Undergrads launch journal

The story behind the making of Law and Disorder is worthy of its own TV show.\n"(The idea to produce the journal) came to me in a dream," said Theresa Ochoa, IU professor of special education. "I woke up and it came to me: Law and Disorder."\nLaw and Disorder is an undergraduate journal comprised of IU students' manuscripts covering legal issues of mentally disabled students. \nOchoa said she assigns two of her classes a manuscript covering current legal issues for students with disabilities. \nOchoa said after grading these manuscripts, she came up with the idea for an academic journal and mentioned it to her classes. \n"A few people from class decided it was a good idea to publish the research papers," said senior Meghan Barkley, executive board editor and contributing author for Law and Disorder.\nTopics of the journal range from the No Child Left Behind Act to sexual education for students with disabilities. \nStudents have to submit their manuscripts to the board, Ochoa said. From there, the article is entered into a blind review, where three different people read it. They then decide whether the paper is worthy of entry or if it is rejected, and the approved papers are revised before they go into the journal.\nSenior Kathryn Ulin, an executive board editor, said the executive board hit some tough issues during the publishing process of the first issue. \n"We had a lot of problems with formatting," she said. \nAlthough Ulin said she thought the formatting was the toughest part, senior and executive board editor Alison Boehning said she thought otherwise. \n"Letting (the journal) go to the publishers was the hardest part," she said. "We put so many hours into the making that we just wanted it to come out well."\nDuring a meeting Feb. 14, the executive board worked on invitations for an upcoming gala, which will be held March 31 and will launch the first issue of Law and Disorder. The journal will be available to the public for $10 to $15.