That's why the mother of two attended an informational session at Monta Vista High School on the evening of March 8.

Cingular Wireless and the Fremont Union High School District set up the meeting to address community concerns about the addition of proposed cellular antennas to the Monta Vista campus.

When Hui spoke at the meeting, she reflected the overwhelming opinion of some 50 concerned parents and Monta Vista residents who attended.

"I don't think how many bars we have on our phone is more important than our kids' health," she said. Hui has a child attending Kennedy Middle School and one that will start at Lincoln Elementary School in the fall. "I've lived here for 13 years and I don't want to be forced to move. We have a right to choose our environment, and with this we have no choice."

Representatives from Cingular and its engineering firm, as well as Bill Flory, the district's director of facilities modernization, tried to assure parents that the levels of cell phone signals produced by the antennas would likely not harm their children. Robert Weller, a senior engineer with the firm Hammet & Edison, explained the science of cell phone signals, saying that the frequencies currently used for cell phones previously carried television signals.

"There is a consensus among scientists--and I'm talking the World Health Organization, the Food and Drug Administration, a variety of expert organizations--that are satisfied that below a certain level of exposure, there is no basis for health concerns," Weller said. "The acceptable level of exposure in the United States is 50 times below the threshold of known effects, and the level here would be 1.7 percent of that level."

But that didn't matter to the parents at the meeting, who asked if Weller could state for a fact that nothing would happen to their children due to the increased signals.

Weller said that it was scientifically impossible to prove a negative, which incensed the parents even further. Many came armed with research showing which school districts outlaw cell phone towers and studies showing the ill effects of cell phone radiation.

"We never say no to increasing taxes to help the schools. We should be able to say no to this," Hui said.

Trustees of the Fremont Union board got to hear the parents' opinions on the matter at a public hearing at their meeting on March 15.