Webster describes education as ….. “a science dealing with the principles and practice of teaching and learning". Vocational Agricultural Education endeavors to train present and prospective famers for proficiency in farming. The end of World War II found this country faced with the problem of readjusting to civilian life many millions of men and women who so ably served their country in the armed forces. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944., Public Lew 346, and The Act Providing for Vocational Rehabilitation of Disabled Veterans, Public law 16, commonly called the G. I. Bill of Rights, was formulated by the 78th Congress of the United States with the expressed idea in mind of rehabilitating and re-establishing veterans of World War II into a more permanent and satisfactory way of life. The application of the provisions of these laws, as amended by Public law 377, 80th Congress, makes specific provisions for training; veterans who elected to pursue a course of Institutional on-farm training. The responsibility for training those veterans who had returned to the fam to live, finally rested with the Virginia State Department of Education. Much work had been done in connection with this program. Supervisors and instructors have spent many hours of concentrated work and study in carrying out a program designed to meet the requirements of the law, with specific emphasis placed on the needs of the individual veteran. The purpose of this study was to show some of the conditions and practice: being; followed in carrying out the institutional on-farm training; program, and any evidence of success that the program may show. / Master of Science

Marine sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Early Cambrian(?) to Middle Ordovician, inclusive, crop out in the Damascus area. Approximately 13,000 feet of beds are exposed, comprising 14 formations. The stratigraphic succession is rather complete and is broken by a single recognizable hiatus which represents most of late Early Ordovician time. Clastic rocks of questionable Early Cambrian age are about 3,600 feet thick. Rocks of known Cambrian age are about 6,800 feet thick and consist of, in ascending order, elastic rocks, dolomite, shale and carbonate rocks, and mixed carbonate rocks. Carbonate rocks of Early Orodovician age range from 1,000 to 6,000 feet in thickness. Middle Ordovician rocks aggregate approximately 800 feet in thickness, the basal 100 feet of which is limestone and the remainder is shale and sandstone. The Elbrook formation of middle and Late Cambrian age is herein divided into four members of which one, the Widener limestone member, is formally named and mapped. A crepicephalus fauna from the Widener limestone, and a single trilobite, Plethometopus sp. From the Conococheague formation are illustrated. The strata have been folded into five synclines and four anticlines and are broken by two major thrust faults, and Lodi thrust and the Holston Mountain thrust. The faults were initially low-angle thrusts which have been folded with the overridden rocks so that locally the fault planes have steep dips. / Master of Science

In this thesis the author has conscientiously attempted to portray in clear fashion the status of all V.P.I. graduates, post graduates, and those qualified to teach in vocational agriculture since 1918. The material collected, it is hoped, will serve as a source of information for professors at V.P.I. who have to do with guidance and placement. Furthermore, it is expected that the information contained herein, will show certain pertinent facts concerning the department of vocational education in question. Is the department efficient? Do its graduates secure jobs? Are salaries commensurate with time spent in securing degrees? Does the higher degree have any significance so far as increase in salary or steps in advancement are concerned? Have the V.P.I. graduates obtained positions of unusual responsibility and honor? Has service rendered by these graduates been hit or miss, or has it been constructive and definite over a long period of time? What has been the percentage of V.P.I. agricultural men who have entered occupations allied to farming? Are there any facts which indicate success n these allied occupations? Such questions as the above, and others, are answered in this thesis. In attempting to collect the information mentioned above the author has made use of the Alumni Office files; the records in offices of the various supervisors of Agricultural Education - Dr. W.S. Newman, State Board of Education, Richmond, Va.; Mr. D.J. Howard, Assistant State Supervisor, Winchester, Va.; Mr. T.V. Downing, District Supervisor, Ivor, Va.; Mr. J.O. Hoge, District Supervisor, Blacksburg, Va.; Mr. F.B. Cale, District Supervisor, Appomattox, Va.; department files; Alumni files; Registrar's office; Cormier's thesis and questionnaires. Grateful acknowledgment is made to these men as well as to Professors E.C. Magill, H.C. Groseclose, H.W. Sanders, and other school officials who have rendered valuable assistance in the arduous task of preparing this thesis. / Master of Science

