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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 23, 1993                   TAG: 9309230095
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Ray Reed
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HIGHEST PEAK IN RUSSIA ISN'T

A: The mountain you're thinking of still is named Communism Peak, according to the National Geographic Society.

It's not in Russia, though. Communism Peak was in the southern U.S.S.R before its 1991 reorganization as the Commonwealth of Independent States.

Tajikistan now contains Communism Peak, at 24,590 feet (7,495 meters or 4.7 miles) in a range called the Pamirs. These mountains, called the rooftop of the world, adjoin the western end of the Himalayas.

Indications are that Communism Peak will keep the name. The Communist Party retains power in Tajikistan, according to the 1993 World Almanac. There's civil unrest there now, though.

Communism Peak was called Stalin Peak until it was renamed after Joe Stalin died in the early '50s. Two of its neighbors are Lenin Peak and Revolution Peak.

The highest mountain within Russia's present border: Elbrus, in the Caucasus range, at 18,510 feet, according to the National Geographic Society.

Salem's justice academy

Q: What is the Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy in Salem? N.N.

A: It's a regional training center for law enforcement people.

The public, though, is getting to know the academy as the place where traffic offenders go for driver improvement courses at night.

Last year, 1,385 criminal justice people attended training courses at the Central Avenue location, from 10-week basic law enforcement schools down to one-day seminars. The academy serves 33 agencies from Giles County to the Lynchburg area.

Roanoke, though, has its own academy for police basic training.

Occasionally, people from farther away - Indiana in one case - attend specialized seminars in drug enforcement.

There will be a course on investigating child-abuse cases soon, said William Mayo, director of the academy.

Courses cover such things as collecting evidence at crime scenes, operating breathalyzers and driving police cars. Skills such as dispatching, radar operation and first aid also are taught.

Instructors are provided by the police departments; the academy's staff is just four people.

The best-named course may be "supercharged criminal investigations," in which two lawyers instruct police supervisors on making sure officers don't violate a suspect's constitutional or civil rights.

September's blue moon

Q: I think you were wrong about the blue moon coming in August. My calendar shows it's this month. N.N.

A: Ouch. Your calendar's right.

The full moon came on Sept. 1 and arrives again Sept. 30. That'll be the blue one. Its gravitational pull must have affected my eyes.

Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.