OH125 Ananais Whittemore Oral History

Ananias Whittemore discusses his childhood while growing up in a African American household in rural Graves County, Kentucky during the first half of the 20th century. He describes the segregated school he attended as a child, daily activities and working in the clay pit alongside his father. He explains the process of growing sugar cane and made making molasses. He began skimming and making molasses with his father at the age of five. He remembers selling molasses for twenty-five cents per gallon. After school, he began working in the clay pits at age fourteen where he worked ten hours a day making 18 cents an hour. He also worked at the local sawmill for a brief time. Whittemore also discusses the two churches that he served as a preacher for and his work in the ministry

OH106 Olivia B. Gaines Oral History

Olivia Gaines describes her life as an African American woman in Paducah, Kentucky. She discusses her childhood in a very religious household and how her mother was responsible for construction of the first restrooms at Burks\u27 Chapel in Paducah. She describes her neighborhood as a mixture of black and white families and that there were never any racial problems. She mentions the business and civic activities of her brother Manuel Bolen. She describes his involvement with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Joe Hale murder case. She also mentions that her brother and the NAACP. worked on removing segregation signs at local business and public buildings

OH093 Charlotte O. Barker Oral History

Charlotte O. Barker was a public teacher and lifelong resident of Murray, Kentucky. She describes growing up in small college town during the Great Depression, the Second World War and the immediate years that followed. She mentions the family values of her parents and the general attitude of people in Murray during the depression years. She further discusses recreational activities during her childhood and teenage years, public education in the 1930s and public utilities available during 1940s in Calloway County, Kentucky. She concludes by discussing the deaths of Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy and how it affected her life

OH050 Frances Henry Oral History

Francis Henry discusses her experiences in Trigg County, Kentucky during the first half of the 20th Century. She describes her life on a family farm and social events in rural communities. She recalls the activities of the local churches such as baptisms, funerals, revivals; long sermons, homecoming, preachers working outside of the church, reactions to women wearing pants and church discipline. She mentions the bad reputation the region received regarding illicit whiskey distilling and the reaction of the people as being categorized as moonshiners

Soil Property Changes As Effected By 3 Soil Amendments

Manure applications on agricultural production fields have been common practice throughout Kentucky and the United States for many years. Understanding how the type of manure applied and application style alter the soil properties can help growers manage their soil better. The research objective was to study manure applications and the changes of soil properties as a result of the different types of applications. The soil properties that were studied in this research are soil water holding capacity, soil pH, soil organic carbon, and macroporosity. Four replications were taken in each field with two depths taken at each site. During the study, undisturbed soil cores and disturbed soil samples were taken from 0 to 7.5 and 7.5 to 15 centimeters deep throughout the fields. This study was conducted on fields located in Henry County, Tennessee and Calloway County, Kentucky in silt loam soil types. This study was conducted on four fields, one with swine manure injected, swine manure applied with a splash pan, poultry litter spread, and traditional dry fertilizer applied. The data was analyzed, and it was determined that the field with splashpan applied manure had lower soil organic carbon levels at 2.279% with the next lowest being 2.369%. It was also determined that the field with traditional fertilizer applied had the highest SOC level in the top 7.5 cm of soil at 3.930%, but was on the lower end of SOC levels in the 7.5 to 15 cm depth at 2.505%

OH066 Rowena Payne Oral History

Rowena Payne discusses foreign immigrants who settled the Land Between the Lakes region of Kentucky during the early part of the 20th Century. She describes the history of several communities and how they became named and the Night Rider raids on Rockcastle and Birmingham. Payne also recalls stories her parents and grandparents told regarding the Civil War, the educational system in the region and the evolution of her business at Sardis

OH059 Floy Miller Oral History

Floy Miller, who was a resident of the Land Between the Lakes region of Kentucky for over twenty-six years, discusses her experiences during the early part of the 20th Century. She describes former residents of Golden Pond and their occupations, the problems associated with transportation and communication in the region and significant incidents that affected her life. She also mentions the river boats, local churches, and the general stores

