The Science Performance of JWST as Characterized in Commissioning

This paper characterizes the actual science performance of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), as determined from the six month commissioning period. We summarize the performance of the spacecraft, telescope, science instruments, and ground system, with an emphasis on differences from pre-launch expectations. Commissioning has made clear that JWST is fully capable of achieving the discoveries for which it was built. Moreover, almost across the board, the science performance of JWST is better than expected; in most cases, JWST will go deeper faster than expected. The telescope and instrument suite have demonstrated the sensitivity, stability, image quality, and spectral range that are necessary to transform our understanding of the cosmos through observations spanning from near-earth asteroids to the most distant galaxies.Comment: 5th version as accepted to PASP; 31 pages, 18 figures; https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1538-3873/acb29

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Rahner, Self, and God: the Question of the Cartesian Ego in the Theology of Karl Rahner

In the intellectual world of Karl Rahner, imbued with categories carried over from Thomistic philosophy, what is there at the end is in a way present at the beginning. The reality of the act is present beforehand in its potency; the child somehow is the man; the world\u27s redemption in Christ is present at its creation, to which it is ultimately oriented; and the final triumph of God\u27s goodness over evil in human history is already accomplished, if only dimly realized at any one historical moment. Continuing in this mode, one could say that this dissertation was already taking shape long ago when I was a graduate student in philosophy and pondering the possibility of treating religion more as a formal system and less as a collection of facts. It was there as that possibility began taking shape as the philosopher accompanied the sojourner down the road of spiritual renewal, with its deepening prayer and self-understanding. It was there as I somewhat naively wrote in my application to Marquette\u27s doctoral program that linguistic philosophy was a better tool for theology than either the philosophers or the theologians allowed. Finally, it was there as my enthusiasm for George Lindbeck\u27s cultural-linguistic approach to doctrine run up against Robert Masson\u27s impatience with Lindbeck\u27s treatment of Rahner. So I went off to read Rahner. Essay after essay, I read Rahner and wrote abstracts and argued with the texts and then with myself; eventually the texts won, and I became convinced that Rahner was saying more than his critics acknowledged, more even than some of his admirers and commentators had dealt with. Lindbeck\u27s criticisms of Rahner, particularly in the context of his linguistic-cultural approach to doctrine, was a direct descendent of an issue in Anglo-American philosophy whose treatment is normally quite technical, the problem of the Cartesian ego. I was familiar with this problem from my days as a philosophy student, and dealing with the problem as an issue in the thought of Karl Rahner was immediately appealing. It would give me the opportunity to immerse myself in the thought of one of the most influential figures of the twentieth-century Roman Catholic Church. It would give me the opportunity to utilize my previous training in philosophy that had proved surprisingly hardy. It would also provide me with the opportunity to tum the naive insight of the graduate school applicant about the usefulness of linguistic philosophy into an appropriately theological project. While the Anglo-American version of this problem is unique, the issue itself is of broader interest. What a human person is and how to understand his or her relationship to a formative social, historical, and cultural context is a question that crosses virtually all academic boundaries, and the spectrum of possible answers is reflected in the social, economic, political, and religious diversity of the contemporary world. Indeed, Rahner is not the first thinker to believe that the most important, most characteristic endeavor of human beings is the question of humanity itself. The tools and tasks of this dissertation may strike some as excessively narrow or overly technical, but the theological and moral vision to which it is oriented is not

Rahner, self, and God: The question of the Cartesian ego in the theology of Karl Rahner

Is the Rahnerian agent, the subject of the Vorgriff auf esse, a vestigial Cartesian ego? This is a major contribution of Karl Rahner\u27s theology offered by George Lindbeck, Nicholas Lash, and Fergus Kerr. These theologians all draw in some way on the work of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. This dissertation attempts to respond to Lindbeck, Lash, and Kerr by bringing Wittgenstein\u27s questions and issues to Rahner\u27s texts in a more sustained examination than any offered by his critics. I conclude that the Rahnerian subject is not Cartesian and that Rahner\u27s concept of self-transcendence can be understood as an historically sensitive process. Chapter One introduces the problem of the Cartesian ego in British philosophy, which provides the context for understanding Wittgenstein\u27s work, and shows how the human subject in Rahner\u27s most systematic expositions of his anthropology (Spirit in the World, Hearer of the Word, and Foundations of Christian Faith) is always already physically embodied and socially embedded. Chapter Two presents the criticisms of Lindbeck, Lash, and Kerr and finds them wanting for lack of any sustained dialogue with Rahner\u27s texts. Chapter Three presents three test cases to show that Rahner\u27s understanding of transcendental is always intertwined with the historical; the argument shifts the point of entry to Rahner\u27s thought to his theology of the symbol and away from transcendental philosophy. Chapter Four introduces Wittgenstein\u27s later writings as a methodological resource to discern the specific questions to bring to Rahner\u27s texts. Chapter Five begins that encounter and argues that Rahner\u27s treatment of Absolute Mystery provides his project with a nonfoundational epistemology and that his thought is shaped by his christology and his sacramental theology. Chapter Six extends the discussion to a cluster of issues associated with the problem of the Cartesian issue. The Conclusion brings these issues together in an historically sensitive understanding of self-transcendence and a Vorgriff that determines reciprocating grammars for God and self in socially mediated images that convey ultimate meaning and value

PREVENTING SUBSTANCE USE AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN EARLY ADOLESCENTS

The overall objective of this study was to examine the effects of an innovative culturally appropriate school-based intervention. Cherokee Talking Circle (CTC), for the prevention of substance use among 100 Keetoowah-Cherokee 6th graders as they transition to middle school. The impact of the CTC on substance use involvement (measured by the Global Assessment of Individual Needs – Quick) and Cherokee self-reliance (measured by the Cherokee Self-Reliance Questionnaire) was assessed using a two-condition quasi-experimental design, comparing the CTC to standard substance use education (SE). Findings from this study suggest that prevention from a cultural perspective is an obvious course of action against substance use among Native American early adolescents

Community partnership to affect substance abuse among Native American adolescents

Background: Substance abuse is one of the nation\u27s primary health concerns. Native American youth experience higher rates of substance abuse than other youth. There is little empirical evidence that exists concerning the use of culturally-based interventions among Native American adolescents. Objectives: This study used a community-based participatory research approach to develop and evaluate an innovative school-based cultural intervention targeting substance abuse among a Native American adolescent population. Methods: A two-condition quasi-experimental study design was used to compare the Cherokee Talking Circle (CTC) culturally-based intervention condition (n 92) with the Be A Winner Standard Education (SE) condition (n 87). Data were collected at pre-intervention, immediate post-intervention, and 90-day post-intervention using the Cherokee Self-Reliance Questionnaire, Global Assessment of Individual Needs Quick, and Written Stories of Stress measures. Results: Significant improvements were found among all measurement outcomes for the CTC culturally-based intervention. Conclusions: The data provide evidence that a Native American adolescent culturally-based intervention was significantly more effective for the reduction of substance abuse and related problems than a noncultural-based intervention. Scientific Significance: This study suggests that cultural considerations may enhance the degree to which specific interventions address substance abuse problems among Native American adolescents. © 2012 Informa Healthcare USA, Inc