I don't see evidence of ceiling tiles, the debris seems to be mostly glass from the smashed-out skylights and leaves blown in from the open windows, which are at street level.
I wear a mask if I'm going to be really getting dirty, like a nasty tunnel crawl, or staying in a mold-saturated atmosphere for a while. Otherwise, I just try not to disturb or eat stuff that could be hazardous. Asbestos is usually the most life-threatening particulate in these kinds of places.
It's the name of a standardized test, which means the test is administered and scored the same across the nation, so it doesn't have to do much with California, other than (I suppose) its origins.
Ah, yes it would be - this particular building is quite different than the one displayed in the first half of this gallery. I'm not sure of the closure date, but I'd guess it was only a few years or so until these photos were taken. Sorry for the confusion!
I don't think it matters much; these institutions are usually so large they operate like small towns. They have their own power plant - burning coal, oil or gas that generates electricity and steam in massive furnaces. There's probably so much excess, that shutting off a few lights or repairing a leaking steam main simply doesn't make a difference.
Mike: the hospital is located in a pretty urban area so there are lots of pigeons, and the open-air solaria give the birds plenty of access in and out of the building. Also, it's been closed for fifty years, with no water to wash it away, so there's a lot of buildup.
flushed: yep, they were flying and hooting all over the place. They tended to leave the room when I walked in and set up the camera.
Interesting, thanks John. I've seen an electroshock setup with an EEG machine to record the data.
It seemed related to the other precision measuring instruments of similar vintage, to which the Herbert Gehr photos from LIFE magazine seem to correlate with (circa 1949); perhaps there is the connection.