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25

X'S Karen Zeinert

Each X below begins and ends with the same word. To complete an X, take away one letter at a time from winter and drifts to make new words on the blanks below. Rearrange the letters when nec-essary. Continue until only one letter remains. Then, add one letter at a time, making more words, until you have the necessary letters to spell winter and drifts. Don't repeat any words.

WINTER DR I F TS

WINTER DR I F TS

PUZZLE ANSWERS

"Rhyme Time" •ania ooq •01 'aun; aunP '6 'punoq puno; .8 vaad tpirup •L 'wooq woolq -.9 'Told 404 .5 'durn duinid •t 'asnop asnoq - E 'cif-ups qruqs •z 'pmol) pnoi -1

"Number Square" 6 Z SZ 81 11

£ IZ 61 Z1 01

ZZ OZ CI 9 t

91 t1 L S CZ

SI 8 16Z LI

"X'S" SI41114 IIHINIM SLIM .LSId IIS IIM SI I I

AI NI 11.3 NI! 13IS NIMI IS1113 3NIMI

SWING IIHINIM

MOVING? Please send us your old address label (or a photocopy) and your new address. If your label is unavailable, please print both your old and new addresses clearly, including zip codes.

OLD ADDRESS:

Name

Address

City State Zip

NEW ADDRESS:

Name

Address

City State Zip

1

:WM

RHYME TIME Sharon Ferris

After each word pair listed, write a pair of syno-nyms that rhyme. For example, a campus regula-tion would be a school rule. Now you try. (Hint: each word in the pairs consists of one syllable.)

1. boisterous mob

2. bush cleaning

3. structure drenching

4. fat referee

5. children's drama

6. flower prosperity

7. steeple roost

8. located dog

9. sand song

10. ghostly hint


Thumbs Down With all the smoke over cigarettes in the U.S., cigarette manufacturers are

increasing their exports to foreign countries w

becom n here puffing is down ig more popular. Thumbs to politicians such as

Tho-mas J. Bliley, Jr., a Republican representative from Virginia,

who says we ought to encourage tobacco exports to reduce the U.S. trade deficit. Currently, cigarettes are responsible for 2.5 million deaths

each year worldwide. The World Health Organization estimates that figure will sky- rocket to

10 million deaths year year by the first quarter of the 21st century—if current smoking trends continue.

Bliley whines that the anti-smoking lobby is trying to reposi-tion a "trade issue" as a health issue. Torn, do you really think health isn't an issue here? Can't

you think of better ways to cut the trade deficit than providing the means (stamped the "Made in USA") for worldwide mass suicide?

Come on, Tom, pu head out of the ashtray andll your

grow a backbone.

Thumbs Up Lights. "Candid Camera" revisited. Camcorders. But the

targets of this show are no laughing matter. Action! The Supreme Court says police can "roll 'em" on drunk-driving suspects without having to read them their rights. The court, ruling 8 to 1 in a case involving videotaped evidence, said taping slurred speech and loss of muscular control is similar to taking a handwriting or blood sample. This type of evidence, according to the justices, does not infringe on a person's right against self-incrimination.

bsli? grid Vatl-rav,11,e, GT01'11

custoraets spoke, the

larsest 13 5. bus coca-

pauy listened. arid banilea

soloicitvg, oil. all

of its resular bus

routes (sVecial charter services excepted). Ralph Borlaud, Greyhourid vice preside-t of ruarketius, told the Washington Post that iureceat surveys "out

passer

told us they refer

ziousruolcius service, so were respoudius to than."

glees you,

Greyhourid--y.1eari, Mean., sruolce-tee Nachlue--ior.lAsterr lug, arid for crolaus the air vci . your buses a whole lot healthier

to breathe.

28 • ISTEN • January 1991,

Jason Bateman, born January 14, 1969.

Oprah Winfrey, born January 29, 1954.

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The Feminine Mistake You've come a long way, Baby. But when it comes to alcohol, women and men weren't created equal. Women tend to get drunk more quickly than men and are more likely to damage their livers with alcohol use. Researchers say this is because men's bodies make more of the enzyme (alcohol de-hydrogenase) that breaks down alcohol before it reaches the blood stream. Women get drunk faster too, because they absorb one-third more alcohol than men do.

They're also absorbing more smoke, according to a recent government survey showing a higher proportion of high-school girls than guys lighting up. And the number of adult male smok-ers is declining faster than the number of adult female smokers. In 1985, heart disease attributed to smoking killed 37,000 women. In fact, a female smoker's chance of a heart attack is 3.6 times higher than a female non-smoker's. On this issue, you've gone the wrong way, Baby.

ammin' January Ever wonder what Wisconsinites do in the winter for entertain-ment? Try Sheboygan's Polar Bear Swim on for size. Each New Year's Day at one in the morning, over 250 people race for the Northside Beach and take an icy plunge into Lake Michigan. Jumping frozen fish sticks!

If you just stepped off the bus and missed Christmas, you have another chance. The Armenian Church observes Armenian Christmas on January 6. This day is also the Twelfth Day of Christmas, so expect a collection of swans, lords a leaping, and feathered fowls in fruit trees from your true love.

