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I was contacted by this man’s family. He was a pharmacist, named Robert Ahrens, from the Tonawanda, NY. area. His body was recovered and medication found in his system. It is believed he over medicated and was not fully cognizant of his actions at the time he jumped in the water. His family firmly believes this was not a willful suicide act.

Death of any sort (accident or suicide) is not funny; lessons should be learned. This took place in the 1980s (often suggested to be 1985). News reporter, Phil Kavitz, and videographer, Larry Frazier, were recording a report at Prospect Point for Buffalo TV News 2 when a man jumped into the water and went over Rainbow (American) Falls.

Some people think it looks like he tripped or slipped. If you’ve been in this area, you would know that it’s not a totally unimpeded dash to the water. The family believes that he did not know of the danger and did not know exactly where he was. In this area the Niagara is fast moving and relatively shallow. He appears from his position and shoulders, above the water, as if he is paddling or was holding a small item that held him up.

This is definitely not a stunt. It is only a coincidence of circumstance that a news crew was in the area which afforded a final documented moment in history.

This area is the Niagara Falls heavy tourist area of Prospect Point, along the Tonawanda (American) Channel, bounded by Goat Island and Luna Island on the far side (SW) of the channel and Prospect Point on the near side (NE). It is slightly upstream of the brink of the American Falls (NW). The Niagara River/strait flows North 36 miles (58 km) from Lake Erie on the South to Lake Ontario on the North. In this area the water averages 2 to 3 feet deep with class VI (heavy) rapids, at speeds up to 3 feet per second. The depth and speed are affected by the amount of water diverted for power. Daylight hours in tourist season 50% of the water is diverted for power; 75% is diverted during winter and at night in tourist season. The rapids above the Falls is created by a 50-55ft (16m) drop in the rock strata from Chippewa-Grass Island Pool to the brink of the Falls.

Susan Banks was the news anchor at Ch 2, and no longer works there (maybe Buffalo Ch 7 now). I have not found a recent update about Kavitz or Frazier.

I’ll put up any info if anyone has more information or more accurate information.

Niagara Falls consists of the Horseshoe (Canadian) Falls, Bridal Veil (Luna) Falls, and Rainbow (American) Falls. The international border passes along the tip of Terrapin Point on Goat Island, NY, which puts much of Horseshoe Falls in Ontario, Canada, and the other two Falls in New York, US.

The power and the majesty of Niagara Falls is overwhelming, making the Falls one of the most beautiful places on earth. You can get up close and personal with the Falls in many safe ways. The Maid of the Mist (US and Canada), the Cave of the Winds (US), and Journey Behind the Falls (Canada) are amazing.

———- Suicides and Other Deaths at Niagara ———–

Unfortunately, some people visit Niagara Falls for non-tourist reasons. Every year there are 12 to 18 known suicides at Niagara Falls (not all bodies are recovered), compared to about 25 a year at the Golden Gate Bridge. Other people perform stunts over the falls, and some people have river recreation accidents and get rescued or meet their death over the falls.

Suicide awareness, proper help and the support of friends and loved ones could prevent a vast number of these deaths. The danger of this and any river can prevent needless accidental deaths.

The lure of the Falls for suicide is well documented, but in recent years, the publicity is presumed to inspire more people to choose the Falls to meet their end. It begs the question, why more isn’t done to curb suicide at it’s source, and more done for mental health and substance overuse or abuse services.

At the Falls, many people, both men and women, have gone into the rapids quietly, calmly, and often without witnesses. Due to the rocks at the bottom of the American (Rainbow) Falls, there is a lure to the expectation of a quick finality and a hope that their body won’t be found – although many are pushed out by the force of the water and recovered. Often the only facts of the suicide are notes, letters, personal belongings, and clothes left behind.

Some reports show that most suicides (maybe 90%) are over Horseshoe Falls, and that 90% of those survive the plunge but die by drowning at the bottom (the mechanics of a huge waterfall is described like a slide on a cushion of water bubbles). With the suicide jumper of 11 Mar 2009, only three people without major protection are known to fully survive without a scratch.

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Background Music: A New Hallelujah [feat. the African Children's Choir], Michael W. Smith

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Last week our subject was illegal fishing. Now we report on two cases where fish are both the victims and the offenders.

The first involves two kinds of Asian carp, bighead and silver.

They can grow more than a meter long and weigh up to forty-five kilos. They eat huge amounts of plankton that other fish need to survive. Silver carp can also jump high and hit people in boats.