Determining the role of Trm7, Trm732, and Trm734 in tRNA binding

Modifications of the tRNA anticodon loop are important to translation. Proteins Trm7, Trm732, and Trm734 work together to modify the anticodon loop of tRNAPhe. Trm7 plays a catalytic role in methylation activity, and Trm732 and Trm734 are predicted to bind and position tRNAPhe for methylation at nucleotides C32 and G34 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Lack of Trm7 causes a sick phenotype in S.cerevisiae, and mutations in the TRM7 human ortholog, FTSJI, cause non-syndromic X-linked intellectual disability. We are working to determine whether individual Trm7, Trm732, and Trm734 proteins can bind to tRNAPhe, or whether Trm7:Trm732 and Trm7:Trm734 complexes are required for binding. Tagged proteins of interest are pulled down and the RNA bound to the proteins is analyzed by Northern Blot. This approach will also allow us to determine if our previously identified non-functional variants of Trm732 and Trm734 are still able to bind to tRNAPhe. Due to the high conservation between the yeast and human proteins, the results will likely be applicable to the orthologous proteins in humans

The impact of Gender on Sponsorship in Collegiate Cheerleading

Sponsorships are crucial for the survival and operations of athletic programs, but historically, they have favored male-dominated sports, reflecting broader gender inequalities. Cheerleading, a female-oriented sport, faces unique challenges in securing sponsorships due to feminine stereotypes and its non-NCAA-sanctioned status. This study explored how gender influences sponsorship opportunities in collegiate cheerleading, using qualitative data from interviews with a dozen small business owners and potential sponsors. The research examined the sponsors’ decision-making processes, the perceived value of sponsoring male or female athletes, and social biases that contribute to funding disparities. Three key rationales emerged for sponsorship engagement: (1) target audience demographics, (2) brand visibility, and (3) potential financial benefits. While small business owners expressed a willingness to support female athletes, they noted that limited budgets and the desire for measurable advertising returns often shaped the extent of sponsorship. Some sponsors believed male teams received more attention and funding, while others acknowledged the rising value of female athletes\u27 social media influence, particularly in Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. Additionally, the study revealed a gap in outreach by cheerleading teams, with many potential sponsors unaware of available opportunities. Businesses suggested that tailored strategies, such as fundraisers, product promotions, or social media campaigns, could enhance sponsorship effectiveness, benefiting both sponsors and athletes. These findings highlight the need for more inclusive sponsorship practices and offer practical recommendations for collegiate cheerleading teams to improve engagement with potential sponsors. Further research is needed to quantify the economic impact of these partnerships and examine how gendered perceptions evolve as NIL opportunities continue to expand

Calculus, Caves, and Climate Change

Quickening rates of climate change pose significant global challenges, with increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) as a primary driver of rising temperatures and by now well-documented environmental disruptions. The current ability to predict future atmospheric CO2 concentrations requires, similar to a bank account, knowing the current CO2 levels along with ongoing “deposits” and “withdrawals” of CO2 to and from the atmosphere, respectively, but these are incompletely characterized. Karst landscapes and aquifers developed in limestone bedrock, such as those in southcentral Kentucky where caves and sinkholes are common, influence atmospheric CO2 levels as the geochemical processes associated with limestone dissolution remove CO2 from the atmosphere. Our research team is working within the groundwater flow system of Great Onyx Cave in a remote and relatively pristine forested area of Mammoth Cave National Park to make high-resolution measurements of this CO2 removal rate as part of a broader effort to better measure these processes on a global scale. The component of the effort described here is focused on the required but relatively difficult measurement of discharge, or flow rate, of Cascade River in Great Onyx Cave, which, when combined with measured geochemical data, allows quantification of the relationship between hydrology and regional atmospheric CO2 removal. A barrel weir equipped to automatically measure water levels was employed below a waterfall along the underground stream to measure water discharge, and mathematical relationships using Torricelli’s law were developed to relate water level in the barrel to discharge under varying flow conditions. Once the theory was established using methods of calculus (both differentiation and integration), Python-based computational modeling enabled efficient processing of large datasets, revealing a strong correlation between rainfall patterns and discharge rates. This research contributes a key element for ongoing studies to better quantify the contribution of limestone dissolution to atmospheric carbon cycling