January 16 is the anniversary of National Nothing Day—a day created by newspaperman Harold Pullman Coffin and first observed in 1973. 'Tis noble, Coffin believed, to provide Americans with one national day when they can just sit without celebrating, observing, or honor-ing anything.

Canadians celebrate (if that's the right verb) Canada's Coldest Recorded Temperature on January 31. A temperature of 62 degrees below zero Fahrenheit hit Whitehorse in the Yukon Terri-tory in 1947. The survivors of that icy blast in the past probably migrated south to Sheboygan—to thaw their bones in Lake Michi-gan on New Year's Day.

January Birthdays Mel Gibson,

actor, born in New York, N.Y., January 3, 1951;

Bart Starr, football player/coach, born

in Montgomery, Ala., January 9, 1934; Jason Bateman, actor, born in Rye, N.Y., January 14, 1969;

Geena Davis, actress, born in

Ware, Mass., January 21, 1957; Princess Caroline,

born in Carlo, Monaco, January 23, Monte 19 Oprah Winfrey,

TV to lk-s how57; hostess, born in Kosciusko, Miss., January 29, 1954; Phil Collins, musician/singer/songwriter, born in Chiswick, England,

January 31, 1951.

anuary 1991 • LISTEN - 29

NMI 1111111 1 I

Hey, Who's Paying for All This? Science marches on. Researchers in Miami examined 135 one-dollar bills from 12 American cities and found cocaine traces on all but four of them—and those four were brand new.

"We know people use bills rolled up to snort cocaine, or folded into a pocket to carry it," one of the researchers says. "In a cash drawer, and as people rub the bills together, any little flakes will go onto the other bills." And even though a bill may be many times removed from a cocaine transaction, it still can hold traces of the drug.

If, until now, you believed that you weren't being touched by the use of drugs in our society, maybe this will give you pause for reflection. Admittedly a few flakes of cocaine on that dollar bill in your wallet may not be much of a problem for you. But drug use of all kinds—legal or illegal—is affecting that dollar bill in a great many other ways, even if you do say No.

The total cost of alcohol use alone, for example, to the United States was estimated by Ernest P. Noble, vice-president of the International Commission for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Drug Depend-ency, to be $136.5 billion in 1990. If you were to divide that figure by the 250 million people living in the U.S., it would amount to a bill for $546 per

person. We pay this staggering $136.5 billion through increased taxes, insurance rates, and overall prices. And remember, that's only for the use of alcohol; it doesn't include what it costs us for others to use tobacco, cocaine, PCP, LSD, marijuana . . .

Here's how it works. Over one year, alcohol is found to be the cause of 100 accidents in your home-town. The mayor and the city council talk the problem over. In their collective wisdom, they decide that they need to get six more black-and-whites out there on Main Street to try to keep people from drinking and driving. What's the price for six new, fully-equipped police cars? What does it cost for a year to employ six new officers to put into those cars? This kind of questioning piles up until it topples over on you.

I don't know about you, but I have a lot better plans in mind for my dollar bill than rolling it up to snort cocaine or than paying the expenses of some-one else's drug use!

January 1991

Vol. 44, No. 1

Editor Gary B. Swanson Associate Editor Jan Schleifer Editorial Assistant Kevin Waite Editorial Secretary Janya M. Mekelburg Designer Merwin Stewart Marketing Leilani Proctor LISTEN is a monthly drug-prevention magazine for teens that teaches life skills, success tips, drug facts, and the advantages of a lifestyle free from alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.

This publication is available in microfilm from Xerox University Microfilms, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. (313) 761-4700. Write publisher for complete information.

EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS Jack Anders, A.C.S.W., L.C.S.W.; Winton Beaven, Ph.D.; Galen Bosley, D.H.Sc., R.D.; Carolyn Burns; Don Cooper, M.D.; Robert DuPont, M.D.; Mary Eldershaw; Kevin Freeman; Zhennaa Gallagher; G. Gordon Hadley, M.D.; Patricia Mutch, Ph.D.; G.L. Plubell, Ph.D.; Stoy Proctor, M.P.H.; Gunter Reiss, D.H.Sc., M.P.H.; Francis A. Soper, Litt.D.; Elizabeth Sterndale, R. N., M.S.; Barbara Wetherell, M.A.; DeWitt Williams, Ph.D.

Editorial Office P.O. Box 10548, Silver Spring, MD 20904.

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To Order In U.S.A. (except Alaska), call toll free 1-800-548-8700. In Alaska and Canada, call (301) 680-6740 (not toll free). Or write to P.O. Box 10548, Silver Spring, MD 20904. Payment coming from outside U.S.A. (including Canada) must be in U.S. dollars by bank draft drawn on a U.S. bank, or by international postal money order.

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Copyright © 1991 by Narcotics Education, Inc., P.O. Box 10548, Silver Spring, MD 20904.

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PHOTO BY ED GREENE, © REVIEW & HERALD

—Unknown t.

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