Asian carp were brought to the United States in the nineteen seventies as a solution. They were imported to eat algae and other microscopic organisms. They were put to work as cleaners at fish farms along the Mississippi River and in wastewater treatment systems.

But now the fish are moving north toward the Great Lakes.

They are making their way up a system built years ago to link the Mississippi to Lake Michigan.

The dangers of an invasion are environmental and economic.

The destructive carp could spread within the Great Lakes and threaten fishing and trade.

The Army Corps of Engineers has put an electric fence in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

The underwater barrier is meant to shock the carp into turning back. Only one Asian carp was found among many thousands of fish killed with poison while part of the fence was being serviced.

The barrier, however, may not be enough to protect the Great Lakes. There are calls in Congress for emergency action. Officials could close shipping connections between Lake Michigan and the upper Mississippi River system. But there are no decisions yet.

So that is the situation in the Midwest. Farther west, the problem is with common carp. Officials in Utah want to remove around three-fourths of the carp from Utah Lake. The lake, near the city of Provo, is the largest natural body of freshwater in the state.

The state wants to remove millions of carp to protect an endangered species native only to Utah Lake, the June sucker fish.

The carp eat plants that the suckers use as hiding places.

Carp were first put into the lake in the eighteen eighties as a food source. Now there are so many, experts say up to twenty metric tons a day could be removed with nets over a period of several years.

But officials are fishing for ideas about what to do with all those fish, which could get pretty smelly. Ideas include using them to fill land, making them into liquid fertilizer or letting people eat them.

You can share your own suggestions at voaspecialenglish.com.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 15Dec2009)

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In support of health care reform, SEIU’s website recently highlighted the case of Karlyn Zimbelman, an American who received successful medical treatment abroad because she couldn’t foot the $40,000 bill for hip replacement surgery she would have been forced to pay in the United States. And so, she went to India, where the surgery and 13 days of medical care cost her $12,500 — $16,500 with travel and other costs.

Beck ran parts of a video testimonial from Ms. Zimbelman, who had the audacity to say the following: “I think the American health care system is excellent, but I just think it’s so expensive. Where’s the money going?” Beck then offered the following explanation of the cost differential (emphasis added):

The best I can figure is all that money goes to high-tech hospitals and doctors who studied at Harvard rather than Gajra Raja medical school. Oh sure, yeah, you know, it’s weird. You can buy a Gucci bag on any New York street corner for like four bucks. No different than the 3,000 dollar real thing. They’re identical!
But he wasn’t finished. Beck continued (emphasis added):

And also, in our research that it took us, oh about 40 seconds, we figured out that some of that money here in America winds up in the pocket of a skilled doctor that helps off-set the 20 years of schooling that he endured and the loans he took out. And – you’re not going to believe this one, Karlyn – some of that money seems to go to the 1 million SEIU workers in the healthcare industry that make slightly more here than in India. Because, you know, they have an American lifestyle, maybe a couple of cars, great union benefits, and homes with something that we in America like to call flush toilets.
And finally (emphasis added):

I don’t want a discounted doctor. I don’t want discounted wages. I don’t want any of this stuff. If I wanted to live in India, I’d live in India. I want not the Indian lifestyle, I want the American lifestyle. I’m sure, no offense to India, I’m sure it’s beautiful and everything. I’ve heard especially this time of year, especially by the – you know that one big river they have there that sounds like a disease? Come on, it does. I mean, if somebody said, ‘I’m sorry, you have a really bad case of Ganges,’ you’d want Cipro.”
Thus, within the span of a few minutes, Beck implied that there are no quality medical schools in India; implied that medical care in India is a shoddy imitation of real health care; implied that the entire nation is an undeveloped backwater without even so much as indoor plumbing; and compared the Ganges River, a holy body of water for one of the world’s oldest and largest religions, to a disease.

What does this say about Beck’s respect for the millions of Indian-Americans living in the United States, let alone the Indian people? What does it say about his respect for the faith traditions of others? What does it say about his views on the tens of thousands of doctors who graduate Indian medical schools every year in the hopes of serving the world’s second largest nation? Or on the tens of thousands of doctors who studied medicine in India but now practice it in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, or Australia?

Most importantly, why does Beck feel that ignorant, bigoted rants like these are funny? Or does he simply have so little respect for his viewers that he thinks he must resort to this kind of xenophobia in order to maintain his ratings?

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