Factors Preventing Male Teachers From Seeking Employment at the Elementary Level

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of male middle school educators regarding the prospects of teaching at the elementary level. A semi-structured interview approach was employed in an effort to assess the factors that lead 12 male educators into middle level teaching positions. Subjects were recruited from diverse public school districts in northern New Jersey and each held elementary and middle school certification. The interview instrument for this study was based on both existing literature surrounding the absence of males in the elementary teaching ranks as well as Brown’s (2002) value-based theory of occupational choice and satisfaction. The latter served as the conceptual framework around which this study was designed. Four themes emerged from this research. The theme, nature of manhood, describes the often-cited differences perceived between men and women and how those differences impact subjects’ perceptions of the teaching profession. The theme, nature of students, reflects perceived variation between elementary-age students and the middle school-age pupils currently under the tutelage of the subject pool. The theme, nature of work, refers to the idea that elementary and middle school teaching positions each require unique energies and dissimilar pedagogical skills. Finally, the theme, stigma, speaks to the perceived impact that teaching younger students either could or would have on the reputation of a male in the role of elementary school teacher. This research has implications in the areas of teacher training and teacher recruitment. The findings offer a rare glimpse at the perceptions of an educational minority—male elementary teachers

Factors Preventing Male Teachers From Seeking Employment at the Elementary Level

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of male middle school educators regarding the prospects of teaching at the elementary level. A semi-structured interview approach was employed in an effort to assess the factors that lead 12 male educators into middle level teaching positions. Subjects were recruited from diverse public school districts in northern New Jersey and each held elementary and middle school certification. The interview instrument for this study was based on both existing literature surrounding the absence of males in the elementary teaching ranks as well as Brown’s (2002) value-based theory of occupational choice and satisfaction. The latter served as the conceptual framework around which this study was designed. Four themes emerged from this research. The theme, nature of manhood, describes the often-cited differences perceived between men and women and how those differences impact subjects’ perceptions of the teaching profession. The theme, nature of students, reflects perceived variation between elementary-age students and the middle school-age pupils currently under the tutelage of the subject pool. The theme, nature of work, refers to the idea that elementary and middle school teaching positions each require unique energies and dissimilar pedagogical skills. Finally, the theme, stigma, speaks to the perceived impact that teaching younger students either could or would have on the reputation of a male in the role of elementary school teacher. This research has implications in the areas of teacher training and teacher recruitment. The findings offer a rare glimpse at the perceptions of an educational minority—male elementary teachers

The Legal Challenge of Protecting Animal Migrations as Phenomena of Abundance

Animal migrations are as familiar as geese in the sky on a fall afternoon and as mysterious as the peregrinations of sea turtles across thousands of miles of open ocean. This article discusses the distinguishing attributes of animal migrations, why they are important to biodiversity conservation, and the legal challenges posed by migration conservation. In particular, the article focuses on those aspects of migration conservation that existing law, dominated by imperiled species protection, fails to address. It consequently suggests law reforms that would better conserve animal migrations. A step toward serious legal efforts to protect the process and function of migration would represent significant broadening of the current framework for biodiversity protection policy. This article begins by describing animal migrations and explaining the common threats that raise conservation concerns. Any successful strategy for protecting migration will need to address habitat destruction, human-created obstacles, overexploitation (i.e., hunting and fishing), and climate change. The article examines the four key legal elements of a conservation strategy. The first is the establishment of differential thresholds of action responsive to different abundance goals for a migration. Second is transboundary coordination, which may involve international or interstate agreements, depending on the scale of the migration. Third is the protection of migration connectivity. Effective connectivity requires designation of corridors. Within the corridors, legal activity should concentrate on acquisition of habitat as well as activity-based regulation of habitat-disturbing practices. Fourth is controlling commercial and recreational harvests of migrating animals or the species on which the migrations rely. Finally, the article presents a theoretical model that tailors a place-based legal response to both migratory population abundance and the ecological importance of habitat. Application of the model would result in variable levels of legal protection to minimize unnecessary costs and optimize the benefit of conservation efforts. Existing attempts to conserve migrations using variable levels of protection compose a mixed record from which we extract lessons

The Legal Challenge of Protecting Animal Migrations as Phenomena of Abundance

Animal migrations are as familiar as geese in the sky on a fall afternoon and as mysterious as the peregrinations of sea turtles across thousands of miles of open ocean. This article discusses the distinguishing attributes of animal migrations, why they are important to biodiversity conservation, and the legal challenges posed by migration conservation. In particular, the article focuses on those aspects of migration conservation that existing law, dominated by imperiled species protection, fails to address. It consequently suggests law reforms that would better conserve animal migrations. A step toward serious legal efforts to protect the process and function of migration would represent significant broadening of the current framework for biodiversity protection policy. This article begins by describing animal migrations and explaining the common threats that raise conservation concerns. Any successful strategy for protecting migration will need to address habitat destruction, human-created obstacles, overexploitation (i.e., hunting and fishing), and climate change. The article examines the four key legal elements of a conservation strategy. The first is the establishment of differential thresholds of action responsive to different abundance goals for a migration. Second is transboundary coordination, which may involve international or interstate agreements, depending on the scale of the migration. Third is the protection of migration connectivity. Effective connectivity requires designation of corridors. Within the corridors, legal activity should concentrate on acquisition of habitat as well as activity-based regulation of habitat-disturbing practices. Fourth is controlling commercial and recreational harvests of migrating animals or the species on which the migrations rely. Finally, the article presents a theoretical model that tailors a place-based legal response to both migratory population abundance and the ecological importance of habitat. Application of the model would result in variable levels of legal protection to minimize unnecessary costs and optimize the benefit of conservation efforts. Existing attempts to conserve migrations using variable levels of protection compose a mixed record from which we extract lessons

