7JFXQPJOU
â– EDITORIAL â– YOUR LETTERS â– GUEST OPINIONS
N EDITORIAL THE OPINION OF THE VOICE
Scare tactic for a worthy cause
Founding Editor, Kate Wakerly
N S TA F F EDITOR & PUBLISHER Tom Gibboney (223-6507) EDITORIAL Managing Editor Andrea Gemmet (223-6537) Staff Writers Daniel DeBolt (223-6536) Nick Veronin (223-6535) Editorial Intern Samson So Photographer Michelle Le (223-6530) Contributors Dale Bentson, Angela Hey, Sheila Himmel, Ruth Schecter, Alissa Stallings DESIGN & PRODUCTION Design Director Shannon Corey (223-6560) Designers Linda Atilano, Lili Cao, Diane Haas, Rosanna Leung, Paul Llewellyn, Scott Peterson ADVERTISING Vice President Sales and Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Advertising Representatives Adam Carter (223-6573) Real Estate Account Executive Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Published every Friday at 450 Cambridge Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294 Email news and photos to: editor@MV-Voice.com
M
ost adults are at least aware of the dangers of drinking and driving. But teenagers, specifically students who may just have received their drivers licenses, are complete novices when it comes to the dangers of mixing alcohol and driving, and consequently stand a good chance of becoming the victim of a DUI accident. This painful prospect has not escaped the attention of school officials and the California Highway Patrol, whose officers often are the first responders who witness the trauma caused when a drunken teenager loses control of a vehicle and becomes seriously injured or worse. It is a horrible sight for anyone to behold, but that is exactly what the CHP intended when it put together a graphic program called Every 15 Minutes that works with schools all over the state. Juniors and seniors at Mountain View High School saw just how horrible a DUI accident can be during an assembly last week on the football field. The CHP officers were assisted by members of the local police and fire departments, and most importantly by students, who played the role of accident victims arranged in frightful poses in or around wrecked cars that were brought to the site. Special effects included fake blood and internal organs designed to shock the students and get their attention about what could, and often does, happen when a DUI accident occurs. “I know a lot of people think it’s OK to drive under the inf luence, and I really want to show them that this is what happens. We want those kids to have a future,� said Sofia
N LETTERS
Email letters to: letters@MV-Voice.com News/Editorial Department (650) 964-6300 fax (650) 964-0294 Display Advertising Sales (650) 964-6300 Classified Advertising Sales t fax (650) 326-0155 Email Classified ads@MV-Voice.com Email Circulation circulation@MV-Voice.com The Voice is published weekly by Embarcadero Media Co. and distributed free to residences and businesses in Mountain View. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 964-6300. Subscriptions for $60 per year, $100 per 2 years are welcome. Š2013 by Embarcadero Media Company. All rights reserved. Member, Mountain View Chamber of Commerce
N WHAT’S YOUR VIEW? All views must include a home address and contact phone number. Published letters will also appear on the web site, www.MountainViewOnline.com, and occasionally on the Town Square forum. Town Square forum Post your views on Town Square at MountainViewOnline.com Email
your views to letters@MV-Voice.com. Indicate if letter is to be published.
to: Editor Mountain View Voice, P.O. Box 405 Mountain View, CA 94042-0405
Call
the Viewpoint desk at 223-6507
Biros, who along with fellow student Kelly Vroom, helped arrange to bring the CHP’s Every 15 Minutes program to MVHS. CHP spokesman Art Montiel said that in 1995 statistics showed that every 15 minutes someone would die in the U.S. as the result of a drunken driving accident. That number has come down, Montiel said. Now the statistical breakdown shows that every 53 minutes someone is killed as a result of drinking and driving. But while she acknowledges that statistics are looking better, Virginia Jones, administrative officer with the ambulance service American Medical Response, said there is still work to do. “We’re getting better, but it’s not good enough� she said. Other factors that help lower the accident rate are fewer teens driving while drunk, perhaps a ref lection that young people are beginning to believe that it is no longer socially acceptable to drive after drinking. Vroom said that she has a personal reason for working on the event. When she was a young girl, a friend and fellow basketball teammate was killed in a drinking-related accident, an incident that she remembers thinking simply was “not fair.� Vroom and Biros — both sophomores — should be commended for spearheading a program that all involved hope will lead to fewer unnecessary deaths or injuries of high school students who drink and drive. We hope the message lasts through the coming prom and graduation season, with its end-of-school parties where teens are more likely than ever to celebrate with alcoholic beverages.
VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
WHAT IS THE CITY COUNCIL THINKING? In regard to the 200 apartments proposed for Castro and El Camino Real, I have to ask the City Council: “What are you thinking?� It feels like we’re already living like rats in a maze in beautiful downtown Mountain View. The condos and apartments on Evelyn aren’t even at full capacity and we’re struggling to handle the influx of people — parking is a disaster, side streets are jammed with the cars of commuters who drive in to take the train, and crime is on the rise. The police department let me know after a recent auto burglary next door that downtown is being used as a “thoroughfare� as people head home from their night out on the town. The actions of the City Council appear to signal to developers that our town is “for sale� to the highest bidders, with no regard for the quality of life of current residents or diversity of businesses that make this town unique. Neighboring cities like Palo Alto and Los Altos have put far more thought into their urban
planning, prioritizing character and intelligent development over expansion at all costs. Our council members should take note. In the interim, all I can do is shake my head sadly as I watch them cram more people, cars and exhaust into an already overcrowded city and demolish all the small businesses that have made this city what it is today. And ask the City Council: “What are you thinking?� Muriel Sivyer-Lee Velarde Street
caring about the pedestrians in a crosswalk, I take exception to their policies. The Sylvan Avenue “runway� to Hwy 237 has been a problem for a many years, and has gone without speed limit or cross walk enforcement. I have personally noticed on several occasions that motorists do not stop for pedestrians in that crosswalk; in fact, they do not even
look up from texting as they speed through the crosswalk. If nothing is done soon, it will not be long before Sylvan Avenue is on the “Top Ten Hit Parade.� We need the police to monitor this crosswalk for all of us, but especially for our children’s safety. Richard Michael Sylvan Avenue
NO LIMITS AT SYLVAN AVENUE CROSSWALK In reference to your editorial last week, I too have had problems with motorists not stopping for pedestrians at the posted crosswalk at Sylvan Park. I have called City Hall and the non-emergency number of the police department, and was told that Sylvan Avenue was not a “high priority,â€? and that the council requested that police effort to be concentrated on Castro Street. I understand the policy of politics, but when it come to citizens being run over, or motorists not April 26, 2013 â– Mountain View Voice â– MountainViewOnline.com â–
17