10The Tar HeelThursday, July 13, 1978
Technology in sight
Space colonies accepted
by Robert Thomason
Staff Writer
"Would I like to live in a space colony?"
the girl said looking up from a french fry,
repeating the question. "Yeah, I guess so,"
she said, returning to her food.
Like many other students asked about
the possibility of pioneering space, she
had not given the question much thought.
Until recently, only science fiction writers
had said much about it. But now, a new
school of thought has developed, looking
toward the colonization of space as the
answer to earth's problems.
Scientists, both in the academic
community and at the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration,
think technology has advanced to the
point that colonies could be put in space.
Yet, NASA is approaching this possibility
very cautiously.
"The way that technology is advancing,
I think it is feasible to deal with problems,
like overpopulation," said Doug Johnston,
a business major from Burlington.
Johnston felt his talents would be
needed after space colonies evolved from
early, pioneering stages. But he would not
want to stay for more than a year.
"I get tired of things fast," he said.
Victoria Lewis, a graduate student in
history from Arizona, repeated his
feelings. "I would have to say yes right
now because I would be attracted to the
kind of people who would be interested in
such an experiment. They would probably
be intellectuals; not afraid of a challenge.
However, Lewis qualified her remarks!
"I see the whole question as being
visionary and impractical."
A Princeton physics professor. Dr.
Gerard O'Neill, thinks that space colonies
are not only achievable as a short term
goal, but a potential economic asset.
O'Neill has suggested that if a project for
colonization of space were to be started in
1982, nine years and $150 billion later, a
mining station on the moon, a colony for
10,000 persons and a satellite which
beams energy to earth could be built.
The Apollo space missions showed that
lunar soil is rich in aluminum (12 percent)
and iron (15 percent). O'Neill thinks that
the U.S. government should put miners
on the moon to extract this mineral-rich
lunar soil.
Four tell stories of lifestyles, relationships
By Eric Miller
Tar Heel Contributor
This article is about four gays who tell
what it is like to be gay.
Karen Peterson, a graduate student in
classics and former president of the
Carolina Gay Association, says, "Gay peo
ple are people and what determines what
kind of people they are and so on is not
their gayness. It is other factors.
Professions, socio-economic levels, races
and religions say more about lives than
just being gay does."
Howard Fradkin, a graduate student in
psychology at UNC, says, "I became
aware that 1 had strong feelings of attrac
tion for other men when I was in high
school. 1 started having experiences when
I was 12 or 13, but I really wasn't aware
what all that meant. I didn't label myself
as gay till I came here three years ago."
Dan Leonard, supervisor of Second
Year Medical Laboratories at Memorial
Hospital, says, "When I was about 13 I
realized I was different from my male peer
group. I realized that they were sexually
attracted to women and I was not."
Donna Mears, a junior at UNC and
treasurer of the CGA, says, "1 labeled
myself as gay in the ninth grade when I
had my first crush on a girl."
Karen says, "When I was in high school
1 recognized that I was attracted to both
sexes. When I got to college and met some
gay people, I really started thinking about
myself and realized I was at least bisexual."
The miners would "strip mine" the
surface of the moon for soil. This type of
mining would have negligible effects on
the moon, O'Neill contends, because
there is no water or atmosphere to cause
erosion, as there is on earth.
The mining station would chemically
seperate the soil into its useful elements.
Then, taking advantage of the moon's low
gravity, the miners would launch the
elements to a point in space where it
would be used to build a space station.
O'Neill believes that a colony could be
built from these elements. The first
colony he envisions would house 10,000
persons.
The colony would be cylindrical,
spinning about its axis to create an
artificial gravity from the centrifugal
force. Closed at both ends, the colony
could hold a simulated earth atmosphere.
The estimated 6,000 persons needed to
build this first colony would be housed in
the external tanks of space shuttles. After
completion of the colony, which O'Neill
refers to as "Island I", 4,000 persons
would join them and begin construction of
a power satellite.
To O'Neill, the power satellite is the
most immediately worthwhile goal of the
entire project. It would collect the ever
present sunlight, convert it to
microwaves and beam it down to earth.
This, he says would enable the world to
continue its current rate of energy
consumption without depleting any
natural resources.
"1 think that it would be good tolive in a
space colony," said Monty Coggins, a
zoology major from Kannapolis, N.C. "I'd
do it for the sense of adventure.'
Coggins said there would be no end to
the experiments one could perform on
animals in outer space.
