Arizona Public Libraries Serving the Spanish-Speaking: Context for Changes

Arizona is at the forefront of Latino population growth and political and racial politics. Three different factors could potentially influence the provision of library service to Latinos in the State of Arizona. These are 1) the growth of the Latino community and the consequent growth of its library needs, 2) the growth of state legislation that is hostile to immigrants and Latinos, and 3) the promotion of a pro-immigrant position by the library profession. This paper compares services to the Spanish-speaking in the State of Arizona from 1999 to 2009 in light of conflicting pro- and anti-immigrant sentiments operating in the state during that decade.Post-printIncludes bibliographical references

The Keck Cosmic Web Imager

We are designing the Keck Cosmic Web Imager (KCWI) as a new facility instrument for the Keck II telescope at the W. M. Keck Observatory (WMKO). KCWI is based on the Cosmic Web Imager (CWI), an instrument that has recently had first light at the Hale Telescope. KCWI is a wide-field integral-field spectrograph (IFS) optimized for precision sky limited spectroscopy of low surface brightness phenomena. KCWI will feature high throughput, and flexibility in field of view (FOV), spatial sampling, bandpass, and spectral resolution. KCWI will provide full wavelength coverage (0.35 to 1.05 μm) using optimized blue and red channels. KCWI will provide a unique and complementary capability at WMKO (optical band integral field spectroscopy) that is directly connected to one of the Observatory's strategic goals (faint object, high precision spectroscopy), at a modest cost and on a competitive time scale, made possible by its simple concept and the prior demonstration of CWI

Methods for (un)knowing whiteness: A triptych of autoethnography, critical family history, and oral history

Methods for (un)knowing whiteness do not exist within the current methods of narrative study centered on personal experience. This three article dissertation threads together three self-studies using distinct methods of narrative study centered on personal histories: autoethnography, critical family history, and oral history. I engage these methods from the point of departure that whiteness—the white liberal humanist subject—is the problem. Whiteness as the pinnacle of creation was manufactured out of the need to justify global conquest and its primary tools—slavery and genocide. Following Black and Indigenous feminist thinkers, especially Sylvia Wynter and Leanne Betasomasake Simpson, whiteness-as-conquest was manufactured through the stories we tell about ourselves, and two ways out of this predicament are working toward abolition and decolonization. Seen thusly, methods for knowing whiteness are necessary but insufficient for reorienting ourselves toward abolition and decolonization. Abolition and decolonization require methods for unknowing whiteness and making possible other ways of being human. While these methods of narrative studies centered on personal histories can be bent toward abolition and decolonization, these methods may better serve these goals as lenses or approaches to doing autotheory. Ultimately, I suggest autotheory as the methodological intervention on narrative studies centered on personal experience. Autotheory is a blend of Black feminisms, Indigenous feminisms, and queer thought with personal histories. Autotheory is a methodology of knowledge production that seeks to alter our relations to each other and all things. That is, autotheory holds the potential for ontological reordering toward being human after whiteness.Doctor of Philosoph

Advances in instrumentation at the W. M. Keck Observatory

In this paper we describe both recently completed instrumentation projects and our current development efforts in the context of the Observatory's science driven strategic plan which seeks to address key questions in observational astronomy for extra-galactic, Galactic, and planetary science with both seeing limited capabilities and high angular resolution adaptive optics capabilities. This paper will review recently completed projects as well as new instruments in development including MOSFIRE, a near IR multi-object spectrograph nearing completion, a new seeing limited integral field spectrograph for the visible wavelength range called the Keck Cosmic Web Imager, and the Keck Next Generation Adaptive Optics facility and its first light science instrument DAVINCI

Modeling the transmission and thermal emission in a pupil image behind the Keck II adaptive optics system

