An ever increasing part of today's higher educational institution is the implementation of honors programming for undergraduates. This is a special population of students whose academic needs are not being met by the rigors of the traditional educational path. While several studies have been conducted on these students and their academic progress within such programs, very little research has been done on the student's attitudes and perceptions about their experiences as an honors student during their college career. Students graduating with a degree from the Honors Program at Virginia Tech were interviewed and assessed to determine their attitudes and perceptions of their undergraduate experiences at Virginia Tech as an Honors Program student. Themes from these interviews were categorized and analyzed for a complete understanding of the collective experiences of the undergraduate students. A presentation of the information gathered from the interviews is the main purpose of the study. The results of this study should aid educators at Virginia Tech in better understanding the perceptions and impressions of honors students about their experiences in the Honors Program at Virginia Tech. / Master of Arts

The Problem.- To determine occupations entered by Agricultural Education graduates of Virginia Polytechnic Institute from 1948 through 1958, their financial advancement, and relationship of undergraduate success to success, after graduation. Purposes.- To determine fields of employment, beginning salaries, number who have changed jobs, reasons for job changes, educational advancements, relationship of quality credit average and co-curricular activities to occupational choices and advancement, and curriculum changes graduates thought desirable. Method.- Study was based on student records and on objective questionnaire which was mailed to each of the 333 living individuals to secure additional data. Returns were received from 272 (81.7 percent) of the graduates. Findings.- The 236 Bachelor's degree graduates entered 24 different occupations immediately after graduation, but in 1958 they were employed in 50 different occupations. Beginning salaries for all occupations averaged $3,211, while the 1958 salaries averaged $5,235. Salaries averaged $3,076 for 144 beginning teachers of vocational agriculture. In 1958, 82 teachers of vocational agriculture received salaries averaging $4,643. One hundred and ninety (69.9 percent) graduates changed jobs one or more times since graduation. Better opportunity to advance and to obtain a higher salary were the major reasons for not teaching vocational agriculture and for leaving the profession. Less than 15.0 percent of the graduates earned advanced degrees. There was no definite relationship between quality credit averages or participation in co-curricular activities and fields of employment, but an apparent relationship existed between these factors and success and advancement. Six areas of increased course offerings were suggested. / Master of Science

For all those sports enthusiasts within the Blacksburg area; for all members of the student body interested in intercollegiate, intramural, or individual sports competition; for all members of the administration interested in school prestige; and for all members of the athletic plant staff; a new building to house intercollegiate sports activities is a very vital and realistic problem - vital because of the present inadequacy and inflexibility of the War Memorial Hall, and realistic because of actual plans now in progress to expand the athletic facilities of Virginia Polytechnic Institute. This thesis deals with the design of a building that will meet the needs of adequacy and flexibility. / Master of Science

Master of Science

A gamma scintillation spectrometer was assembled. and calibrated in a low background radiation area to analyze air samples. Air samples were taken from different locations in the physics building during reactor operation to determine the concentrations of A⁴¹ released to the surroundings of the building during reactor operation. The samples were collected in a one gallon polyethylene bottle with a 3 ¾” x 3 ¾” cylindrical well sealed in the bottom. The air samples were taken to the counting area and the sampling bottle placed on the detector, a 3” x 3" cylindrical NaI(TI) crystal which fitted into the well. The pulses from the detector were fed te a multi-channel analyzer. From the number of pulses per unit time under the photo-peak, the concentration of A⁴¹ for each location was determined. Samples were analyzed for 4, 7, and 10 kw from which a linear extrapolation was made to estimate the concentrations of A⁴¹ in these locations if higher power operation is authorized. / Master of Science

The teaching and research programs at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute have been hampered for many years by the lack of adequate library facilities. Even though books are available through gift and exchange sources, the lack of a library building precludes the effective expansion of the book collection. The use of the present collection, which numbers a.bout 150,000 volumes, is difficult because the present facilities are overcrowded and unattractive. It is the purpose of this thesis to analyze the library situation at V. P. I., and to present a design study for a library building to effectuate an adequate library program for V. P. I. The success of the thesis is considered to be inherent in its usefulness to those who must ultimately plan a library for the college. / M.S.

The services rendered at the power plant of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute are as listed: 1. Electric energy 2. High pressure heating 3. Low Pressure heating 4. Hot soft water 5. Cold soft water. Before the first of October 1930 there were no daily records kept of the various steam, electrical and water services. Weekly or monthly readings were made on several ot the meters for computing total costs, but the information was meagre. At that time, with the assistance of Wiley and Wilson, Consulting Engineers, and Professor W. T. Ellis, of the Department of Power Engineering and Machine Design, log forms were drawn up and printed. These forms were as appended and consist of a Daily Meter and Recorder log; a Shift log; a Daily Boiler Efficiency Calculation log; a Power Plant Daily Record; and a Monthly Power Plant Report. The Daily Meter and Recorder log is made out each day by the chief plant operator and consists of the twenty-tour hour readings of the various meters. This gives the total quantities of steam to the different engines, auxiliaries and processes of the system, the boiler performance, the quantities of water used, softened and distributed, and the electric energy generated and disbursed. Three Shift logs are used each twenty-four hours, one for each eight hour shift and are kept by the operator in charge of the shift. These logs are a record of the coal burned, steam generated, blowdown, etc., treatment of water softeners and boiler feed water, oil used, and give hourly readings of pressures, temperatures and electrical data as shown by appropriate instruments. These two sets of logs were then consolidated and from them the Daily Boiler Efficiency log calculated that the engineering office might keep a daily check on the plant performance. During the eight months or observation certain changes in the form of this log were evidenced. The following form is a revision recommended. / M.S.

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 51). Also available via the Internet.

This thesis is an exploration of objects and their ability to create a between. Objects are the principal focus of this thesis. Objects arise from a desire to express the richness of three dimensions. Betweens evolve from the relationship between objects. The between is a thing, just as clearly as the object is a thing. It is a hallway, a door or a room. Knowing that a between needs to accommodate a particular function can help shape the relationship of the objects, but does not shape the objects themselves. This thesis is studied in a proposal for the area surrounding Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture, Cowgill Hall. The proposal consists of four primary objects; a series of three classrooms, a new entrance into Cowgill, a gallery above and below Cowgill Plaza, and a stair which extends the Plaza down to the level of Cowgill’s first floor. / Master of Architecture

This thesis is my commitment to this medium of social and personal expression. lt is also, the development of a foundation from which my search for truth, understanding and architecture can continue through time. The study vehicle is the design of an addition to Cowgill Hall, the College of Architecture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. The primary determinants which contribute to the addition's form are derived from site, structure and institution. The solution, an infill language of columns, beams and gravity walls, is ordered by interpreting these ideas into architectural elements that express an open and harmonious environment that encourages the creative spirit to flourish. / Master of Architecture