Opinion

Can you hear me now?Listen up. There’s an event happening in America that’s sweeping children and teenagers’ lives that’s causing deafness. It’s been happening for the past 25 years. It’s not a virus; it’s a socially accepted technologically driven addition conveniently made available. Communication devices for school learning and online testing, and music enjoyment are being strapped to the ears of youths from kindergarten through college and beyond that is deafening Americans.Your children are at risk. Oh, it’s less than the CDC recommendations of 85 db, you might convince yourself. And I’ve purchased a limiting feature, so I’m covered. Ah, strapping those headphones on your little children’s’ ears sends a message to them that it’s OK to listen in this manner. When they become stubborn, independent teens with the newest earbud and listening device marketed to us, “Mom’s nowhere in sight, hearing this piece of music loud is fantastic!” Oh, yes it is. This is how the deafening of our children occurs. It’s gradual.My first son started using headphones as early as 6 years old in 1992 and continued through high school with each advancing music device marketed—new headphones, new earbuds, loud music listening occurred at school, on the school bus and in his bedroom. The devastating announcement made to me from the audiologist with my 15-year-old son sitting in the doctor’s office went like this: “I’m sorry to tell you, but your son has considerable hearing loss, and it’s permanent and he should never use headphones again, because it just furthers his hearing decline.”Then the ENT doctor went on to tell me that sound should never be delivered next to the human ear, because it wears the ear out and causes deafness.One thing had changed since I grew up—the loud music coming from our bedroom stereos is now turned inward, pumped right into the ear canals of my sons, and I didn’t hear a thing.Sneaky little devils, aren’t they? The way a new device is marketed to us under the fantastic name of “technological advancement?’’One thing has not changed though—our human ears. Our ears are not built to receive sound close to the ear for repeated periods and at loud volumes. Irreparable hearing damage occurs and only worsens with aging. Hearing loss is cumulative, and most people, including my teenagers, had to be dragged to the auditory specialists for a hearing test.  When was the last time you had a hearing test? Mine was two years ago and I have hearing losses due to living with the abundant increase in listening devices due to the onslaught of technology, loud concert music events (oh, I loved those!), and loud movie theaters.I recently took my 5-year-old to the local theatre and he complained, “This is too loud Mom, I do not want to go back!”The tears of mothers dwell in rivers. My first son, soon to turn 29, has deafness caused by technology’s great advancement of headphones and earbuds. Your child came into this world new and wonderful. Isn’t it our responsibility to keep them safe and as healthy as possible?Please take some time to read the facts that no one is talking about. If we ignore JAMA’s (Journal of American Medical Association) current data studies and doctors’ recommendations, then in the future, are we going to ignore the educated recommendations of the very children we are currently educating? If a glass of water is poison, is teaching our children to take small frequent sips of it still okay?I hope you gain some insight from my experience and these medical facts, so you can make an informed decision about whether you want to begin your child’s hearing loss or not.  Sincerely,Carol SternMorgan Hill

Rosy’s at the Beach restaurant has been hosting what has to be the longest regularly scheduled party in Morgan Hill. For over 12 years, the restaurant has invited locals to a wine pairing dinner on the second Wednesday of every month that has created a cult-like following of wine and food lovers.The dinners introduce the lucky diners to wines from some of the finest California vintners and provide a wonderful opportunity to try dishes not normally found on the menu. But regular attendees also know to expect a healthy dose of fun-filled camaraderie.Some attendees arrive early and decorate their tables in different themes while the buzz of others meeting their friends grows louder by the minute. There’s no mistaking the increasingly festive atmosphere as soon as you enter.The speaker from each evening’s guest winery will tell you about the wines, and it helps if you’re taking notes because there is always a quiz during these dinners. A random drawing decides which guests will be asked the questions, but it’s not often that the chosen reveler will be unable to answer correctly because the room becomes a “lifeline” to help answer as a collective mind. Over time, almost everyone will walk away with a bottle of wine as the winner, even if it was a collective win.These dinners also provide chefs with an opportunity to show how creative they can be. After almost 15 years, owner and chef Rich Bergin has turned that responsibility over to new chef Luis and he is more than up to the task. Creative pairings of wine and food highlight the unique ability for certain ingredients in food to make a wine’s flavors change right before your nose.The dinners’ cult-like following has made it difficult for those outside of the current group of ticket holders to break into the dinner routine. As a matter of fact, current ticket holders offered with the option to buy more tickets can only order 5 of the 6 available months to allow room for others.I hate to tease you with such a fun and educational evening, but the good news is that Ladera Grill is also hosting a regularly scheduled series of winemaker dinners. This experience is every bit as special.Earlier this year, the Morgan Hill Downtown Association promoted a Wine Week where these winemaker dinners were the norm. Most of the downtown restaurants participated. All of these meals provided diners with an opportunity to get close to the winemakers, and offered special meals. As a result, we now know our restaurants are up to the task of making food and wine into something memorable.I hope more of our restaurants will offer a regular series of winemaker dinners.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

