Evelyn here,
Here is what others NoiseOff members are posting from across the country.
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Messages In This Digest (5 Messages)
- 1.
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Grand jurors want police to more strictly enforce the noise ordinancehttp://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=8257327
Grand jury: Education will break offender cycle
Posted: May 1, 2008 04:14 PM EDT
Updated: May 1, 2008 04:17 PM EDT
May 1, 2008
Albany -- A staggering majority of convicted criminals in Georgia are high
school drop outs. Now a Dougherty County grand jury wants criminals
sentenced to school, or at least forced to get their General Education
Diplomas.
The fast track G.E.D. Class at Albany Technical College often has students
who were sentenced by the courts. More than 82% of Georgia prisoners are
high school dropouts. The percentage in Dougherty County is even higher.
"Most have not completed as far as the tenth grade. Certainly it goes hand
in hand with failure to be successful in society to not have a complete
education," said Dougherty Chief Assistant District Attorney Greg Edwards.
A Dougherty Grand Jury now wants students not only sentenced to GED
programs, but they want to make sure the students take the classes seriously
and get their diplomas..
"The best social program is a good job. A well paying job, benefits,
etc."said Albany Technical College President Dr. Anthony Parker.
Grand Jurors also called on increased staffing for the Albany Dougherty Drug
Unit, and they want a community incinerator to destroy unused prescription
drugs.
"A means to dispose of unused drugs that citizens need to get rid of, so
they won't end up back out on the streets," Edwards said.
And they believe cleaning up the streets, literally, will also reduce crime.
Grand Jurors want the city of Albany to continue to rid the city of blight
and dilapidated buildings to fight gangs and drug activity.
They also want things to quiet down. Grand jurors want police to more
strictly enforce the noise ordinance and ticket people who play car stereos
too loudly.
Feedback: news@walb.com?subject=GrangJury-JW
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The Sound Of Silent Retreats
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/janet-kinosian/the-sound-of-silent-retre_b_996
85.html
The Sound Of Silent Retreats
Janet Kinosian
Posted May 2, 2008 | 07:59 AM (EST)
My silent treatments started 15 years ago. Stressed out, worn out and wigged
out, I wanted out - of town, that is. But I was in no shape to make travel
plans, so a friend of mine took one look at me and, over my feeble
protestations, signed me up for a retreat in the Los Angeles mountains
shepherded by a Benedictine monk. A silent retreat. No talking allowed.
I had never meditated in my life, nor have I ever been accused of harboring
even the vaguest New Age tendencies. The possibility of my remaining silent
for more than 10 minutes was a remote one. But my friend insisted and,
besides, she was going, so I figured if things got too painful we could
sneak in a conversation or two, but I quickly discovered something amazing:
Once the burden of speech is lifted, so go all the social obligations and
deliberations that clutter up your mind and time. Suddenly, I didn't have to
decide or discuss a damn thing. All I had to do was show up and shut up.
Relieved of the usual distractions and endless, crucial daily chitchat, the
mind and spirit can pay attention instead to thinking and reflecting in an
internal workout called "meditative listening." It's amazing what you can
hear when you stop talking.
We were pretty much on our own. Some read, some slept; I prayed and attended
lectures on spirituality given by the monk. He invited questions, but I had
turned purist and couldn't think of anything worth breaking my silence to
say.
By weekend's end, I left reluctantly, arriving home so deeply refreshed I
knew I had hit pay dirt. Since then, I've done my silent treatments in the
California desert, in an old mansion in Montecito, in a cubicle in Big Sur,
where monks serve your meals to you, prison-like, through a vestibule door;
in a castle nunnery in France, and an old monastery in Ireland. I look to
them as my yearly safety valve.
Apparently, I'm not the only one anxious for silence. There are now books
that list retreats all over the country for the increasing numbers of
'silent disciplined.' And the last time I visited the Montecito retreat,
nuns informed me that I should call May 1 at 9 a.m. sharp for a summer slot:
So great is the stampede for silence that by 11 a.m. the entire summer is
booked.
Amazing thing, silence. A sound you rarely hear.
This piece originally ran in the Los Angeles Times Magazine.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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Retailers selling loud mufflers required to inform buyers that they
http://tinyurl.com/5cq6xv
http://www.kutv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=e7ee5f9e-386f-418e-a985-7b010bc9ba98
New Noise Ordinance To "Shush" Salt Lake City
Reported by:
<http://www.kutv.com/content/aboutus/newsteam/story.aspx?content_id=2e8d551f
-e984-4a00-9211-52436bb122a5> Fields Moseley
Written by: Jonny Glines
Last Update: 1:38 am
Shshshsh! (Four Points Media)
If you've ever been to a Jazz game, chances are you didn't refer to it as a
"quite evening." Screaming fans can raise decibel levels to triple digits
but the Health Department isn't worried about sore voices, it's worried
about lost hearing.
Indoor fireworks, loud cannons, blaring music and screaming fans are no
strangers to each other at the Energy Solutions Arena. In fact, you might
consider them mutually exclusive. But the Salt Lake Valley Health Department
says, what people don't know, is that this type of environment is often
dangerous.
"They've been as high as 105 decibels," says Brian Bennion, from the Utah
Valley Health Department.
Jazz games aren't the only events that have health officials worried. The
Huntsman Center and many music venues also pose threats on hearing. Under
the departments proposed changes, loud venues would have to advise
attendants with signs.
"To warn people that noise levels can exceed 95 decibels and that studies
have shown that it can be damaging to hearing,"
The new noise ordinance changeswould also force venues to provide some sort
of hearing protection to the audience.