The design and performance of astronomical instruments depend critically on the total system throughput as well as the background emission from the sky and instrumental sources. In designing a pupil stop for background- limited imaging, one seeks to balance throughput and background rejection to optimize measurement signal-to-noise ratios. Many sources affect transmission and emission in infrared imaging behind the Keck Observatory’s adaptive optics systems, such as telescope segments, segment gaps, secondary support structure, and AO bench optics. Here we describe an experiment, using the pupil-viewing mode of NIRC2, to image the pupil plane as a function of wavelength. We are developing an empirical model of throughput and background emission as a function of position in the pupil plane. This model will be used in part to inform the optimal design of cold pupils in future instruments, such as the new imaging camera for OSIRIS

MOSFIRE: a multi-object near-infrared spectrograph and imager for the Keck Observatory

MOSFIRE, the multi-object spectrometer for infra-red exploration, is a near-IR (0.97-2.45 micron) spectrograph and imager for the Cassegrain focus of the Keck I telescope. The optical design provides imaging and multi-object spectroscopy over a field of view (FOV) of 6.14' x 6.14' with a resolving power of R~3,270 for a slit width of 0.7 arc seconds (2.9 pixels along dispersion). The detector is a 2.5 micron cut-off 2K x 2K H2-RG HgCdTe array with a SIDECAR ASIC for detector control. A special feature of MOSFIRE is that its multiplex advantage of up to 46 slits is achieved using a cryogenic Configurable Slit Unit (developed in collaboration with the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Micro Technology) reconfigurable under remote control in <5 minutes without thermal cycling. Slits are formed by moving opposable bars from both sides of the focal plane. An individual slit has a length of ~7.1 arc seconds but bar positions can be aligned to make longer slits. A single diffraction grating in two positions along with order-sorting filters gives essentially full coverage of the K, H, J and Y bands using 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th order respectively. The grating and a mirror are mounted back-to-back, and when the bars are retracted from the FOV MOSFIRE becomes a wide-field imager. A piezo tip-tilt mirror following the field lens is used to provide flexure compensation at the 0.1 pixel level. Two large CCR heads allow the instrument to reach operating temperature in ~7 days. MOSFIRE is currently in construction

Preliminary design of a universal Martian lander

In the next 25 years, mankind will be undertaking yet another giant leap forward in the exploration of the solar system: a manned mission to Mars. This journey will provide important information on the composition and history of both Mars and the Solar System. A manned mission will also provide the opportunity to study how humans can adapt to long term space flight conditions and the Martian environment. As part of the NASA/USRA program, nineteen West Virginia University students conducted a preliminary design of a manned Universal Martian Lander (UML). The UML's design will provide a 'universal' platform, consisting of four modules for living and laboratory experiments and a liquid-fuel propelled Manned Ascent Return Vehicle (MARV). The distinguishing feature of the UML is the 'universal' design of the modules which can be connected to form a network of laboratories and living quarters for future missions thereby reducing development and production costs. The WVU design considers descent to Mars from polar orbit, a six month surface stay, and ascent for rendezvous. The design begins with an unmanned UML landing at Elysium Mons followed by the manned UML landing nearby. During the six month surface stay, the eight modules will be assembled to form a Martian base where scientific experiments will be performed. The mission will also incorporate hydroponic plant growth into a Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) for water recycling, food production, and to counteract psychological effects of living on Mars. In situ fuel production for the MARV will be produced from gases in the Martian atmosphere. Following surface operations, the eight member crew will use the MARV to return to the Martian Transfer Vehicle (MTV) for the journey home to Earth

Concept for the Keck Next Generation Adaptive Optics system

The Next Generation Adaptive Optics (NGAO) system will represent a considerable advancement for high resolution astronomical imaging and spectroscopy at the W. M. Keck Observatory. The AO system will incorporate multiple laser guidestar tomography to increase the corrected field of view and remove the cone effect inherent to single laser guide star systems. The improvement will permit higher Strehl correction in the near-infrared and diffraction-limited correction down to R band. A high actuator count micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) deformable mirror will provide the on-axis wavefront correction to a number of instrument stations and additional MEMS devices will feed multiple channels of a deployable integral-field spectrograph. In this paper we present the status of the AO system design and describe its various operating modes