Don't fight cell towers out of ignorance

I would like to applaud the Town of Hempstead for the passage of legislation that will give our citizens more input into the placement of cell phone towers. Hiring a consultant to advise town leaders can only help.

At the same time, there remains a danger that must be addressed, i.e., citizens with a NIMBY mentality and little or no facts to back up their opinions.

I have been a television engineer since 1972. I can tell you that mankind has been bombarded with radio waves since the sun first shone. Man-made radio frequencies surround us every day, and have done so since the invention of radio almost 100 years ago. The same is true for TV, police, fire and EMT radios. Our newest form of entertainment, satellite television, is receiving radio frequencies that are already present in the air.

Compared to all of this activity, cellular emissions are at a level that is quite minimal.

Video, teleconferencing and data transfer will only get better. Whether it's communication live via video to a hospital from the scene of an accident, or saving time and money and cutting down on pollution by arranging two-way video conferences for our legal system, these are features and benefits that we will miss out on if we are too anxious to ban a cell tower without proper education. All this will take more antennas and towers.

I respectfully request that we not shortchange our town, our businesses, our public and private servants and our families before we are armed with the facts.

Keith L. Andoos

Oceanside