OUTDOOR LIGHTING AWARD PRESENTED TO STARIZONA 

Starizona, Adventures in Astronomy & Nature, 5201 North Oracle Road, in Tucson received an
"Excellence in Outdoor Lighting" award from the International Dark-Sky Association, Southern
Arizona Section (SA-IDA) on Thursday, August 29, 2002 at 10:00 a.m.  Members of Dark Skies
and the astronomy community were invited to attend the award ceremony which was held inside
the Starizona store.

Starizona owner Dean Koenig took the initiative to replace poor outdoor fixtures on his landlords
building at his own expense.  The poor lights were unshielded flood lights used to light the
parking area and store fronts.  This caused glare and light trespass and made it difficult for night
time viewing from the parking lot in front of the store without turning off all the lights.  Dean
had new fully shielded low intensity lights installed at his expense which eliminated the glare and
light trespass.  The lights can now be left on for customers to find the store at night and not
interfere with nigh time viewing of the skies with telescopes set up in the parking lot.

The SA-IDA "Excellence in Outdoor Lighting" award honors local businesses, organizations and
individuals who promote safe, effective and non-polluting night lighting for their properties.
"Light pollution, caused by excessive and inefficient lighting, results in energy waste,
unnecessary glare and light trespass onto neighboring properties, plus the destruction of the
beauty of night skies," explains John W. Polacheck, SA-IDA acting president. "Furthermore,
light pollution affects bird migrations and astronomical observations."