European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 4, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Mary Neth consumer editor in Germany if you Are not careful a contract for a year could last  example you thought you d signed for just a year s services of a Book club or perhaps an automobile club. The year ends but the contract goes on and in comes a new Bill. A Young member of the military recently discovered this is perfectly Legal under German Law. She decided she would like to work out during her lunch hour and joined a nearby athletic Center. Other members of my office belonged. It sounded like a super idea she said since she does t speak the language she asked a German speaking colleague to translate the contract. She was told it was in order. She signed agreeing to a year s payment of 696 Marks $398 at an Exchange rate of 1.75 to the Dollar. She arranged for payments to be taken automatically from her German Bank account. After she had been a member of the Center for a bit More than a year Pat decided to drop out i was disappointed she said i had thought some instruction would be offered none  she asked her German speaking colleague How she should go about breaking off the membership. The colleague inquired at the sports Center and was told she should write a letter saying she wished to discontinue her membership. A Friend helped her write a letter in German to the Center. She delivered it in person. I thought everything was settled she said. Money however continued to be deducted from her account. She assumed there was some sort of mistake and had the Bank Stop the payments. A couple of months went by and a threatening letter arrived in her Mailbox. The letter informed her that Legal action Erma Bombeck wary of contracts renew automatically would be taken if the monthly payments were not made immediately. An additional charge had been tacked on As a penalty for being in arrears. When she confronted the owner of the Center he informed her through an interpreter that she had missed the deadline for cancelling by one month. He got very ugly. He was determined to hold me to another year s payment she said. I was furious. I Felt it was a real rip  at this Point Pat sought Legal advice. To her amazement she was told she would have to pay. The contract contained a clause stipulating a two month cancellation notice in writing or there would be automatic renewal. Gebhard Volk the German attorney advisor at the Usa eur Legal assistance office in Heidelberg said contracts that automatically renew Are not unusual in Germany. They Are commonly used for automobile clubs such As adar and for household and personal insurance policies. These contracts Are binding said Volk. Begging ignorance of local language or Law in t going to get you off the Legal Hook. Volk advises never signing a contract you can t understand without seeking competent Legal advice. If the local military Legal assistance office does t have a German attorney advisor head downtown. Every City of any size has a  consumer Center where advice is Given free of charge on consumer and Legal issues. Someone who Speaks English is almost always available. Such a visit May take a half hour of your time. It also May just save you hundreds of Marks. What if you have signed a German contract you Only wish to keep for a year and it has such an automatic renewal clause you can mail a letter of cancellation months in Advance and it will be valid advises Volk. You Don t need to run the Chance of forgetting to cancel at the proper  the notice of cancellation should be sent to the firm by registered mail with postal receipt requested Ein Schreiben Mit Rock Antworth Oder Ruc Schein. Be sure to keep the receipt along with a copy of the cancellation letter. Pat s Case it had a Halfway Happy ending. After a lot of arguing the owner of the Center finally agreed to hold me to Only 348 Marks or a half year s payment she said. That was an expensive enough lesson in German  Many children need help for emotional problems by Lawrence Kutner new York times a bout one of every seven children in the unite states has emotional problems that need psychotherapy or professional counselling according to a report by office of technology assessment a research Arm of Congress. Of those nine million children who need treatment Only about 20 to 30 percent actually get it said or. Alan Kazdin a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Pittsburgh school of Medicine and the editor of the journal of consulting and clinical psychology. Other professionals say the percentage of children getting help is even lower. We see two types of symptoms of emotional problems in kids onion symptoms and garlic symptoms said or. Barry Garfinkel the chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Onion symptoms As he Calls them Are Behaviours that irritate other people. Garlic symptoms Are things that bother the child giving him in effect a Case of emotional heartburn. Parents Are always recognizing the onion symptoms things like aggression or tantrums he said. They have much More trouble seeing the garlic symptoms of anxiety withdrawal or  the most commonly overlooked problem and the most tragic in the few instances where it leads to suicide is depression. It is the Antithesis of All that we wish childhood to be. Depression is anger and frustration that the child turns against himself. While a certain amount of depression is a Normal part of growing up the limited skills that children have for coping with stress can make their depressions acutely painful and confusing. Unlike depressed adults who from the first Are Likely to Tell someone they feel sad depressed children May mask the obvious symptoms of their problem with behaviour that to Many parents and teachers appears to contradict the diagnosis. Many teen agers who get into trouble at school or with the Law Are actually depressed psychiatrists say. The behaviour problems Are noticed by adults the inner turmoil is missed. The most common signs of depression in an adolescent often include a general slowing Down of his physical activity and a growing isolation from friends. A depressed teen Ager May watch two or three hours of soap operas on television after coming Home from school and then go up to listen to music for a few hours said Garfinkel. You re not going to believe this. I live on this quiet Little Street where no More than 60,000 cars travelling bumper to bumper Burn out their first gears trying to Inch their Way to the traffic Light. We re talking speeds of 15 to 20 Miles an hour tops. Every morning at 7 30,1 join this gridlock caravan on my Way to aerobics class. Having just rolled out of bed i barely know what i am doing or where i am doing it. Now Here s the unbelievable part. The City has seen fit to install a camera radar system. The Way it works is your car speeds by and a policeman in a station Wagon snaps your picture. A few Days later you receive a picture of yourself at the wheel of your car with a Clear View of your License plate along with a radar calculated printout of your Speed is this America or what How dare anyone take a picture of me without make up this to a blatant violation of my civil rights. Where is the Acle when you need them if they can defend the rights of nazis to assemble then Why can t they come to the defense of morning people who do not want a portrait of themselves at that ungodly hour where in the Constitution does it say you have a right to be photographed against your will. Crow s feet and facial Chenille Narks May be used against you. Retouching is denied. Proofs Are  i ask you is nothing sacred is this what my ancestors bought Liberty Bonds for All of you should be As outraged As i am. All of you women wearing nightgowns under your raincoats taking your kids to school rebel. All of you women who Are running late and Are going to put on your eyes when you get to the office Rise up. Do you think these officers Are going to care one Whit about your Good Side Are they going to give you a Chance to moisten your lips and mousse your hair and what about those of you who close your eyes when your picture is taken How do you think that s going to play with some Slick prosecutor in traffic court there s another aspect to the torture of camera radar. A few weeks ago i thought i saw a Flash. It could have been the Light glancing off the Chrome on my outside Mirror. Or it could have been my watch picking up a glint of Sun. But was i sure i looked in the Mirror and what i saw was not a pretty sight. A Pale colourless woman with unimportant eyes a natural lip Shine a matched set of Luggage under each Eye and a big piece of hair sticking up at the Crown. She looked too sick to drive. I kept Vigil Over my Mailbox for the next two weeks nearly making myself ill with anxiety. The streets Are Jungles. You never know when someone will Point a loaded camera at you and shoot c 1988 Erma Bombeck Page 16 the stars and stripes monday july 4,1988