Opera San Jose begins its illustrious 32nd season with "Tosca," Puccini’s most melodramatic opera. “Tosca” is based on Victorian Sardou’s 1887 French language dramatic play La Tosca. The play starred Sarah Bernhardt, who played the lead in over 3,000 performances.  Puccini became obsessed with turning the play into an opera. Librettist Luigi Illica advised Puccini against trying to turn the play into an opera because he felt it could not be adapted to a musical form and was too violent.

CHEERS to Cecelia and Gary Ponzini, co-founders of the Edward “Boss” Prado Foundation, and their board members and countless volunteers who help the couple and their nonprofit organization provide clothing, food and other basic needs to Morgan Hill’s less fortunate residents. Cecelia and the energetic group that runs the foundation, which oversees Cecelia’s Closet and Food Pantry, even reached outside the community this week to collect donated items for families affected by the Butte Fire in northern California.JEERS to Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Steve Betando and trustees for trying to pass a secret note during the Aug. 4 board meeting—an action that would likely get any of their 9,000-plus students scolded if caught trying the same thing in the middle of Civics class. Although the content of the note written by Betando was generic—“Anybody can call for a vote at any time”—he gave the impression he was trying to unduly influence the decision on the table, which had to do with the integration of sixth grade into the middle schools. He passed the note to Board President Bob Benevento, who then passed it along to colleagues. This was during a public meeting, and the trustees should have immediately disclosed the note’s contents upon seeing it.CHEERS to Sobrato High’s football team for hosting its first El Toro Bowl. In the rivalry matchup’s eight previous editions, the Bulldogs played the annual game at Live Oak High School because facilities couldn’t accommodate football at Sobrato. Thanks to efforts that allowed Sobrato to host its first home games last year, El Toro Bowl is coming to north Morgan Hill. Varsity kickoff is slated for 1:45 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19. Good luck to both teams!JEERS to the city of Morgan Hill for the poor timing of current downtown construction projects which are causing disruptions to business and holding potential visitors to the neighborhood at bay. We know the city has been planning these projects for many years, and they have to spend the funds available for these infrastructure improvements on a tight schedule or else they lose them. But they could have implemented the projects—the Fourth Street Garage, Monterey Road streetscape, Third and Fourth street reconstruction, First Street utility upgrades, etc.—in succession instead of all at once. Now the entire downtown neighborhood is a cacophonous construction zone that is difficult to navigate on foot, on bicycle or in a car.

Like every parent, I worry about the health of my children. In my case, my worry is colored by the fact that I was obese as a teenager. One of the first questions I asked my pediatrician was how to prevent the same from happening to my child. And my child wasn’t even 2 weeks old.