"They would have to have hearing protection available such as ear plugs,"
says Bennion.
The last Utah noise ordinance was made in 1984. The new noise ordinance
would also include loud vehicles. And those who don't keep the noise level
down on the roads will risk receiving a ticket.
"The retailers that are selling those mufflers would now be required to let
people know that if they buy that, they could be in violation of the noise
regulation," says Bennion.
If you would like to comment about the new noise ordinance, you may contact
the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, by clicking the link below.
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Dr. Rock Positano - Noise, Hearing Loss And Health
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-rock-positano/noise-hearing-loss-and-he_b_9
9679.html
Noise, Hearing Loss And Health
Dr. Rock Positano
Posted May 2, 2008 | 07:44 AM (EST)
"Noise is sound that we have not selected to listen to', says Dr. Alan
Gertner, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders
and Deafness at Kean University in Union, New Jersey. Further, he notes that
during every hour of each day a sea of sound surrounds us, just like water
surrounds fish. Noise can come from subways, kitchen blenders, children
shouting, traffic, dishwashers, or your neighbor's loud music. Besides being
an annoyance, noise is a real threat to hearing, physical health and mental
well-being.
Investigators have known that noise can cause irreversible hearing loss and
can promote tinnitus (the medical term for internal noises heard in the ears
or head). Researchers have also proven that classroom noise interferes with
learning, and recent research at Kean University, NJ and Purdue University,
IN has demonstrated that background noise can interfere with language
development and memory.
"Noise has invaded our homes and permeates our existence," adds Dr. Gertner.
Typical household appliances and tools, such as vacuums, food processors,
lawn mowers and chain saws can be remarkably loud. Even recreational
listening poses a hazard to our hearing. Personal stereos, MP3 players and
iPODs transform our homes into centers of noise pollution. Even the fans and
disk/CD/DVD drives of personal computers and computer printers are sources
of noise.
One culprit that has received considerable attention is the iPod. "The
device, especially at volume levels that many young people use, is capable
of causing serious damage to hearing", explains Dr. Gertner. Listeners may
eventually suffer with significant hearing loss and tinnitus. MP3 players
can generate noise levels well over 100decibels. As a comparison, the level
of most home fire alarms is about 90decibels.
"In the working environment noise creates additional problems. It interferes
with communication, reduces productivity and makes concentration difficult",
Dr. Gertner explains. On the job, noise also results in increased accidents
and injuries. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH), noise is one of the most common health problems in the
American work place. Noise, and its resulting noise-induced hearing loss,
has also been identified as a significant global health problem, especially
in urban settings.
Noise levels of some common household products
Vacuum: 85dBA Hairdryer: 85dBA Lawn Mower: 90dBA Food Processor: 95dBA Leaf
Blower: 100dBA
Dr. Gertner recommends for hearing health, as well as a sense of peace and
general well-being, turn down the volume at home, in the work place and
during recreational activities. Encourage young people to reduce the volume
of their music players and for an added benefit, have students complete
their homework in quiet. Students have been reported to require less time to
complete homework and to retain more information when studying in a quieter
atmosphere.
For additional information about noise, readers may contact Dr. Gertner
(agertner@kean.edu) or the American Speech, Language and Hearing
Association. For an interesting demonstration about noise they may log onto
the website of the Center
<http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/noise/abouthlp/noisemeter_flash/soundMeter_
flash.html> for Disease Control.
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Too much boom, boom on campus?
http://media.www.ncatregister.com/media/storage/paper277/news/2008/04/30/the
WORD/Too-Much.Boom.Boom.On.Campus-3358478.shtml
North Carolina A&T State University
Too much boom, boom on campus?
By: Miriam Welderufael
Posted: 4/30/08
I wake up in the morning and I hear, Boom! Boom! Boom!
I am sitting in class trying to pay attention to the lecture when all of a
sudden I hear, Boom! Boom! Boom!
I am lying down in bed and then again I hear, Boom! Boom! Boom!
No, that sound is not my heart and it's not a bomb. It is the ridiculously
loud bass coming from the back of someone's car coming down the drive onto
the campus.
Students as well as non-students are not being respectful to the campus and
the people on the campus when they come down the drive blaring their car
stereos at a deafening volume.
There are people actually here to get an education and who do not want Club
54 on wheels passing through at all hours of the day and night.
It is extremely distracting when you are trying to study or sleep and it
sounds like there is someone drumming on your desk and screaming at the top
of their lungs.
It is hard for me to understand why anyone would want music that loud at
all, let alone at school. I guess they are trying to look cool, but they
don't.
I once heard an old man say, "It seems nowadays all the young people gone
deaf."
I couldn't agree more.
The music coming out these cars seems louder than the music that I hear at
the club. Why does the music need to be so loud?
If hearing the music while I am in class and studying is not bad enough, I
have actually been awakened in the middle of the night on numerous occasions
because of these earsplitting radios coming down the drive.
UVI is not just a school to me and many other students, but it is a place of
work and the place where many of us sleep at night. People coming up and
down the drive with loud music actually is disrespectful to us.
To make matters even worse, most of the words being launched out of these
cars are incredibly vulgar.
The volume is not the only thing offensive about these people imposing their
"music" on us, but the content of what we are being forced to listen to is
provocative and inappropriate for a school setting.
If your idea of music is a combination of curse words, aggressive language
and all sorts of sexual implications, that's fine, but please stop
disrupting those of us who are actually here trying to further our education
with any music and especially not with that music.
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