By SHAREEN SINGH
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The people of Roosevelt District are active in trying to solve problems in their community.

Residents near Cowen Park have found the neighborhood's popularity has become a drawback. Nearly 100 children and adults showed up at meeting in September called by the Roosevelt Neighborhood Association to deal with the street people camping in the park and in cars adjoining the park.

"We try to be a welcoming place for all kinds of folks ... for people to bring children, but there is an alternate use (of the park) that is preventing this," Friends of Cowen Park President Penny Eckert told the audience.

Eckert is now working on a city government-neighborhood task force to address the issue.

Residents are also working on improving relations with a fixture of the neighborhood: Roosevelt High School. Dave Humphrey, a 1964 graduate of the school, is returning this year as principal to the school's 1,700 Rough Riders.

"There is a very strong neighborhood association here, and it wants a better relationship with the school," Humphrey says.

Improving that relationship, he says, hinges on students being better neighborhood citizens. "It's the way we interact. We have some real litter problems .. and graffiti is an issue."

On weekends, the school and its immediate surroundings quiet down. Then, when Monday morning rolls around, "it's like a rogue elephant suddenly appears," Humphrey says. "The whole neighborhood feels the impact."

"When I was here, it was one of the best schools in the state. I think it still is."