PARENTS OPPOSE CELL TOWER NEAR SCHOOL.

Byline: Jason Kandel Staff Writer

NORTHRIDGE - More than 100 angry parents lambasted city officials and phone executives Monday for proposing to install a 60-foot cell tower across the street from the Balboa Gifted Magnet School.

Officials want to build the towers at the site, near 17020 Labrador St., to improve cell phone service in that area.

But the parents are worried about effects on their children.

``As parents of students here, we are concerned about the health effects,'' said parent Suzanne Waisbren-Rader, who has two daughters, 7 and 10, who attend the school. ``If there is any chance at all that kids can be harmed, why take the chance?''

Los Angeles Unified School District officials, representatives from Pacific Bell, AirTouch Cellular and technical experts met to explain the long-term effects of radio waves produced by the towers.

Dr. Jerrold Bushberg, a radiology expert from the University of California, Davis, Medical Center, representing the phone companies, tried to appease the audience by explaining the low possibilities of exposure to radio waves.

``Even the most conservative scientist would permit a site like this,'' he said. ``We're all exposed to radiation from the ground to the air.''

He did say that little research is available to pinpoint the effects on people from long-term exposure to radiation.

The meeting Monday stemmed from an earlier hearing by zoning officials about the towers.

Many parents and neighbors appeared at that hearing and convinced the city's Zoning Administration to forestall the project for four weeks, to allow the parties to resolve the issue informally. Parents are also collecting signatures for a petition.

And as a result of the outcry, school board member Julie Korenstein voiced her opposition to the project Monday night.

``I believe that until the potential health effects of radio-frequency radiation and electromagnetic fields are more fully defined, and appropriate regulatory standards are adopted, it is prudent to ensure against any future placement of such facilities on or adjacent to school property,'' she wrote in a letter to the zoning administration.