The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Letters

Way to go Fremont, on your TOB success

Thank you for your front-page article on Oct 15 covering the Cupertino Tournament of Bands. It's gratifying to see some coverage for the 20-plus high school bands that were here participating. I was very sorry to see that you missed covering Fremont High School. The bands are divided into classes so that they compete against bands of comparable size in the field show competition.

Fremont (located in Sunnyvale!) took third place in their class, and their auxiliary also earned a trophy. I am a Fremont High alumnus, a former Homestead parent and music booster board member, and currently a member of the Tournament of Bands board. It was fun to see Homestead do well, but for me, even more gratifying to experience Fremont's success. Fremont's music program has struggled, not due to lack of dedicated parents or faculty, but because of the absence of music in the feeder schools to Fremont. Fremont's success was a huge accomplishment, and their musicians rightfully celebrated like they had just won the Super Bowl. Those of us who have experienced the immeasurable value that music adds to our children's education wish that all the schools in Sunnyvale and the Fremont High district could provide these opportunities for their students.

Witness the fact that all the members of the TOB board no longer have students in the district high schools but still devote the hours it takes to organize and stage the tournament. So, way to go, Fremont! And thanks for the coverage. Let's try to applaud all our local schools when they are accomplishing great things for our kids.

Rodney B. Norling
Sunnyvale

Nothing for teens to do? That's hardly the case

I read with great interest the cover story in the Oct. 22 issue of The Sun about the need for a teen center. Ironically, the Sunnyvale Community Center was built during my last years of high school and I envied my younger sisters' access to its services once I had left home for my college education and future employment.

What really concerns me about this story is not that parents and teens feel that there is a distinct need for such services today. Rather, it seems to be the overwhelming case that these teens have so much free time after school and nothing but various sports programs with which to occupy themselves. My own eighth-grade daughter brings home homework four nights a week, which takes her anywhere from one to three hours to complete. I am grateful when she can begin her homework assignments prior to dinner so that we can spend some time together after dinner discussing current goings on or problems that her homework might be giving her. I value the time and effort that she is putting into these educational assignments and know that she will reap untold benefits in the future. She, like many of the youth profiled in this story, does not participate in after-school sports, but she is passionate about theater arts and has tried relentlessly to balance her schoolwork in order to allow herself time to participate in community theater and childrens theater in our surrounding area.

Sunnyvale offers a wealth of opportunities for our youth through the Yes, Express program at Sunnyvale school sites, the Parks and Recreation programs offered through the city and any number of drop-in centers advertised at community churches. The biggest problem that I forsee is finding sufficient adults available to staff additional programs. Most of us in this community are employed 20 to 40 (or more) hours each week and simply cannot provide the time necessary to provide additional services to the children of the community.

But to return to my main concern, I am surprised that the recurring theme in this cover story is that so many middle school students in our city have nothing to do after school but "hang out" (aimlessly?).

Perhaps if they were required by their teachers and/or parents to apply themselves to further educational endeavor between the hours of 3:30 and 6 p.m., they would improve their test scores, broaden their interests and better prepare themselves to compete in a global economy by the time they reach adulthood.

I believe that the Sunnyvale Parks and Recreation Department has made available an incredible amount of activities for all age groups. At some point, the individual student and the family must take some initiative to provide a reasonable use of after-school time.

An after-school homework center would be a wonderful addition to this community for those latchkey students who have nothing better to do after school "besides clean the house" or "watch a lot of television."

Perhaps neighbors could organize their own homework centers and rotate the location house to house as a no-cost solution to our city.

Sunnyvale

How can council not OK cameras at intersections?

It's difficult for me to believe the City Council vetoed the installation of cameras at intersections to catch violators as reported in your Sept. 17 edition. Evidently, it is more important to not appear "Orwellian," as Vice Mayor Jim Roberts stated, than to catch potential high-risk drivers.

Since running red lights seems to be an epidemic, how can the City Council, in good conscience, not approve this deterrent? It appears to be more important to protect serious violators than to protect innocent drivers and pedestrians lawfully driving or walking the green light.

One problem cited was the privacy issue. When people knowingly and willfully break the law and create possible fatal situations, they have no right of privacy. They must be caught and prosecuted.

There are too many people bullying their way through our streets with no regard or respect for anyone else around them. They need to be stopped and made aware of the danger they present.

Marie Colwell
Sunnyvale

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Sunnyvale's Newspaper