Wow ! Thank you! I've been staring at my data, and you have made realized this blunder. my h value is from the center of the pulley to the ground, which now I realize, is not the height in which the weight begins to fall from. Cheers! Mystery solved.
Also, thanks to gleem for the help as well...
You make a good point, I'll admit, I didn't critically think about this point; I was following instructions from my lab manual. I've switched the variables around to see if it yields a different result, and alas, it seems I am still getting a negative inertia.
http://puu.sh/nYDQv/d35faf1af2.png
I'm currently completing an Atwood Machine Experiment with two 100g weights on either side of the pulley, with a variance in weight created by attaching dimes and pennies to either side of the weights. The point of the experiment is to validate:
(m1 – m2)g = (m1 + m2 + I/R2)
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