The Freshman Fishwrap / IHTFP Hack Gallery

$10,000 Bill Publicity Release

MIT Hackers changed the cashier's office (10-180) facade from a $1 bill to a $10,000 bill to more properly reflect the cost of attending MIT.

The MIT cashier's office has been adorned with a 13' x 30' mural of the US one-dollar bill for many years, as a sign of the kind of business transacted therein. However, with tuition nearly $10,000 per semester at MIT, it is quite unlikely anyone will actually use one-dollar bills to pay tuition. MIT Hackers deemed that the $10,000 bill more properly reflected the denomination of currency which would actually be useful in paying for an MIT education. The $10,000 bill is the largest denomination of currency which was ever legal tender for transactions of this nature within the United States. Unfortunately, the U.S. Treasury ceased production of $10,000 bills long before most current MIT students were born. The $10,000 bill which now adorns the cashier's office in place of the one-dollar bill depicts a bill from the series of 1918.

Following in the MIT Hacking tradition of causing no permanent damage, the hack was designed to ensure that the one-dollar bill mural underneath was not damaged in any way; it was merely occluded behind the flats which compose the new facade. The $10,000 bill mural was held in place by a combination of gravity, clamps, and braces. No glue, tape, screws, nails, or staples were used to attach the flats to the wall. The West end of the mural was held in place by wedges which mate with the marble overlap from the infinite-corridor-to-Lobby-10 interface. The East end was held in place by a corner piece which braced itself against a ceiling beam. The center was held back by clamps over each of the door frames. Each frame was composed of stretched muslin over plywood frames and was braced by 1'' x 3'' struts. The weight of the structure was minimal.


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