ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, April 20, 1997                 TAG: 9704210004
SECTION: CURRENT                  PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 

LETTERS MOTORISTS' FAILURE TO HEED SIGNS ENDANGERS LIVES AS A RESIDENT AND A SCHOOL BUS DRIVER IN CHRISTIANSBURG, IT REALLY BOTHERS ME WHEN I SEE MOTORISTS' LACK OF REGARD FOR STOP SIGNS AND RED LIGHTS IN THIS TOWN. I HAVE NOTICED LATELY THAT AT SOME RED LIGHTS, THREE OR FOUR MOTORISTS WILL RUN THE LIGHT AFTER IT TURNS RED. TWO OF THE LIGHTS WHERE I SEE THIS THE MOST ARE AT DEPOT AND COLLEGE STREETS AND AT ROANOKE STREET AND THE U.S. 460 BYPASS. NOT WHEN IT IS YELLOW, BUT AFTER IT IS RED.

As a school bus driver, I am passed on a daily basis as I stop on Roanoke Street. Apparently, people think that if there is a turn lane, they don't have to stop. This is not true. The only time that you don't have to stop is when there is a physical barrier. This year, I have had a lot more people passing me from behind than in previous years.

When you run a red light or a stop sign, be it a street sign or on a school bus, you put lives in danger. You don't know what the motorist who gets the green light is going to do and you don't know which direction a student is going to go when he or she gets off the bus.

I would just like, in part, to make people aware that on a two- or four-lane highway, unless there is a physical barrier, such as a median strip, oncoming traffic is required to stop for a bus. I also would like to say that I appreciate the people who do stop for the bus when they approach it from the opposite direction on Roanoke Road.

Jeanie Compton

Christiansburg

Lack of support for Radford equestrian team

I am writing on behalf of the Radford Redcoats Equestrian Team and Club to present our frustration at the way we have been treated by Radford University. Rumor has it that Radford blames its problems on student indifference, yet we have been motivated and have received nothing for our efforts.

The Redcoats have club sport status, so we are totally student funded. We represent and advertise Radford in community events, university functions, and competition in local and intercollegiate horse shows. We also provide activities for horse lovers.

The Redcoats wage an ongoing battle for university support and funding. We are an asset to Radford, and since we support and further the university, we desire backing in return. We approached several people about this issue, including Dr. Douglas Covington, Radford University's president. Like the others, he failed to take action. This is strange behavior from a man who recently wrote in an editorial for The Tartan, Radford University's newspaper, that he wants to be approached by and desires to help the students.

The Redcoats wrote an editorial for The Tartan in response, addressing this irony, then sent follow-up letters to Covington and the Student Government Association.

We have not received any response, so we believe Covington is ignoring us. This is disheartening, since we take pride in Radford. We request any support the community could give us as we struggle for respect and university backing. Please send comments to Steve Surowiec at ssurowiexc2runet.edu, call

633-2801, or write to Radford Redcoats, RUS Box 6975, Radford, Va. 24141.

Koren Donahue

Redcoats team member/Radford University

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