LA changes evoke call for simpler time
I have been out of town and just now read the July 18 Town Crier. The “Peek into the Past” photo of Clint’s Ice Cream parlor with the ice cream cone on top brought back memories.
My father, who was a lath and plaster contractor at the time, helped build the cone. My first-ever “date” took place at Clint’s for a peppermint ice cream cone. I was in the eighth grade at St. Nicholas School, which was located on Rosita Avenue back then. In 1957, my husband Dave’s Colt League baseball team went to Clint’s after each baseball game. Things were simpler then, as Jerry Clements alludes to in his column in the same issue (“Deteriorating community”).
Growing up in Los Altos, we’ve seen a lot of changes, and many are not for the better. I wish everyone could have experienced our town as it was back then.
Karen Dymond-Jessen
Los Altos
School stadium lights impact community
I live in the neighborhood surrounding Mountain View High School and share neighbors’ concerns about light and noise pollution and traffic that will be an issue if permanent stadium lights are installed. However, I would like to focus on the primary use of the nighttime lights: high school tackle football.
As a pediatrician and parent, I am keenly aware of the medical literature related to football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Numerous articles in highly reputable medical journals have shown that early and frequent head trauma with and without concussions has been linked to development of CTE. The Harvard Educational Review recently published a compelling ethical and legal argument against public school sponsorship of high school tackle football. The authors state, “Schools should not sponsor activities that are known to cognitively impair a significant percentage of students who participate in those activities.”
According to its mission statement, the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District Board of Trustees is “committed to focusing the institution’s energy and resources on student learning and to their academic and personal development.” Given the overwhelming evidence of physical and cognitive harm caused by high school football, the installation of football stadium lights will send a message contrary to this mission statement.
Sarah Eitzman, M.D.
Mountain View
Stadium lights threaten academics
We are concerned that the addition of lights to the athletic field at Los Altos High School will alter the tranquility of our neighborhood. The events will not be confined to four or five football games.
One argument is that the football team needs more practice time; however, their regular season ends more than a week before daylight saving time ends. With classes ending before 3:30 p.m., there is plenty of time for practice.
Is it in the best interest of students, whether they are involved in sports or the band, to take them away from their primary purpose in school, i.e., studies? Allowing practice after 6:30 p.m., with the lights on, will conflict with their academics.
We urge the community to reject this jarring change to the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District campuses.
Greg and Rosemary Wadden
Los Altos
