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HALF HOLLOW HILLS Copyright © 2010 Long Islander Newspapers, LLC.
Online at www.LongIslanderNews.com VOLUME TWELVE, ISSUE 49
LONG ISLANDER NEWSPAPERS TELECOMMUNICATIONS/MEDIA BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
N E W S P A P E R
24 PAGES
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2010
DIX HILLS
Dead Zone Preferred To Cell Tower Resident against construction in fear of possible health risks, location near schools Half Hollow Hills photo/Sara-Megan Walsh
By Sara-Megan Walsh swalsh@longislandernews.com
A Dix Hills resident would rather deal with dropped calls and poor reception than risk joining his neighbors prematurely. Gary Canino, a resident of Deanna Court, plans to take a stance against Verizon Wireless building a cell phone tower inside Mount Golda Cemetery off Old Country Road. Canino has written school officials, PTAs and county legislators fearing the imminent health risks a cell tower could pose to local residents, while also being an unsightly addition. “My main concern is the long-term effect of cell phone radiation on adults and children,” he said. “I’m surprised they picked a location between so many schools and parks.” Canino said he received a flier notification in his mailbox approximately two weeks ago stating the Town of Huntington’s Zoning Board of Appeals had scheduled a public hearing for Verizon Wireless’ request on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. The carrier has requested a special use permit construct a tower within the cemetery, approximately 240 feet from Chantilly Court. It wasn’t until he took his dog out for a
Dix Hills resident Gary Canino is leading the charge to protest a Verizon Wireless request to construct a cell tower in Mount Golda Cemetery close to homes and area schools due to potential long-term health risks from electromagnetic radiation exposure. walk, the Dix Hills resident said, that he realized not everyone on his street said they had received the letter. “One of my neighbors is a doctor. When I asked her what she thought of cell phone radiation, she was very serious and negative about it,” Canino said. Huntington spokesman A.J. Carter
said they are required to notify residents living within 500 feet of a property’s boundary about pending construction. As an insurance broker and consultant for Select Risk Management, Canino said he turned to the Internet to research potential health hazards from cell phone
radiation and pointed to an article “Blind Faith in Wireless Technology – Facts Everyone Should Know,” published by the nonprofit organization EMR (Electromagnetic Radiation) Policy Institute. It can be read on the blog Canino has started: celltowermtgoldacemetery.blogspot.com. Canino said his concerns immediately raised, given the future tower site’s close proximity to several schools, including Signal Hill Elementary School, Half Hollow Hills West, St. Anthony’s High School, Maplewood Intermediate School and Countrywood Primary Center, which is across the street. His attempts to raise support against the project efforts reached Legislator Steven Stern (D – Dix Hills). “I have been made aware of this issue and although this is an issue that is within the jurisdiction of the Town of Huntington, I have already contacted members of the town board and expressed our shared concerns as well as my opposition to placement of the tower in this location,” reads the e-mail received from Stern posted on the blog. Canino said he expects a large turnout at the Feb. 11 meeting from neighboring residents to protest moving ahead with construction of the cell tower.
HALF HOLLOW HILLS
Math Whiz Makes National Cut Hills West student named Intel finalist, invited to compete for $100,000 top prize By Mike Koehler mkoehler@longislandernews.com
Levent Alpoge, 17, was sitting at home watching “funny” YouTube videos on Jan. 27. Suddenly the phone began ringing, with an unknown number on the caller ID. Alpoge picked up, learning he was named a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search. “I was in shock. It was like the Publisher’s Clearing House. It was like that, only twice as good,” he said. The Half Hollow Hills West senior is just one of 40 people throughout the United States to win the honor this year. He, along with Hills East’s Carly Emmer, were named semifinalists – within the top 300 entrants – earlier this
month. Both students and schools earned $1,000. Alpoge, however, received $7,500 for his work in improving MRI software and will also receive a nearly all-inclusive trip to Washington D.C. in March to compete for $630,000 in awards. “The research program is optional, but helps you a lot with college applications. I’ll be able to say I was an Intel finalist for the next 30 years. I’ve seen professors with Intel finalist on their resumes from 1967,” said the student. Entitled “A Non-Parametric, Massively Parallelized Multiscale Vessel Detection Method for Complex Vascular Structures,” Alpoge’s project stemmed from the Half Hollow Hills-placed summer research program. He was assigned to a professor at Yale University, but the
adviser realized his math and science skills would be better served with another mentor. Alpoge was introduced to Xenophon Papademetris at the Yale School of Medicine. The high school student began working on other projects, earning his new professor’s trust. Papademetris was looking to assign a university student the task of automatically detecting blood vessels in MRIs using CUDA – a type of computer architecture. Alpoge ended up with the assignment. “I guess I had impressed him,” the (Continued on page A17)
Hills West senior Levent Alpoge is a finalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search.
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