Perceptions of Catholic Identity: Views of Catholic School Administrators and Teachers

This article presents the results of a survey conducted in 2010 of over 3,300 administrators and teachers in Catholic elementary and secondary schools nationally about their understanding of the meaning of the term “Catholic identity.” The survey was conducted in the fall of 2010 in anticipation of a national conference on the Catholic identity of Catholic elementary and secondary schools at The Catholic University of America, October 2-4, 2011. The vast majority of respondents viewed the school’s culture or faith community as the most important component of its Catholic identity. The longer the teacher or administrator worked in Catholic schools, the higher the rating they gave to the essential nature of the school’s faith community to its Catholic identity. Other aspects of Catholic identity that received high ratings were prayer, the content of the religion course, who taught religion, liturgical celebrations, and participation in service. The respondents viewed the percentage of Catholic students as the least important aspect of Catholic identity

Visual Feedback In Voice Therapy for Individuals with Parkinson\u27s Disease

Parkinson ’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder that affects one’s movement. As the disease develops, individuals begin to present with symptoms that include but are not limited to bradykinesia, rigidity, tremors, and hypokinetic dysarthria. These symptoms affect a person’s entire body, including his/her voice. The Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) program for treating individuals with PD is supported by over twenty-five years of research. It is considered a safe, non-invasive method to improve vocal loudness and speech clarity in individuals with PD. However, simply because LSVT is effective in its current state, it does not mean that the protocol is the most efficient or effective it can be. One potential shortcoming of LSVT is that it does not provide patients with much, if any, visual feedback. We hypothesized that visual feedback would enable the client to more easily produce a voice characterized by increased loudness and vocal quality. The results of the study do not fully support this hypothesis. There was less variability in the client’s performance within each session during the experimental weeks the patients performance over the course of the week improved, this pattern was not observed during the non-experimental weeks. Additionally, the participant expressed preference for treatment days when the visual feedback was used, finding it helpful in more effectively regulating the volume of his voice

Factors Affecting the Views of Bishops and Priests About Catholic Schools

The attitudes of bishops and priests toward Catholic schools are critical for the school’s success. This article discusses a recent nationwide survey of Catholic clergy that measured the support of bishops and priests for Catholic schools, with a special emphasis on determining factors that affect such support. Overall, a high level of support for Catholic schools is reported by the majority of the clergy surveyed. Factors influencing that support include type and location of ministry, number of years ordained, and one’s own Catholic school background

Motivation and Job Satisfaction of Catholic School Teachers

This article examines the relationship between Catholic school teachers’ motivation and job satisfaction. The data are derived from a survey of 716 teachers in Catholic elementary and secondary schools in three dioceses in the US (Atlanta, GA; Biloxi, MS; and Cheyenne, WY). The school’s academic philosophy and its environment were important predictors of the teachers’ satisfaction with their work with students and with their relationships with administrators and other teachers. The motivation to teach in the school because it was a Catholic school was an important predictor of the teachers’ satisfaction with the school. The results of the study confirm the importance of a religious factor as an important motivator for teachers choosing to teach in Catholic schools and an important predictor of their job satisfaction. Résumé Motivation et satisfaction professionnelle des enseignants des écoles catholiques Cet article examine les rapports entre la motivation et la satisfaction professionnelle des enseignants des écoles catholiques. Les données proviennent d’une enquête menée auprès de 716 enseignants d’écoles élémentaires et secondaires dans trois diocèses des États-Unis (Atlanta, Georgia, Biloxi, Mississipi et Cheyenne, Wyoming). La philosophie des études dans l’école et son environnement représentaient des variables explicatives importantes de la satisfaction des enseignants sur le travail accompli avec les élèves et leurs rapports avec le personnel administratif et les autres enseignants. La motivation pour enseigner dans l’école en raison de sa qualité d’établissement catholique constituait une variable explicative importante de la satisfaction de l’enseignant vis-à-vis de l’école. Les résultats de l’enquête confirment que le facteur religieux est important dans la motivation des enseignants qui choisissent d’enseigner dans les écoles catholiques et qu’il représente une variable explicative majeure dans leur satisfaction professionnelle. Resumen Motivación y satisfacción laboral del profesorado de escuelas católicas Este artículo examina la relación entre la motivación y la satisfacción laboral del profesorado de escuelas católicas. El corpus ha sido extraído de un cuestionario completado por 716 profesores de escuelas primarias y secundarias católicas de tres diócesis de EE. UU. (Atlanta, GA; Biloxi, MS y Cheyenne, WY). La filosofía académica de las escuelas y sus ambientes fueron importantes indicadores de la satisfacción del profesorado en su trabajo con los estudiantes, y de sus relaciones con los administradores y demás profesores. La motivación para enseñar en la escuela por ser católica fue un importante predictor de la satisfacción de los profesores hacia la escuela. Los resultados del estudio confirman la importancia del factor religioso como un motivador importante para que los profesores elijan enseñar en escuelas católicas y un predictor importante de la satisfacción laboral