Clean up local parking lots

It is with whole-hearted enthusiasm that I submit this letter of support for the renewal  of Charter School of Morgan Hill’s charter. I am a proud parent of a seventh grader at Charter School. Our daughter has been a student there since kindergarten, and my husband and I could not be happier with the education she’s received since day one.Charter School is a true community that consists of students, faculty, support staff, parents and families. The strong family involvement and community interaction is the foundation of our school’s successful learning environment.Through project-based learning (PBL), which is at the core of the school’s curriculum, our daughter has been able to be immersed in a variety of amazing educational experiences.  In first grade, she traveled back in time for “Now & Then Day” and learned how people truly lived in the past.In second grade she took a trip across the seas for “Ellis Island Day” and experienced the immigration process first hand (please note Ellis Island Day represented the experience of ALLimmigrants to the United States). Our daughter was born in China, and she experienced that day as a Chinese immigrant, just as thousands of Chinese immigrants came through Angel Island to find work and start a new life in the U.S.In third grade she learned problem solving through deductive reasoning by solving a "teddy bear" crime scene. In fourth grade she panned for gold as a 49er in Placer County. In fifth grade she experienced life as colonist in the hamlet of “Charterburg,” running a business as a seamstress and forced to pay taxes to the King. In sixth grade she went spelunking and discovered ancient cave paintings.  Charter’s Math, Science, Art, Agriculture, Music and Spanish curricula weave seamlessly into the PBL subjects. Watching this type of teaching and learning take place year after year is almost magical. All our teachers are dedicated and talented individuals who give of themselves to make Charter the remarkable school it is.My husband and I are both Latino and it was important to us as parents to find a school that reflected the diversity of our Morgan Hill community. Public education in a diverse and positive learning environment is extremely important to us, so Charter was our first choice for our daughter. My husband grew up in San Jose and is the son of farm workers. As a child, he and his family lived and worked in the fields. He was fortunate to attend an elementary school that had caring and loving teachers.  Because his parents worked during the day with no one at home to watch him, his teachers went the extra mile and allowed him to stay after school to do homework and get the extra support he needed. He is the first in his family to earn a college degree. He often says the environment at Charter is much like the environment of his elementary school.  My father immigrated to this country from Latin America to seek educational opportunities for himself. He was profoundly grateful for those opportunities which allowed him to become one of the first Latino neurosurgeons in the U.S. He never let us forget the importance of a free and equal education, which allowed him to better himself and our entire family.Both my husband and I feel the Charter community has the diversity needed to enable its students to become culturally competent adults. In our daughter’s seventh grade class are students of Latino, Asian, Filipino, Portuguese and Middle Eastern descent. Our daughter has the unique distinction of being of Chinese ethnicity, raised by Latino parents, and at Charter she is just Caroline. To us, this demonstrates that her classmates respect and embrace cultural diversity.It is evident that Charter School students are learning and thriving through the PBL curriculum and dynamic environment.  Your vote to approve renewal of the charter should be without question. A vote to deny renewal is a vote to deny students within your own school district an exceptional learning experience that educators throughout the area strive to emulate.

A Letter to Our NeighborsDear Morgan Hill Community,Specialized Bicycle Components would like to apologize for the inconveniences caused by the large number of cyclists that ride each day from our company and the lack of riding etiquette while out on the roads of Morgan Hill. Effective immediately we have changed our lunch ride route so it no longer goes through the Paradise Valley Neighborhood. We are working directly with Specialized employees to educate and enforce the California State Vehicle Code regulations as they pertain to cyclists.We are working closely with the Morgan Hill Police Department to create safer road situations for both cyclists and motorists and will be working together to plan a safety course in the near future.To further emphasize the importance of riding safely and respecting community we have developed the How We Roll guiding principles:How We Roll-RESPECT for all traffic laws, like responsible and intelligent adults-RESPECT to all those we encounter: motorists, riders, runners, kids incrosswalks, etc.-BE COOL and say hello to everyone we meet while out riding-DON’T FORGET that when we ride we are representing both Specialized and cyclists at large-BE RESPONSIBLE and have the courage to remind anyone that is not riding in accordanceSpecialized takes pride in being a part of the Morgan Hill community for over 35 years. Our ultimate goal is to promote health and fitness through the sport of cycling and hope to encourage more people to join. We are a company of passionate people who believe in the power of the bike. Going forward we are committed to following the rules of the road and being better at sharing with other people out and about.Please join us for the monthly community ride we host the first Monday of each month to continue the dialogue and join a ride.If you have any questions or would like to send feedback please email [email protected] or call (408)779-6229.Sincerely,The Team at Specialized