The Cavalier daily :: Monday, March 5, 1973 :: University of Virginia Library

"Well, I suppose in some
ways I would be a lot easier if
people actually did that. It
sounds weird, but at least
people can relate of it," said
Asst. Astronomy Prof. John D.
Trasco.

Mr. Trasco, however, noted
that at the University very few
people actually spend their
time observing.

"Even if you are involved in
observational work," he said,
"you're really likely to spend
only a relatively small fraction
of your time actually looking
through a telescope. Most of
your time is spent analyzing
the results that you get."

In fact, the 31 year-old
professor said that he has spent
only one all-nighter at the
observatory here and that was
with someone else. They were
actually running the operation.
I was just there to find out
what was going on."

"Most of the work I do,"
he continued, "is with pencil
and paper, or with the
computer, basically theoretical.
Recall, after all, that I have my
degrees from Columbia (B.S. in
physics, Ph.D. in astronomy),
which is not exactly
observationally the ideal spot
in the country. There is not
too much you can do in New
York City with a telescope."

Can't See Into Dorms

"I had one available at
Columbia in which you could
pretty well see the moon, the
planets, and the Empire State
Building We did watch a fire in
Jersey once That was
entertaining"

He said that one of the
most frequently asked
questions here and at Columbia
is whether or not you can see
into the dorms.

"You can't," he lamented.

Not only do astronomers
have to put up with not seeing
into the dorms, they also have
other problems, such as being
confused with astrologers.

"It's a bit upsetting when
you get trapped into this sort
of thing."

"I've been through long
conversations with people
where someone will say, 'Gee,
it must be interesting. It's an
exciting field. Things are
happening now. There's a lot
of interest in it.'

Astrologers 'Harmless'

"I went along and said,
'Yes, Yes, Yes,' and it wasn't
until 10 minutes through the
conversation that I realized
that she wasn't talking about
astronomy at all. She was
talking about horoscopes and
signs of the Zodiac!"

"I'm supposed to be against
it. That's the official policy.
I'm not as against astrology as
a lot of astronomers today. I
really think they are relatively
harmless to a large extent."

"I think the general sort of
game of predicting the future,
giving some sort of word on
things, is something people
want."

'Let Them Starve'

According to Mr. Trasco,
another problem is: "What are
we going to do with all the
astronomers that we are
producing?"

"I think that we are going
to let them starve," he said.
"Up to now we've been able to
find positions for most of
them, largely because
astronomy is a small field and
you can always call up
someone and say, "I have a
student who is really the finest
thing since Galileo and can't
you find a place for him in
your department for a year or
so.

"There is enough of
everyone knowing everyone

CD/Dan Grogan

"Most of the work I do is with pencil and paper."

else to do this for a while. I
think you're reaching the
saturation point now. You're
producing astronomers not at
an overwhelming number, 100
to 150 a year, but universities
are producing jobs at a much
lower rate, maybe a few a
year."

Last Year at University

"There are some
astronomers in industry but
they tend to be more tokens,
left over from the days of the
space program when it was sort
of fashionable. The French
court had its
astronomer-astrologer and so
does Bell Labs, but that's
clearly the good will of Bell
Labs."

This, by the way, is Mr.
Trasco's last year at the
University. His position is not
being continued.

Mr. Trasco was involved in
the recent Presidential
campaign as local treasurer for
the McGovern campaign.

"I got involved in the spring
in the primary campaign. It
was the first time I've ever
decided to get involved in the
political process and when
against the odds, McGovern
won we suddenly found
ourselves in charge."

"I got very interested in it.
I suppose it was sort of the
reaction after '68, and the
feeling that sooner or later
someone should go out and do
something. Sitting around
complaining about what was
going on was not the answer,
so I went out and did
something."

Would he ever run himself?

(Continued on page 4)