Influence of allochtonous nutrients delivered by colonial seabirds on soil collembolan communities on Spitsbergen

Despite a widespread recognition of the role of seabird colonies in the fertilization of nutrient-poor polar terrestrial ecosystems, qualitative and quantitative data documenting any consequential influence on soil invertebrate communities are still lacking. Therefore, we studied community structure and abundance of springtails (Collembola) in ornithogenic tundra near two large seabird colonies in Hornsund, south-west Spitsbergen. We found considerably (5–20×) higher densities and biomass of Collembola in the vicinities of both colonies (the effect extending up to ca. 50 m from the colony edge) than in comparable control areas of tundra not influenced by allochtonous nutrient input. The most common springtails observed in the seabird-influenced areas were Folsomia quadrioculata, Hypogastrura viatica and Megaphorura arctica. The latter species appeared the most resistant to ornithogenic nutrient input and was found commonly closest to the bird colonies. Collembolan abundance decreased with increasing distance from the seabird colonies. However, relationships between collembolan density and specific physicochemical soil parameters and vegetation characteristics were weak. The most important factors were the cover of the nitrophilous green alga Prasiola crispa, total plant biomass and soil solution conductivity, all of which were correlated with distance from the colony and estimated amount by guano deposition. Community composition and abundance of springtails showed no evidence of being influenced of seabird diet, with no differences apparent between communities found in ornithogenic tundra developing in the vicinity of planktivorous and piscivorous seabird colonies. The study provides confirmation of the influence of marine nutrient input by seabirds on soil microfaunal communities

Implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for Antarctica

To date, Antarctica is the only continent to have escaped the COVID-19 pandemic. This was facilitated by the continent's isolation and low human presence, combined with the global emergence of the pandemic at the end of the Antarctic summer season and the rapid action of those national governmental operators and other actors still active on and around the continent during the early phases of the outbreak. Here, we consider the implications of the pandemic for Antarctic governance, national operator logistics, science, tourism and the fishing industry, as well as for Antarctic environmental protection. Global disruption will result in a temporary decrease in human activity in Antarctica, in turn leading to a reduction in environmental impacts for a period, but also a reduced capacity to respond to environmental incidents. Given the diversity of transmission routes and vectors, preventing the introduction of the virus will be difficult, even with stringent quarantine procedures in place, and the risks and implications of virus transmission to Antarctic wildlife are largely unknown. With control of the pandemic a major global challenge, international cooperation will be essential if Antarctica is to remain free of coronavirus

Seminarian Sentiments About Catholic Schools

Three hundred sixty-one seminarians from the 48 diocesan seminaries in the United States and the North American College in Rome, Italy responded to a survey regarding their sentiments about the value of Catholic schools, their effectiveness, and the importance of financially supporting them. The results suggest that while diocesan seminarians are generally supportive of Catholic schools, they are more positive about the value of Catholic schools and the importance of providing financial support than they are about the effectiveness of Catholic schools, especially their religious effectiveness. The seminarians’ sentiments toward value and financial support are comparable to those of previous studies of priests. The seminarians’ own backgrounds in Catholic schools, selection of the most important purpose of Catholic schools, age, Hispanic ethnicity, and whether the seminary provided academic instruction about Catholic schools are factors that influenced their sentiments, particularly of effectiveness. The study did not include seminarians from religious congregations

Nitrogen inputs by marine vertebrates drive abundance and richness in Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems

Biodiversity is threatened by climate change and other human activities [1], but to assess impacts, we also need to identify the current distribution of species on Earth. Predicting abundance and richness patterns is difficult in many regions and especially so on the remote Antarctic continent, due to periods of snow cover, which limit remote sensing, and the small size of the biota present. As the Earth’s coldest continent, temperature and water availability have received particular attention in understanding patterns of Antarctic biodiversity [2], whereas nitrogen availability has received less attention [3]. Nitrogen input by birds is a major nutrient source in many regions on Earth [4, 5, 6, 7], and input from penguins and seals is associated with increased plant growth [8, 9, 10] and soil respiration [11, 12, 13] at some Antarctic locations. However, the consequences of increased nitrogen concentrations in Antarctic mosses and lichens for their associated food web has hardly been addressed [14, 15], despite the fact that nutrient status of primary producers affects the abundance and diversity of higher trophic levels [16, 17]. We show that nitrogen input and δ15N signatures from marine vertebrates are associated with terrestrial biodiversity hotspots well beyond (>1,000 m) their immediate colony borders along the Antarctic Peninsula. Invertebrate abundance and richness was two to eight times higher under penguin and elephant seal influence. The nitrogen footprint area was correlated with the vertebrate population size. These findings improve our ability to predict biogeographical patterns of Antarctic terrestrial biodiversity through knowledge of the location and size of penguin and elephant seal concentrations