The Impact of School Social Bonds

Students' experiences in the school environment are not limited to purely academic activities, responsibilities, and relationships. Their complete educational experience encompasses social ties, commitment centered on stakes in conformity, beliefs about rules and regulations, and involvement in pursuits that are indirectly tied to their scholastic performance. Using CNMI Youth Survey data, this chapter explores these social bonds in the school setting and examines their impact on indigenous and indigenous high school students in the Northern Mariana Islands. The relative importance of these social bonds is compared to the influence of social bonds outside the school environment. The findings highlight the importance of teacher attachment and the belief in the validity and fairness of school rules on the risk-behavior for both indigenous and non-indigenous youth, with non-indigenous youths experiencing teacher attachment as a relatively stronger protective factor.

Indigenous Rights

This chapter focuses on the mental health factors that impact student success for Indigenous youth within the higher education landscape in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It emphasizes the need to address these mental health factors by strengthening cultural identity to support the success of students in higher education. The authors explain how Indigenous rights can be used to address legacies of genocidal colonialism and how implementing Indigenous-based curriculum for effective student learning may provide pathways to improve academic and mental health outcomes. Several programs in Saipan that underscore the significance of reinforcing cultural identity to help mitigate and alleviate these negative outcomes are discussed. The authors conclude by providing examples of how cultural identity can be strengthened through the implementation of Indigenous rights-based legislation, thereby simultaneously safeguarding mental health and academic success for Indigenous youth in the CNMI.

Aulacaspis yasumatsui. [Distribution map].

A new distribution map is provided for Aulacaspis yasumatsui Takagi. Hemiptera: Diaspididae. Hosts: cycads (Cycadales). Information is given on the geographical distribution in Africa (South Africa), Asia (China, Yunnan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Java, Sulawesi, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Vietnam), Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, United Kingdom, England), North America (Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Martinique, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas), Oceania (Fiji, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau), South America (French Guiana).

Revision of the subfamily Ostomopsinae (Coleoptera: Cerylonidae)

The subfamily Ostomopsinae of Cerylonidae is revised. Six nominal species are recognized and described or redescribed: Ostomopsis cudak sp. n. (Thailand), O. kuscheli sp. n. (New Caledonia), O. neotropicalis Lawrence & Stephan (USA: Florida; Mexico: San Luis Potosi, Veracruz; Panama, Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat), O. solitaria Scott (Seychelles, New Caledonia, Christmas Island, Northern Mariana Islands), O. solomon sp. n. (Solomon Islands), and O. watti sp. n. (New Caledonia). Morphological structures of the type species of Ostomopsis are illustrated and described in detail, and identification key to Ostomopsis species is given.

The tree snail on Rota Island, Northern Mariana Islands, long identified as Partula gibba (Partulidae), is a different species

Tree snails in the family Partulidae are widespread across the tropical Pacific, with endemic species occurring on most high islands. Partulid species have faced catastrophic range reductions and extinctions due primarily to introduced predators. Consequently, most extant species are threatened with imminent extinction. The U.S. administered Mariana Islands, consisting of Guam in the South and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in the north, historically harbored six endemic partulid species, half of which are thought to be extinct. While conducting a phylogenetic assessment of Partula gibba, an extant tree-snail with a range spanning at least seven islands within the archipelago, it was discovered that what has been identified as P. gibba on the island of Rota is a misidentified cryptic species. Here we use molecular phylogenetics, shell morphometrics and reproductive anatomy to describe it as a new species, Partula lutaensissp. nov.. Because the new species has suffered population declines and has a restricted range, consisting solely of the small island of Rota, we highlight the urgent need for conservation measures.

Dactyloctenium aegyptium (crowfoot grass).

Producing large quantities of seeds, D. aegyptium is a pioneer grass that quickly colonizes disturbed areas with light sandy soils, often near to coasts or where water accumulates. It is a common component of weed floras throughout the tropics but is rarely reported as an aggressive weed on its own. It is not on federal or state noxious weed lists in the USA and is not recorded on the ISSG database but is recorded by PIER (2016) as invasive on a number of Pacific and American islands including French Polynesia Islands, Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands and Hawaii. It is also listed as invasive on islands in the Mediterranean, the USA, Mexico, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and the Lesser Antilles (Vibrans, 2009; Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2011;Chacón and Saborío, 2012; Burg et al., 2012; Rojas-Sandoval and Acevedo-Rodríguez, 2015; DAISIE, 2016; USDA-NRCS, 2016).