Basic HTML Version
August-Sepu:mber 1970
The
PLAIN 1RUTH
Ambo,.odor College
Photos
Amazingly, the noise leve l in o modern, automated kitche n with oll oppli–
ances going is nearly identical to the clatte r of o lorge printing press–
both o re about 90 to 100 decibels. Notice the pre ssman weoring protective
ear guards. Housewives aren't so fo rtunately equipped.
that of thc: cockpit of an olJ DC-3
airlincr!
Is il any wonder, then, that the
average housewife or homemakcr often
feels "on edge," jíttery, fatigued,
frustrated, cven frcnzied?
H ard-of-Hearing at Age 30?
Young people may refuse to believe
it,
but highly amplified rock 'n' roll
music is damaging to their hearing.
Two University of Michigan research–
ers, Dr. Ralph R. Rupp and Larry J.
Koch, are among severa! studying the
relationship between "rock" music and
hearing impairments among the young.
From their detailed studies they re–
port that young people who either
pla)•
or listen
to rock 'n' roll music at high
inteosity levels may pay an "enormous"
price in terms of eventual rcduction of
hearing. Rupp and
Koch
found that
the sound pressure leve! generated in
thc
rel~earsal
room during the loudcst
time period mnged from
120
lo
l30
decibcls.
In comparison, the noise k·vel of a
Saturo moon rockct measured from
the press site, at maximum, is about
L20
decibels. And the leve! in a
ve ry noisy factory seldom exceeds
100
decibels.
United Press International reportcd
recently on an interesting experiment
conducted by University of Tenncssee
scientists.
Guinea pigs were exposed to "hard
rock" recorded at a discotheque in Knox–
ville. The sound leve! ranged from
122
decibels to
138.
The din literally
shriveled up a high percentage of cclls
in the sensitive inner ear organs of the
guinea pigs'
Dr. David
M.
Lipscomb of Tennes–
see's Department of Audiology and
Speech Pathology reported a separatc
study showed more than 30 percent of a
large group of freshmen at the Univer–
sity of Tennessee had "measurable high
frequency hearing loss." He concluded
that the nation should initiate at once
39
a program of "hearing conservation"
for young people.
Elsewhere in the same state, another
researcher, James M. Flugrath of the
Memphis State University Specch and
Hearing Clinic, said even chaperones at
tcen-age rock parties complain afterward
of ringing in thcir ears. And ringing in
the ears, authorities say, can be con–
sidered a warning sign of potential
hearing loss.
" Jt is quite possible," Flugrath saíd,
"that due to modern amplified rock 'n'
roll music we are raising a nation of
tcen-agers who will be hard-of-hearing
before they reach what they consider old
age
(30)."
Flugrath suggested, with tongue-in–
cheek, that a sign should
be
displayed
in every dance hall catering to teen–
agers: "Warning! Modero Day Rock
'n' Roll Music May Be Hazardous to
Your Hearing !"
Surc, most people will say, those in
noisy jobs or music will lose a Iittle
hearing, but not me. My office and
home are fairly quiet.
1
live in a
"normal" environment
So you think
your
hear ing iso't
affectcd?
The "average" person in W este
en