Astronomers have written that space
stations, either on the moon or in orbit,
would be superlative sites of
observatories. The earth's atmosphere
fogs and blurs the view of even the best
and biggest telescopes, even on clear
nights. Pollution multiplies the problem.
Some industrial processes could be
carried out better in space. The lack of
gravity would ease the moving of large
masses. The relative vacuum would
facilitate the purification of chemicals.
The idea of a space colony is
Sex researchers from Alfred Kinsey on
have found that approximately 10 percent
of the general population is predominant
ly homosexual. Howard says, "I believe
that being gay means having strong,
feelings for persons of the same sex. You
can't ever get rid of these feelings. If they
develop, then they develop. You can say,
'I'm not going to act on them. I'm going to
try to deny these feelings.' But you can't
get rid of them."
"Being gay means having strong feelings for persons of the same
sex... You can say, 'I'm going to try to deny these feelings.' But you
can't get rid of them."
The term "coming out" is used by gay
people to describe their own discovery of
their sexuality and their subsequent
revelation of that sexuality toothers. The
revelation to parents is one of the most
difficult milestones in coming out. Donna
says, "1 know one girl who told her family
one summer, and she was immediately
kicked out of the house."
"I told my family during my freshman
year, and I think their response was
positive," Karen says. "They haven't
changed in their attitudes toward ne at
all." Howard and Dan were accepted by
their families in much the same way. Don
na plans to tell her family this summer
when she moves in with another woman.
Donna's father is an Episcopalian
minister. "Shock at first is the usual
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Oliver Goulston was a nine-year-old entrepreneur. All he wanted to do was
earn enough money to buy a bicycle.
Making a five cents profit on every 15 cents glass of iced tea, Oliver, the son of
Andre S. Goulston of 319 VV. University Dr., set up a stand in front of Wilson
Library. He earned almost $20 in three afternoons and had planned to continue
just a couple of more days, but a trustee regulation regarding merchandising on
campus interfered.
Thomas Shetley, manager of the Student Stores, spotted young Oliver
Monday afternoon and alerted the University Police to the violation of the
regulation.
Oliver's stand has been moved to in front of his home, where there is not as
much business,. but where he won't have to worry about University rules.
familiar to readers of fantastic literature.
But now advertisements are placed in
business magazines, enticing
corporations to consider venturing into
space. NASA is partially financing its
response of parents. When they finally
realize they do love their children that's
when they accept their homosexuality,"
Donna says.
Gays say it is painful to find that
someone they care about cannot unders
tand or accept their gayness because of
misconceptions about gay people. "A lot
of people in the dorm found out I was gay
since my name was in The Tar Heel.
There've been a few girls who made snide
remarks and have treated me pretty bad-
ly," Donna says.
Karen says most friends are quick and
willing to accept gayness while a few must
be given time to adjust to the idea.
In a relationship, gays feel the same
agony and ecstasy that other people feel.
Dan says, "My ex-lover and I broke up last
year after being together for three years.
He ran off with this graduate student in
English. Finally after all these months I'm
getting over it. I was very upset. It actual
ly hurt physically. I felt like someone had a
knife in me. It was so painful. I cried. I
would say, 'Well, I've given you three
good years of my life.' Then we'd laugh
and then we'd cry. We )iad an open
'marriage' in the sense that we both had
Stiff photo by Allen Itrnigan
-Pat Daugherty
space shuttle program by allowing
organizations to rent shuttle space for
experiments. NASA charges $3,000
minimum to bring the scientific mind
closer to space.
social and sexual relationships with other
men. I knew he was seeing thisotherguy.
Part of our agreement was that if one
partner felt that the other partner was
seeing too much of someone else then you
were supposed to speak up and say
something. So I said, 'Ken I think you're
seeing too much of this David person and I
wish you wouldn't see him so much.' I
think that forced him to leave me and to
go live with David."
Lesbian relationships can last a lifetime,
Donna says. "There must be no pressure
on either partner's part to be more domi
nant. They're both equal in everything
they do: making love, washing the car or
putting out the cat. I think both of them
should work and should have a career of
their own. They should both have their
own interest. They have to be in love. I
know two old women who've been
together 55 years. They're both 80 years
old."
Donna says there are advantages to be
ing a lesbian. "Women know their own
body and when they make love toanother
woman it's very easy to know what the
other woman wants. I feel that women
are more sensitive and care more about
their partners than men. I guess that's
prejudice on my part. When two women
make love I see it taking longer. There's
more touching, more feeling."
"Being gay has made me very strong in
dividually. I've had to stand on my own
more times that I care to remember,"
Donna says.
Continued on page 11