Just exactly when did cellular phones became a necessity for society? Walk into a shopping mall and it is sometimes filled with young teens busy on the phone. Pass by a car driving erratically and sometimes you will see the driver with one hand on the phone and the other on a steering wheel. Technology has certainly spurred on the use of hand held phones, but we must ask ourselves is it all necessary?

The truth of the matter is that cell phones can provide a wonderful service. They can be used to bail people out of emergencies. They can be used to save time in the case of a medical dilemma or in the case of a vehicle breaking down on the side of the road or even if someone needs a phone to call the police. However, emergencies are hardly the lone reason cell phones are being used so frequently.

Last week, the Village of Mineola held a public hearing on a Verizon Wireless, a popular cell phone service provider, application to erect nine four-foot high antennas on top of a LIPA tower, located in the village.

Apparently there appears to be a missing link in the Verizon network so that there is interference in an area in the village and some of its surroundings, preventing Verizon customers from either having a clear, continuous conversation or checking their voice mails. The solution, says Verizon, is to erect these antennas on top of a LIPA tower in the village of Mineola.

Several residents as well as the mayor and members of the board expressed reservations about adding additional cell phone waves to the community and understandably so. There have been several news articles written in the past about possible dangers of cell phone waves. Verizon, however, says the antennas are perfectly safe and called several experts to testify. However, not one of these experts has to live in the vicinity of these proposed antennas as do the residents present at the hearing.

The Verizon experts were quick to point out that the waves the antennas will emit are all within FCC guidelines, although, at this point, the numbers Verizon presented are just theory. Though these antennas may adhere to FCC guidelines, this hardly means the antennas are perfectly safe. Isn't it possible the Federal Communications Commission can make mistakes? The federal government has made mistakes in the past so it is possible that somewhere down the road, when more is known about this wireless technology, that it will be determined that cell phone transmissions are, in fact, harmful. It could also even come to pass that the technology is safe but it just doesn't seem fair to ask residents to take a chance so that Verizon's customers can use the phone or check voice mails while driving on the Northern State or Meadowbrook Parkways.

The attorney for Verizon was quick to point out that the village cannot deny the application because of safety reasons or because of possible interference with other communications. Those issues come under the jurisdiction of the FCC.

So just exactly for what reason can the board of trustees deny the application. How about because the residents don't want it?

The FCC should not have jurisdiction over what residents feel safe living with. The residents deserve to decide what should be in the vicinity of where they purchased homes.

It is the opinion of this newspaper that the board of trustees for the Village of Mineola should deny Verizon's application for the installation of these nine antennas for the sole reason that the village's residents simply do not want them. It is the board's responsibility to protect the residents' comfort.

Last Wednesday's hearing was an example of a big corporation trying to impose its will in such a way that the residents of the village would not have their say. This shouldn't be in Mineola or anywhere else.

Yes, cellular phones are a wonderful luxury, but clear, uninterrupted conversations on cell phones for Verizon's customers so that the company can profit financially should not come at the expense of the peace of mind of the residents, many of whom have invested their earnings into their homes.

- Joe Rizza