Teen

A New Zealand teen who was flashing her breasts at passing cars has been found guilty of disorderly behavior for the prank, which ended with her in a hospital after a distracted driver ran into her. Cherelle May Dudfield, 18, pleaded guilty to the charge when she appeared in Invercargill District Court, the Southland Times newspaper reported Wednesday. Dudfield, egged on by her friends, was flashing passing motorists from a traffic island in the middle of a four-lane road in the southern city of Invercargill on Sept.

When I read what Geoff Boucher wrote about Hanson, my favorite band, my heart sunk ("Teen Dreams," Jan. 24). At least he could spell the name of their albums right. Their concert album is called "Live From Albertane," not Albertine. CANDICE ELISE SMITH La Crescenta

Los Angeles police have arrested a 17-year-old exchange student in connection with a school fight in Sylmar that left a 19-year-old dead. The South Korean exchange student, who was not identified because of his age, was arrested on suspicion of assault after Jin Su Lee died of head injuries. The two exchanged blows at First Lutheran High School in Sylmar. A law enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said initial indications show Lee started the fight, and the exchange student responded with a few blows.

Teen-age AIDS victim Ryan White is expected to return to school this week after being hospitalized for two weeks with a high fever, his mother said. The 14-year-old boy from Kokomo, Ind., who won a legal battle to return to classes after school officials barred him because of his disease, was released late Friday from Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Ryan is a hemophiliac who contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome from a tainted blood product.

Re "'More Than Just Saying No," editorial, Aug. 19: It has been estimated that this so-called "war on drugs" now costs us a total of $40 billion per year. This total includes federal, state and local costs, both at home and abroad for federal interdiction, local policing and for the justice and penal system. And for this amount, teen drug use increased 118% in just three years. When are those of us who are paying for this failed policy going to demand that this substantial amount of money be spent on education and treatment versus criminalization and punishment?

As a practicing psychotherapist and mother of two teen-agers, I read with interest your Aug. 9 article, "Were Teen Athletes Off on Rampage or Just Being Active Kids?" In debating whether these violent acts on the part of the six high school athletes were just youthful pranks and, either senseless, isolated incidents or the white, middle-class equivalent of gang violence, the article misses an important, if not essential, point. Nowhere is the connection made between the consumption of alcohol and drugs at the teen-age parties and these senseless acts of violence against allegedly innocent victims.

Sometimes, things turn out just like you thought they would. That new program manager you thought was flirting with you over at the water cooler asks you out. You cut out carbs and lose 5 pounds. And the two "American Idol" finalists everyone was betting on, at least since the moody and glorious Carly Smithson felt the blade last month, are indeed battling for the crown next week. David Archuleta and David Cook -- the clean teen versus the Bed Head by TIGI-coiffed rocker -- should make for a final round marked by big notes and bitten lips.

MOVIES "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Live" The mainstay on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, now in its 10th year, takes the show on the road, boasting "two-thirds of the cast" in the guise of co-creator Dave Willis and voice actor Dana Snyder, who will serve up a heaping platter of variety show niceties including musical performances, script readings and exclusive video clips. The El Rey Theatre, 5515 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. 8 p.m. Tue. $26. (323) 936-6400. http://www.aquateenlive.com.