Some blacks are hypersensitive. I hope that their quirks does not change our word choice. Sincerely, Gary Vardon -----Original Message----- From: erikhansen@TheBlueZone.net Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 8:33 PM To: Utah Astronomy Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] "Black Hole" racist?

Perhaps when they heard it for the first time they did not hear the L in the pronunciation... no offense intended.

I would agree that "Black Hole" to describe the phenomenon is right on. However, I have known some minority types to be very sensitive about some words and with good reason in some cases. Erik This entire issue has gone too far. I am generaly offended by comments

that are truely racist. But lets get real. A Black Hole is very well named and has "NO" racist connotation. Likewise with "Dark-Energy or Matter". The news story I heard about this listed many terms that included "Black" that are or should be considered racist. Black holes and Dark Matter were included along with "Black Sheep of the Family". I don't see that "Black Sheep of the Family" is a racist comment. It refers to black sheep that are placed in a herd to aid as an estimate of numbers.

I will continue to call Black holes by this name as well as Dark-Matter. If someone feels this offensive, I suggest they study the meaning behind the name before they become vocal about their feeling.

Rodger Fry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kim" <kimharch@cut.net> To: "'Utah Astronomy'" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Monday, July 28, 2008 3:08 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] "Black Hole" racist?

...

I've been away from my computer for a few days, so I've missed a lot. I see that no one responded to this message from Patrick. The audio card in my computer is failing, so I can't listen to the audio stream, but the comments from other readers are astonishing. Most imply (or say explicitly) that we should be aware of terms such as "dark energy" and "dark matter" in addition to avoiding the term "black hole." I agree with the other comments that I've read that it is all nonsense, but I don't have any African-American friends here in Sanpete to ask about it. (We're pretty much all Northern-European-Americans here).

Kim

-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Patrick Wiggins Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 4:48 AM To: utah astronomy listserve utah astronomy Subject: [Utah-astronomy] "Black Hole" racist?

For your Sunday morning viewing enjoyment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20a-exAW6qc&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-akk3gog34&feature=related

And now to end on a lighter note, here (Siegfried) are the videos we talked about at Advanced Training last evening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adc3MSS5Ydc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8Q-sRdV7SY

Night all,

patrick

_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.6/1574 - Release Date: 7/25/2008 4:27 PM

No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.5.6/1577 - Release Date: 7/28/2008 6:55 AM

_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com

_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://gallery.utahastronomy.com Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com