Shhh...
Many thanks to Rick Marolt for the article “Hey, We’re Trying to Think Here” (4/20/2017) regarding noise pollution and quality of life.
The morning after reading the article, I was outside in my garden puttering around, listening to the birds. I live across the street from an apartment building. The guys who mow the lawn showed up with their commercial lawnmowers and leaf blowers and drove me inside. It was literally so loud I couldn’t think.
I live close to Willy Street and the Eastwood “highway,” and cars like to fly down that stretch, engines roaring. In the last few years, vehicles with loud mufflers seems to be in fashion, and it’s really tough on the ear drums and conversations with neighbors.
Festivals, outdoor patios and bands are popular in my neighborhood, and last summer, there wasn’t one weekend I wasn’t listening to someone else’s music at my home.
Since then, Breese Stevens has been added, and the volume is excessive. The Health Department was included in a meeting with the city, our alder and neighborhood related to noise issues and festivals. It was stated that blood pressure raises in relation to noise. Yup! That’s exactly how it feels.
Anne Walker
Amen to Rick Marolt’s points. Some noise is, of course, unavoidable. You can’t easily build a garage without power tools. And music and community festivals often serve the common good. I am more concerned about inconsiderate neighbors. If we addressed boom cars (those knuckleheads whose bass you can hear from blocks away), car alarms and barking dogs, we’d cover a great deal of the problem. So to my fellow Madisonians, a simple plea:
If you have a great car stereo, that’s nice. Keep it to yourself. You don’t want to hear Steely Dan in your house, so I thank you kindly for not broadcasting Lil’ Jon into mine.
Turn off your car alarm, including the irritating beeps and honks that indicate you’ve locked your car. All a car alarm does is make people wish your car were stolen so they won’t hear it.
If you have a dog, please train it. Dogs are not supposed to bark nonstop at everything that moves. You’ll lower neighbors’ stress and yours, too.
Ben Seigel (via email)
How about going after government-mandated noisemakers: Ambulance sirens blaring continuously at 4 on a Sunday morning, when there is hardly any traffic to get in the way. Testing the emergency sirens on the first Wednesday at noon: How about a five-second test instead of five minutes. Backup beepers: Are they really needed inside a fenced-off construction site?
Mike von Schneidemesser (via email)
Kick the habit
For over half a century it’s been known that cigarette smoking is hazardous to the health of smokers as well as those nearby the smokers. I am disgusted and offended by the full-page cigarette ad on page 5 of the April 20 edition of Isthmus. Why can’t Isthmus management show some “health sense” and seek advertising revenue for any of a variety of products that enhance life instead of jeopardize life?
Jay Fleisher (via email)
Dropping the ball
Nice piece on UW baseball, or lack thereof (“Varsity,” 4/20/2017).
When Pat Richter chose to drop the program, the UW athletic department was in serious trouble. The football team hadn’t provided the kinds of revenues necessary to carry all the nonprofit sports. In addition, Title IX required both men’s and women’s varsity sports to be balanced in participation.
Since that time, UW sports have done much better. Revenues are up, and some teams rank with the best in the country. In fact, the athletic department recently approved a $90 million expenditure for locker room and weight room renovation.
I’m sure those improvements will help the revenue-producing sports recruit. As would a baseball program.
Considering that all other Big Ten schools have baseball and comply with Title IX and have ongoing budget concerns, it seems the lack of baseball here is a choice, not a necessity. The money is being spent elsewhere.
Fritz Kroncke (via email)
Corrections
Last week’s cover story, “Life After GM,” was missing a byline. The story was written by Judith Davidoff. The crossword puzzle was mistakenly reprinted from the previous issue. Find the correct puzzle, and the answers for the April 13 puzzle, online at Isthmus.com.