Since its initial identification in 1975, Lyme disease has become a public health concern in the U.S.  Increased concern is sparked by the rapid rate at which the disease is emerging into new areas.  One area of disease emergence is the state of Virginia which has been experiencing exponentially increasing rates of the disease.  This research studies Virginia's landscape-level habitats to explore demographic and environmental variables related to the spread of Lyme disease. The land cover data came from the National Land Cover Database (2006), demographic data came from the U.S. census (2010), and Lyme disease case data came from the Virginia Department of Health (2006-2010).  Key variables examined in this statewide study include the percentages of landscape types measured inside each census tract, measures of forest fragmentation, and measures of land cover interspersion inside state census tracts. Analysis was carried out using a spatial Poisson regression model.  Of the original 15 variables, 10 were significantly correlated to Lyme disease.  The six that were positively correlated with disease incidence include percent herbaceous land, percent water, two edge contrast measurements of herbaceous-forest land, median age, and average income.  The four that were negatively correlated were percent developed, population density, and two edge contrast measurements of developed-herbaceous land. Overall results indicate that specific environmental and demographic variables are associated with increased disease incidence as Lyme disease emerges in Virginia.  Results from this study could help create a predictive statewide map for Lyme disease incidence and aid in disease awareness and resource allocation. / Master of Science

The conclusion of this investigation, based on field mapping and measured sections, is the Price Formation was deposited on a high-energy shoreline. Sediments for the shoreline were initially transported from a northern deltaic source. The Cloyd Conglomerate Member represents offshore barrier bars, while the Lower Price unit was deposited in a lagoon behind the bars. At the top of the Lower Price unit, the "marker bed" sandstone includes sedimentary features of marine and fluvial origin. This sandstone is interpreted as a delta-front sand, reworked from distributary mouth bars. The Langhorn and Merrimac coal seams were deposited in swamps formed across the sandstone. / Master of Science

The objective of this study has been to list the mammals of Virginia and determine their intra-state distribution in so far as possible in the time allotted. Four procedures have been followed in conducting the study, namely, examination of available literature, collecting study material, examination of museum specimens and field observations. At the present time much effort is being exerted by research workers to establish a system of management for game animals which will aid in restoring these species to depleted areas in the State. The information on occurrence and distribution brought together by this study should be of aid to the game manager in working out more efficient practices, as all species of a fauna are interdependent. Not only will this knowledge be of considerable aid to the game manager in solving problems relative to valuable species and predatory species in a particular area, but it will also be of interest to the general public in that some forms affect agriculture practices. The mammiferous fauna of Virginia bear an important relation to mammals of other parts of the eastern United States, since several species occurring here are intermediate between northern and southern forms. / Master of Science

The western boundary of the Charlotte Belt near Brookneal, Virginia lies midway along a 100 km length of the boundary previously mapped by reconnaissance methods only (Jonas, 1928). This study concludes that the metavolcanic Chopawamsic Formation of northern and central Virginia is the extension of the Charlotte Belt. The Charlotte Belt is bounded to the west by the metasedimentary Evington Group that extends from northern Virginia southward into the Smith River Allochthon as the Fork Mountain Schist. In Brookneal, the boundary between the eastern metavolcanic and western metasedimentary units is obscured by the intrusion of the 470 Ma Melrose Granite. The abrupt change in lithology and multiple fault generation across the granite indicates that the boundary between the metasedimentary and metavolcanic units is tectonic. Unconformably overlying both the metavolcanic and metasedimentary units is the Arvonia sequence, previously not documented in the southern Virginia Piedmont. The Brookneal terrane has undergone three metamorphic events and localized hydrothermal retrogression. The metamorphism is tied in sequence to seven folding episodes. The metamorphism and deformation are results of the regional Taconic event, the late-Acadian event which terminates to the west in Brookneal, and the fault localized Alleghanian event, each of which resulted in faulting. / Master of Science

In 1902, in an effort to reestablish what they saw as whites' natural right to control government rule over blacks, the delegates to Virginia's Constitutional Convention of 1901-1902 declared the new constitution law that they felt reflected "the true opinion of the people of Virginia." This thesis argues that while Virginia's 1902 Constitution increased the political power of whites and decreased that of black Virginians, the reasons why they needed the document in the first place highlights an important aspect regarding the anxiety of many white Virginians in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Specifically, it helps to show how whiteness as a source of political and social power was not concrete or absolute, but rather was a reaction to the increasing presence and assertion of power by black Virginians. I argue that white Virginians, faced with the increasing political and social presence of black Virginians as equals, sought to reestablish their racial superiority through law and constitutional revision. However, by making their whiteness "visible"-- by continually reasserting their claim to legitimate power because they were "white"-- white Virginians revealed how unstable their racial world had become. / Master of Arts

