almost every sport is played at home. how many people go to the rest of the games? not very many. plus it took years for them to stop pointing the pool lights into the houses and instead of at the pool which they were intended for. it's not the noise and activity that bothers the neighbors, its the complete disregard for those around the field that bothers them. Before complaining about those who disagree with you, i recommend looking at their actual arguments.
| Bright light fright |
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| Written by Anandi Somasundaram | |||
| Wednesday, 03 March 2010 22:37 | |||
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Football lights. Who knew that those two words would cause such an uproar with neighbors? On Jan. 25, the FUHSD Board of Trustees meeting was filled with local MVHS residents, waiting to give their opinion on the planned track and field reconstruction.
Yes folks, parents were waiting all evening to talk about football lights. Complaints of how their lives would be intruded upon by bright, meddlesome stadium lights filled the meeting. With approximately $40 million allocated for the renovation of classroom technology and the football field, it only seems fair that we receive decent stadium lights for the new field—it would be pointless to spend all that money on trendy classroom supplies while ignoring the need for basic facilities. Of course, every parent wants their child(ren) to receive the best education possible. However, a high school is more than classrooms and books. The excitement of rooting for our football team, the laughter from watching Powderpuff cheerleaders "shaking it"— you can't find that in a classroom. Experiences like these take place on the field with teammates, or on the bleachers with friends. Denying the school stadium lights would render the new field useless: most games take place in the evenings and lights are vital to both the athletes and spectators. The new lights and field could be the change we need to boost school spirit and promote the idea that there is a life beyond academics.
MVHS seems to be the only FUHSD school besides Homestead High School with this controversy. Why is it that neighbors surrounding other schools don't seem to have a problem with lights but we do?
Dear neighbors: living next to a school probably means that, lights or no lights, there will be noise because of an after-school activity on campus. Don't play the "nonsensical activity is disrupting our lives" card. Our lives have also been disrupted because we can't host football games and other athletic events after sunset. Take the annual Homecoming game for example. Please note that Homecoming literally means, coming home. Not for us. Homecoming game means going to Cupertino High School and playing on its field, using its stadium lights, displaying our floats on its tracks. Game attendance rates would probably soar if games were played at home — the games would be very accessible to students, compared to going to CHS. Unfortunately, that is yet to happen. Sorry, we don't like to "disturb" our neighbors. Nothing is illegal about installing stadium lights along with the new field. However, neighbors feel that the renovations may promote rowdy behavior at the events that would take place on the field. All games take place well within city curfew (11 p.m.) and so nothing is wrong with a little expected clamor from the games. It's not like the installation of lights will cause all hell to break loose and neighbors will find themselves uprooted by impertinent teenagers. We have common sense and courtesy, too.
All we can ask is that neighbors truly consider the impact of their decision to oppose stadium lights. Because if no lights ever shine on our field, who will shine the light on our shining stars?
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