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From: evans@mhuxt.UUCP (crandall)
Newsgroups: net.astro
Subject: Light Pollution Comments
Message-ID: <1010@mhuxt.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Jul-85 19:01:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: mhuxt.1010
Posted: Tue Jul 16 19:01:24 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 18-Jul-85 04:26:43 EDT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Lines: 30

Sky and Telescope has done several articles on light pollution - notably
July, 1980 and Feb, 1978. It is mentioned that a careful study by the
National Institue of Law ENforcement and Criminal Justice cancluded: "while
there is no statistically significant evidence that street lighting impacts
the level of crime, especially if crime displacement is taken into account, 
there is a STRONG indication that increased lighting - perhaps lighting
uniformity - decreases the fear of crime. Thus street lighting may serve
simnply to foster a false sense of security." It seems J Edgar Hoover was
one of the strongest proponents of intensified lighting -:) If one wants to
play with the statistics you can note that 20% of the crimes occur on the
2% of brightly lit streets.

The article goes on to talk about "raw" lighting vs effective illumination
(lamp placement, type, reflectors etc.) and recommends some sources:

	Chicago Tribune Aug. 27, 1978   and
	The Wall Street Journal Jan 12, 1979

More recent info would come from the San Diego and San Jose papers (low 
pressure sodium lights) GE is one of the major outfits opposing such lamps
as they prefer to promote their low efficiency spectrally dirty high
pressure sodium lamps.

		Steve Crandall
		ihnp4!mhuxt!evans

Note I find the very bright high pressure sodium lamps ruins my night vision
to the point where I can't see anything in the shadows. If I were a criminal
I that I would prefer going after night blinded people rather than night
adapted people.