DEAR EDITOR:
I am writing to clarify some issues regarding the cell phone
towers at Luigi Aprea School.
DEAR EDITOR:
I am writing to clarify some issues regarding the cell phone towers at Luigi Aprea School.
First is the manner in which the towers went up. Parents were told for weeks they were flagpoles. I am even on the Site Governance Committee for Luigi Aprea and we were never told about flagpoles, cell phone towers or the $900 we would receive each month for hosting the towers. In a time that we are struggling to fund librarians, music programs and computer labs I found it odd that this information was never presented.
As a public school we are subject to a certain process, that process was completely ignored when the agreement was formed between Cingular and the school district. Parents weren’t informed, taxpayers weren’t notified, public meetings weren’t held and even school board members were kept out of the loop. The entire process ignored the democratic and legal procedures for making decisions within a public school system.
Superintendent Edwin Diaz is to be commended for his swift action. He did not cater to cell phone tower hysteria, but rather recognized that proper procedures were not followed. He acknowledged the error and corrected it.
The second issue, that of potential health risks , is an entirely different matter. Many people have written in about hysterical parents who may have been concerned about their children’s health and the towers. I am always alarmed when people claim to know something with 100 percent conviction. The truth is nothing is that black and white. We haven’t cured cancer, and clearly we don’t know with great certainty how we get cancer and other diseases.
I am not an engineer, doctor, or medical researcher and I make no claim to the argument of cell phone transmission poles being detrimental to the health of our children. However, I have been witness to tobacco companies denying their products were harmful, only to find later they knew differently. I have also witnessed lead paint, asbestos and other chemicals originally proposed as beneficial and harmless, later proved differently and cost society significantly in terms of life, health and dollars.
I have a cell phone and have been inconvenienced by the lack of a signal on the west side of town, but I don’t think that entitles me to force anyone to host a tower and assume whatever risks that may bring. No matter what side you argue, the truth is cell phones have not been around long enough to truly study the damage they may be inflicting on us, reproductive systems or future generations.
It would seem to me we could find another location for the towers than an elementary school. Perhaps the individuals who suggest the towers pose no risk could host the 50-foot rust-colored towers at their homes or offices . Maybe they would even be willing to donate the $900 per month back to the school district.
Susan Bassi, Gilroy
Submitted Sunday, Dec. 8 to ed****@ga****.com
