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Volume 53, Issue 31 • Thursday, February 11, 2010
Major Snow Storm Cancels Classes
KENNETH HO / SB STATESMAN
Snow pummeled Long Island on Wednesday canceling activities, delaying trains and closing schools.
Residents Want Cell Service Without The Eyesore By Andrew Zajic Contributing Writer
IN THIS ISSUE
After his Toyota died on the curvy and rural North Country Road, Jay Holtzman eyeballed the dead signal on his cell phone. With his phone in a reception coma, he trudged for miles through the wooded suburbia of Wading River, N.Y. Since Verizon proposed a cell tower at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Wading River residents’ cellular needs struck a nerve -- not
in my backyard. "The tower would really help me out," said Holtzman about Verizon’s proposal. "I drive through here to Rocky Point all the time and get one bar if I’m lucky." Neighbors nearest to the church picketed their lawns with constructionpaper signs that read, "Would you want a 100 -foot cell tower in your backyard?" Nationwide, 74 percent of American adults oppose landfills, malls and power plants in their
communities, according to a survey conducted by experts in land-use politics. Americans, while wanting the best coverage, are also reluctant to tolerate cell towers anywhere in plain sight. Nearly 300 Americans aggregated more than a trillion minutes of use from January to June last year, tallied by the Cellular Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s Industry Association, or CTIA. The Cisco Visual Networking Index presaged mobile data traffic to
increase 66 times every year from 2008 to 2013. The iPhone and Blackberry smartphones each generate more data traffic, from users playing video and browsing the Internet, than 30 basicfeature cell phones. As growing use of cell phones and smartphones congest networks, cellular companies push to build more towers in antidevelopment communities. By fighting development of cell towers, the cell quality of every cell phone and smartphone is at stake.
"In general, we fail to connect our land-use with our consumption," said Carissa Schively Slotterback, who holds a doctorate in urban and regional planning. "I think communities have successfully integrated commercial structures before. They would be able to disguise the cell tower in Wading River like a tree." "We want our cell phones, we want our coverage and we want to keep our home values," said Millie Thomas, a realtor in
Wading River for 17 years. From her experience, she knows homeb4uyers turn down homes close to power lines and TV towers. "St. John’s cell tower would give and take from our community.” David Sandberg, a Verizon spokesman, pointed out that companies explore cellular antenna on church steeples and water towers as cheaper alternatives instead of building a whole tower. See SERVICE on 11
Baseball is right around the corner
Hate it or love it, it's here to stay
INDEX
Coming off a 2009 campaign that saw an early elimination from the championship tournament, Stony Brook’s baseball team is poised to recapture the glory achieved after a 2008 America
Valentine's Day is fast approaching, a time when people are scrambling to buy gifts and other tokens of love for each other. It’s a holiday where people make a special effort to
News................11 Opinion...............5 Arts.....................8 Sports...............3
East Championship season. Finishing 29-23 overall and tying for third in the America East with a 14-10 conference record, Stony Brook... See BASEBALL on 3
appreciate the significant others in their lives. The people in our lives are what some of the most important things that... See LOVE IT on 5