Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, August 16, 1993                   TAG: 9309120257
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RADFORD'S TROUBLE SPOT

Radford city's head librarian, Ann Fisher, for one. The library apparently has become a hangout for unruly adolescents. They congregate there, sometimes for up to three hours, waiting for parents to get home from work.

They disrupt the usually peaceful atmosphere. They disrupt the work of the library staff. By their sheer numbers, they intimidate and annoy patrons who are there for traditional purposes - including other students who need to do research or want a quiet place to read or study.

The problem is, they have no other place to go.

As Betty Jones, president of the city's Commonwealth Alliance for Drug Rehabilitation and Education (CADRE) recently told the Radford City Council, "This is just trouble looking for a place to happen."

CADRE has explored the possibility of opening a teen center as an alternate gathering place for students with too much time on their hands before they can go home

please see microfilm for the rest of the editorial.