{"673866":{"#nid":"673866","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Iconic \u201cTECH\u201d letters removed from Tech Tower","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EFor the first time in 106 years, Georgia Tech students will no longer see the word \u201cTECH\u201d displayed on the oldest building on campus. Due to an increase in light pollution measured by the Facility of Optical Luminescence and Skygazing (FOOLS), the letters have been unplugged and permanently removed from the building.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe light emitted from the letters pulled the sky quality rating in the area surrounding Tech Tower down to the lowest reading of 16.00 \u2014 which represents the highest amount of light pollution possible. Dr. Kant Taycajoek, a Georgia Tech professor in the field of optics and light emission, served as a university advisor to a team from FOOLS. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cWe tried every solution to prevent this from happening \u2014 we didn\u2019t take it lightly,\u201d lamented Taycajoek. \u201cAt first, we just turned off the \u201cT\u201d to see if that would decrease the pollution, but sadly, the \u201cTECH\u201d here is simply just too bright.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETaycajoek suggested that the lights simply be turned off and that the letters should remain fixed atop the tower. However, the FOOLS team would not allow it.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cThey were worried that we would simply just flip the light switch back on,\u201d said Taycajoek. \u201cAnd we would have.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe only solution was to remove the illuminated letters from all four sides of the building. On April 1 at 12:01 a.m., a team of light removal specialists turned off the sign for the last time and dismantled the letters.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s truly an SSD (sad, sad day),\u201d said L.V. Lux, Georgia Tech\u2019s vice president of abbreviations and acronyms. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine this campus without \u201cTECH.\u201d It just seems dark.\u201d\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EThe letters have been taken in by the Institute \u2014 deceptively and harmlessly unlit and placed in storage. \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ELast night at 12:01 a.m., the iconic\u0026nbsp;\u201cT-E-C-H\u201d\u0026nbsp;letters at the top of Tech Tower were unplugged and permanently removed due to unsuitable light pollution readings. The Facility of Optical Luminescence and Sky-gazing forced the\u0026nbsp;deconstruction\u0026nbsp;of the sign.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe tried every solution to prevent this from happening \u2014 we didn\u2019t take it lightly,\u201d lamented Dr. Kant Taycajoek, a professor in the field of optics and light emission who\u0026nbsp;served as a university advisor to a team from FOOLS. \u201cAt first, we just turned off the \u2018T\u2019 to see if that would decrease the pollution, but sadly, the \u2018TECH\u2019 here is simply just too bright.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Due to light pollution, the iconic \u201cT-E-C-H\u201d letters at the top of Tech Tower have been unplugged and permanently removed. "}],"uid":"34973","created_gmt":"2024-03-31 14:17:27","changed_gmt":"2024-04-01 11:23:11","author":"Evan Atkinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2024-04-01T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2024-04-01T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"673568":{"id":"673568","type":"image","title":"TECH 01","body":null,"created":"1711895211","gmt_created":"2024-03-31 14:26:51","changed":"1711895211","gmt_changed":"2024-03-31 14:26:51","alt":"Tech Tower without the \u0027T E C H\u0027 during the day","file":{"fid":"256979","name":"TECH 01.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/31\/TECH%2001_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/31\/TECH%2001_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":6580422,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/03\/31\/TECH%2001_0.jpg?itok=2vmcnDt_"}},"673569":{"id":"673569","type":"image","title":"TECH 02","body":null,"created":"1711895211","gmt_created":"2024-03-31 14:26:51","changed":"1711895211","gmt_changed":"2024-03-31 14:26:51","alt":"Tech Tower without the \u0027T E C H\u0027 during the night","file":{"fid":"256980","name":"TECH 02.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/31\/TECH%2002.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2024\/03\/31\/TECH%2002.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":8891359,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2024\/03\/31\/TECH%2002.jpg?itok=AAY2u28S"}}},"media_ids":["673568","673569"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}