Lawrence County Libraries

Lawrence County, Indiana is probably best known for its limestone. Stone from its quarries has been used in such landmarks at the National Archives, the Empire State Building, the Pentagon, and the National Cathedral. But Lawrence County has another distinction as well. Lawrence County is the home county to more astronauts than any other county in the United States. Three men, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Charlie Walker, and Kenneth Bowersox, hail from here. The two public libraries in the county, located in Bedford and Mitchell, have created some special collections dedicated to the space pioneers

The Partisan Strategy of Voter Identification Requirements: Barrier to the Ballot or Mobilizer of Minorities?

The 2000 US Presidential Election brought the confusing array of electoral rules to the minds of many in the mass media and politics. One reform advocated to improve the integrity of elections was to require voters to present identification at the polls prior to receiving a ballot. This particular reform generated much controversy, as critics worried that millions of citizens would be denied a ballot because they lacked government-issued photo ID, a form of ID advocated by many Republican officials. The controversy extended to the courts, with photo ID requirements upheld by a 6-3 US Supreme Court decision in 2008 in part due to the lack of evidence that ID laws prevented any citizens from voting. Consequently, over 30 states now require some form of ID of all voters in elections prior to receiving a ballot. Surprisingly, extant research has failed to uncover evidence of a consistent impact on voter participation. My research shows that the best way to understand whether and how voter ID laws impact turnout in national elections is to begin with a theory of how these laws are shaped by the strategic environment faced by the state political parties whose job is to win elections. Using a variety of data sources, I examine how ID laws impact political participation in the US. This includes examining both what factors led some states to adopt these laws as well as their impact on voter participation and mobilization. I find that laws appear to be adopted primarily for strategic reasons rather than to combat voter fraud. States with growing minority populations and large gaps between midterm and presidential election turnout are more likely to enact photo ID laws than other states. Showing that partisan concerns impact adoption. However, using aggregate turnout from both states and counties in past federal elections I do not find any consistent negative impact. Surprisingly, photo ID laws appear to increase turnout in states with large African American populations, with a significant negative impact only in areas with few minority voters. I attribute this to a change in campaign strategy where Democratic groups are using laws to mobilize minority voters. Using survey data from 2010 and 2012 I show that African Americans are more likely to be contacted in states with photo ID laws, which helps explain the surprising impact of these laws on voter turnout. While ID laws may have been enacted to achieve a partisan advantage for Republicans, these reforms do not take place in a vacuum where they are immune to any response. Critics and opponents of voter ID requirements may be successfully using these laws to mobilize the very groups they are thought to suppress

TEACHER EFFICACY, JOB SATISFACTION, AND ALTERNATIVE CERTIFICATION IN EARLY CAREER SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS

The number of special education students continues to rise, creating the need for additional special education teachers. Alternative certification programs have dealt with the special education teacher shortage, but not the question of teacher quality. Most teachers entering classrooms from alternative certification programs have little or no formal education in methodology or behavior management, but have commensurate responsibilities as their more experienced colleagues. The intent of this quantitative study was to examine 222 special education teachers’ sense of self-efficacy and job satisfaction in 21 central Kentucky school districts. The focus was the relation among special education teacher’s degree of efficacy in the early years of their careers (zero to five), degree of job satisfaction, and their certification type in special education (alternative vs. traditional). The secondary purpose was to examine the interrelation among teacher efficacy, number of years in the profession, degree of job satisfaction, gender, type of classroom, and area of certification in special education. The degree of teacher self-efficacy is linked to increased student outcomes and achievement, extent of planning, implementation of new ideas, enthusiasm, commitment, and increased patience with struggling students. The Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale was utilized to measure teacher efficacy. The Brayfield Rothe Job Satisfaction Index (1951) as modified by Warner (1973) was employed to measure the affective factors of job satisfaction. A demographic questionnaire developed by the researcher gathered information from the respondents. The study hypothesis assumed that teacher efficacy, specifically teacher self-efficacy, was lower in early career special education teachers who were pursuing or had recently completed certification through alternative programs. Analysis of the data indicates there is no significant difference between special education teachers who have completed alternative certification programs and their traditionally certified counterparts in terms of their degree of self-efficacy. Responses from the Job Satisfaction Survey indicated both groups of special education teachers are satisfied with their jobs

The Domestic Violence Civil Protection Order and The Role of the Court

The Domestic Violence Act, Amended Substitute House Bill 835, which passed in March of 1979, provided, for the first time in Ohio, both civil and criminal remedies for the victims of domestic violence. This article will examine the civil remedies and offer compelling practical reasons why the civil remedy benefits a large number of victims. The judiciary bears a critical role in affording adequate legal protection to victims of domestic violence. It is this aspect, the role of the Referees and Judges and the problems they face in the application of the legislation in Common Pleas Court, that is the primary focus of this article

Nanosatellite Probes in Interplanetary Space: An Augmented Cassini Mission

The exploration of interplanetary space is one of the most challenging and costly ventures in human history. The relatively low amount of information on other sites beyond Earth is largely due to the rarity of effective trajectories as well as the high levels of risk and complexity inherent in innovative space exploration. One solution to this lack of information is the use of deployable satellite probes to help augment the main mission and its instrumentation. This “Mother- Daughter” architecture allows for the low-cost exploration of hazardous sites and numerous points of interest without compromising the primary mission. While the end goal is the use of nanosatellites on future interplanetary missions, this thesis focuses on an existing interplanetary mission, Cassini. The aim to demonstrate the scientific viability of this “Mother-Daughter” architecture can be achieved by locating numerous unexplored sites that could have been surveyed with a nanosatellite probe onboard Cassini. Each of these potential sites can be expanded into a unique science mission of its own, and in many cases the trajectories can be selected and optimized to better suit the practical design of a nanosatellite in the various interplanetary environments