T-Mobile representatives hosted an open house in the Media Center March 8 to answer questions and inform community members about their proposal to install a 120-foot cell phone tower on top of a light pole next to the baseball field.

Opponents of the proposal dominated the event, with crowds of anxious and often frustrated parents and neighborhood residents questioning five T-Mobile representatives on the health effects of radio frequency waves emitted from the tower, its location and its effect on property values.

“I am terribly opposed to it because all my grandchildren live near here,” neighborhood resident Peggy Silver said. “I don’t think any cell tower should be near high school students. I believe that it creates a health hazard. Why should you even take a chance with our high school students?”

Silver’s concerns were some of the most discussed topics. However, T-Mobile representatives generally downplayed most claims that the RF exposure from the tower could negatively affect health.

The peak exposure level from the tower would be about 0.4 percent of the maximum constant exposure allowed by the federal government, said consultant Jerry Bushberg, who specializes in RF studies. A crowd of parents and community members, who questioned and debated his claims, surrounded Bushberg most of the night.

Both sides cited studies analyzing the health effects of RF exposure. However, Bushberg cautioned that results from one study cannot definitively determine which side is most valid.

Bushberg did give some credit to the uncertainty of RF’s potential health effects.

“You can’t prove the negatives,” he said. “[But] the information had told us that this is not likely to be a concern. We’ve been studying the biological effects of RF energy for over six decades.”

One woman argued that some European countries have banned cell towers near schools, and that Whitman should do the same. Some claimed that nearby property values would decrease as a result of the 120-foot tower and the new RF emissions.

Others said that the $2,000 T-Mobile would pay the school system per month to use the pole would not be enough to justify the potential problems the tower could pose. However, T-Mobile’s representatives were prepared to answer most complaints from parents and residents.

Oakleigh Thorne, a real estate consultant hired by T-Mobile, responded to concerns that house values may decrease by claiming that the housing market isn’t affected because buyers don’t notice the towers. One parent who works in realty argued the opposite.

“I did a small sampling of realtors and spoke with appraisers, and what they said was that even with a water tower, which is benign, a property around here could easily be negatively affected $35 to $50 thousand,” Burning Tree parent and neighborhood resident Ilissa Flamm said. “If you combine that with this cell tower that also emits radiation, it will negatively affect property values even more.”

Flamm says she also fears the health consequences from the RF waves emitted from cell towers.

“It’s constant exposure,” she said. “It’s not like a cell phone that you can turn off. It’s not like a computer in your house or a microwave that’s on for two minutes. It will be constantly emitting electromagnetic radiation.”

For the PTSA to recommend the installation of the tower, advocates of the proposal will attempt to overcome a vocal group of community members opposed to the tower at next week’s PTSA meeting. Individual community members will make statements about their views on the issue and PTSA members will vote on whether to support or reject the proposal on Tuesday, March 16. Superintendent Jerry Weast will make the final decision on whether to approve it.

“The most important thing to me is that the Whitman community has the opportunity to express its views,” PTSA co-president Sue Kanter said. “We are one piece of the process. And what’s really important to me is that we provide a process for the expression of views and something that will be useful to Dr. Weast in assessing how the community feels.”