The Legal Challenge of Protecting Animal Migrations as Phenomena of Abundance

Animal migrations are as familiar as geese in the sky on a fall afternoon and as mysterious as the peregrinations of sea turtles across thousands of miles of open ocean. This article discusses the distinguishing attributes of animal migrations, why they are important to biodiversity conservation, and the legal challenges posed by migration conservation. In particular, the article focuses on those aspects of migration conservation that existing law, dominated by imperiled species protection, fails to address. It consequently suggests law reforms that would better conserve animal migrations. A step toward serious legal efforts to protect the process and function of migration would represent significant broadening of the current framework for biodiversity protection policy. This article begins by describing animal migrations and explaining the common threats that raise conservation concerns. Any successful strategy for protecting migration will need to address habitat destruction, human-created obstacles, overexploitation (i.e., hunting and fishing), and climate change. The article examines the four key legal elements of a conservation strategy. The first is the establishment of differential thresholds of action responsive to different abundance goals for a migration. Second is transboundary coordination, which may involve international or interstate agreements, depending on the scale of the migration. Third is the protection of migration connectivity. Effective connectivity requires designation of corridors. Within the corridors, legal activity should concentrate on acquisition of habitat as well as activity-based regulation of habitat-disturbing practices. Fourth is controlling commercial and recreational harvests of migrating animals or the species on which the migrations rely. Finally, the article presents a theoretical model that tailors a place-based legal response to both migratory population abundance and the ecological importance of habitat. Application of the model would result in variable levels of legal protection to minimize unnecessary costs and optimize the benefit of conservation efforts. Existing attempts to conserve migrations using variable levels of protection compose a mixed record from which we extract lessons

Flashbulb Memories? The Effects of When the Initial Memory Report was Obtained

Why have some researchers found reports of flashbulb memories to be stable, while others have observed inconsistencies? Paradoxically, it appears that relatively long delays between event and initial documentation have produced greater consistency of participants\u27 reports. To investigate this directly, we collected the initial documentation of hearing about O.J. Simpson\u27s acquittal either five hours or one week after the acquittal was read. Observed consistency of memories varied as a function of documentation time; following an eight-week retention, the delayed reports were more consistent. The delayed group also reported fewer propositions in their initial documentation. We proposed a consolidation model to explain these results: during the days immediately following a newsworthy event, the narrative structure of these memories changes in that some details are forgotten. After this consolidation period, the memories may solidify. Thus, it may have been easier for the delayed group to provide consistent memories at the two intervals

A new double coronary artery anomaly: The right coronary artery originating above the coronary sinus giving off the circumflex artery

This is the first reported case of a coronary artery anomaly in which the right coronary artery originates above the left sinus of Valsalva and also gives off the circumflex system. Use of the aortogram and careful inspection of the ventriculogram in the right anterior oblique view were most helpful in recognizing the anomaly. The potential pathologic significance of the anomaly and pitfalls of misdiagnosis are discussed

Alzheimer's disease: synapses gone cold

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by insidious cognitive decline and memory dysfunction. Synapse loss is the best pathological correlate of cognitive decline in AD and mounting evidence suggests that AD is primarily a disease of synaptic dysfunction. Soluble oligomeric forms of amyloid beta (Aβ), the peptide that aggregates to form senile plaques in the brain of AD patients, have been shown to be toxic to neuronal synapses both in vitro and in vivo. Aβ oligomers inhibit long-term potentiation (LTP) and facilitate long-term depression (LTD), electrophysiological correlates of memory formation. Furthermore, oligomeric Aβ has also been shown to induce synapse loss and cognitive impairment in animals. The molecular underpinnings of these observations are now being elucidated, and may provide clear therapeutic targets for effectively treating the disease. Here, we review recent findings concerning AD pathogenesis with a particular focus on how Aβ impacts synapses

Variable Radio Sources in the Galactic Plane

Using three epochs of VLA observations of the Galactic Plane in the first quadrant taken ~15 years apart, we have conducted a search for a population of variable Galactic radio emitters in the flux density range 1-100 mJy at 6 cm. We find 39 variable sources in a total survey area of 23.2 sq deg. Correcting for various selection effects and for the extragalactic variable population of active galactic nuclei, we conclude there are ~1.6 Galactic sources per sq deg which vary by more than 50% on a time scale of years (or shorter). We show that these sources are much more highly variable than extragalactic objects; more than 50% show variability by a factor >2 compared to <10% for extragalactic objects in the same flux density range. We also show that the fraction of variable sources increases toward the Galactic center (another indication that this is a Galactic population), and that the spectral indices of many of these sources are flat or inverted. A small number of the variables are coincident with mid-IR sources and two are coincident with X-ray emitters, but most have no known counterparts at other wavelengths. Intriguingly, one lies at the center of a supernova remnant, while another appears to be a very compact planetary nebula; several are likely to represent activity associated with star formation regions. We discuss the possible source classes which could contribute to the variable cohort and followup observations which could clarify the nature of these sources.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures; to be published in the Astronomical Journal; data available on MAGPIS website at http://third.ucllnl.org/gps