The Knox unconformity in the central and southern Appalachians is developed on Lower to early Middle Ordovician Knox/Beekmantown carbonates. The unconformity marks the transition from Cambro-Ordovician shelf carbonate deposition on a passive margin to carbonate and clastic deposition in a foreland basin associated with a convergent margin, possibly during a time of global sea-level lowering. Erosional relief on the unconformity decreases from over 140 m in southwest Virginia to 20 m or less in northern Virginia. This corresponds with a marked decrease in stratigraphic relief in the same direction. Paleokarst features that formed on the unconformity include topographic highs that extend up to 30 m into overlying Middle Ordovician peritidal carbonates, sinkholes and caves that extend down to 65 m below the unconformity and are filled with detritus from the unconformity and breccia from host carbonates, and sub-unconformity dolomite breccia bodies that formed by collapse after dissolution of limestone interbeds. Coarse detritus on the unconformity surface formed thin to thick veneers of regolith; locally this material was reworked by fluvial and marine processes. Much fine dolomite detritus was reworked and deposited as alluvial fan and playa mud-flat sediments in lows on the unconformity surface. The unconformity influenced the regional distribution, composition and thickness of some post-unconformity peritidal carbonates. This is evidenced by lithoclastic supratidal sheets that cap cycles in these beds up to 100 m above the unconformity. Unconformity highs also may have controlled later Middle Ordovician buildup distribution in Virginia. Development of regional unconformities on shelf sequences of passive margins immediately beneath foreland basin sequences is common in other orogens, reflecting gentle warping of the shelf prior to foundering beneath synorogenic clastics. Such unconformities may localize hydrocarbons and base metal deposits (Pb-Zn), by controlling the distribution of permeable horizons adjacent to the unconformity. / Master of Science

A disproportionality exists between the percentage of females in the role of public school superintendent and the percentage of female public school teachers. The National Center for Education Statistics (2020) survey indicated that 76.5% of the public school teachers were female; while AASA (2015) survey of superintendents indicated that only 26.9% of the respondents were female in 2015 and 26.7% were female in 2020 (Domenech, 2020). The Virginia Department of Education (2019) reported that at the start of the 2019-2020 school year in Virginia, 34% of the superintendents were female which is disproportionate to the percentage of females who are teaching. This research study compared the career paths of female participants of the Virginia Tech Aspiring Superintendents Program and the decisions they made about their career advancement in public education. Additionally, the study gathered data regarding the factors that influenced the career decisions of the participants. A researcher-designed survey was utilized to gather initial data, and interviews using a protocol adapted from Catlett's 2017 study were conducted with volunteer participants from each of the groups that emerged: superintendents, aspiring superintendents and non-aspiring superintendents. The study participants were females who completed the Virginia Tech Aspiring Superintendents Program (ASP) from 2011-2019. The findings of the study suggest the following: female educational leaders have pursued advanced degrees to advance their career paths; participants followed a typical progression of career positions; participants viewed their career paths as supportive and have purposely sought a variety of positions to gain experience in different roles of education; study participants described people-centered traits to be important in order to create a supportive working environment; participants were influenced by an educational leader or mentor to pursue leadership positions; discriminatory actions and perceptions about female administrators are barriers preventing women from becoming superintendents; family or a woman's role in the family is a personal challenge that faces women who are seeking leadership roles in education; and participants indicated that male and female leaders are viewed differently, and strong female leaders are viewed in a negative way while strong male leaders are viewed positively. / Doctor of Education / The percentage of female public school teachers is disproportionate to the percentage of females in the role of public school superintendent. A survey of teachers that was published in 2020 indicated that 76.5% of the public school teachers were female while a survey of superintendents indicated that only 26.7% were female. In Virginia, at the start of the 2019-2020 school year, 34% of the superintendents were female, and while that is higher than the national average, is it still disproportionate to the percentage of females who are teaching in Virginia. The study compared the career paths of aspiring superintendents and the decisions they made about their career advancement in public education. Data regarding the factors that influenced the career decisions of the participants were also gathered. A survey designed by the researcher was used to gather initial data, and interviews using a protocol adapted from Catlett's 2017 study were conducted with volunteer participants from each of the groups that emerged: superintendents, aspiring superintendents and non-aspiring superintendents. The findings of the study suggest the following: female educational leaders have pursued advanced degrees and have followed a typical progression of career positions. Participants viewed their career paths as supportive and have purposely sought a variety of positions. Interview participants endorsed person-centered traits to be important in creating a supportive working environment. Participants were influenced by an educational leader or mentor to pursue leadership positions. Participants experienced discriminatory actions and perceptions about female administrators, and they felt that family or a woman's role in the family is a personal challenge that faces women who are seeking leadership roles in education. Lastly, participants indicated that male and female leaders are viewed differently, and strong female leaders are viewed in a negative way while strong male leaders are viewed positively.