This dissertation traces the rhetorical history of Virginia Tech's April 16th Memorial from its earliest appearance immediately following the April 16, 2007 shootings up to its present iteration as a permanent memorial on Virginia Tech's campus. Specifically, this study reveals how the April 16th Memorial is a public memory performance that has changed (and continues to change) in its form, function, and significance across time. Based on a data set that includes archival evidence, interview data, and fieldwork, I argue that over the course of its history, the April 16th Memorial has negotiated tensions and fusions between the epideictic and deliberative genres that exist within its bounds. In doing so, the memorial asks audiences to honor and remember the dead while also compelling audiences to deliberate over the social and political issues punctuated by the tragedy. Whereas the epideictic appeals in the memorial aim to reknit the community, the deliberative appeals invite audiences to imagine a better, safer world. By tracing the intersections between these two genres, this study demonstrates how complementary and competing forces in the memorial vie over not only constructions of public memory but also the lessons we are meant to gain from the April 16, 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. / Doctor of Philosophy / Public memory refers to the shared recollections of history among members of a specific community. Rather than individual memory, public memory is constituted by what communities choose to remember and forget and what gets retold to future generations. Specific artifacts help support the creation of public memory, including archives, museums, monuments, and memorials. Scholars tend to agree that what communities chose to monumentalize in stone often reflects a desire to shape public memory in strategic ways. This dissertation traces the history of the April 16th Memorial at Virginia Tech in order to capture how the commemorative site has influenced (and continues to influence) public memory of the shootings that occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. Using archival evidence, interview data, and fieldnotes collected at the site, I argue that the April 16th Memorial asks visitors to honor and remember the dead while also compelling visitors to deliberate over the kinds of action that might prevent school shootings in the future. This study demonstrates how complementary and competing forces in the memorial vie over not only constructions of public memory but also the lessons we are meant to gain from the April 16, 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech.

This research uses moral panic theory to investigate the ways in which print media coverage influences the association of mental illness with acts of mass violence in schools. I explore the relationship between the rhetoric of moral entrepreneurs (such as victims' friends and family members, law enforcement agencies, criminal justice and mental health professionals, gun rights activists, mayors, members of Congress, and presidents), the construction of a moral panic, and the identification of a folk devil (a person or population deemed responsible for the evils of a society; to be feared and controlled in order to minimize threat). Perpetrators of school shootings are often discussed in terms of their consumption of violent media (such as movies, music, and video games), their access to firearms, their social standing among their peers (socially isolated, ostracized, or bullied at school), and their mental health status. I hypothesize that mental illness has become a common frame in which school shooters are discussed by the media, despite the fact that mentally ill persons are less likely than non-disordered individuals to commit acts of violence. Therefore, this characterization of the mentally ill as violent and dangerous is disproportionate to the actual level of threat. I conduct a quantitative frame analysis of print newspaper articles published in the New York Times and one local newspaper during the month following each mass school shooting between 1991 and 2015, coding for the type of moral entrepreneur (grassroots, interest-group, or elite), the folk devil identified (violent media, firearms, social alienation, and/or mental illness), and whether the folk devil was being affirmed or denied. Results reveal that guns are affirmed as the folk devil more often than mental illness, but are also denied most often; whereas mental illness is affirmed nearly as often as guns, and is less frequently denied as the folk devil — leading to the conclusion that mental illness is the most frequently accepted folk devil associated with school shootings. This serves as a cautionary warning against the conflation of mental illness with mass shootings, because it intensifies the stigma attached to mental illness — a known deterrent to seeking treatment. / Ph. D.

Shooting ranges concentrate significant quantities of heavy metals, especially lead as spent shot and bullets, on very small parcels of land. Samples taken from a shooting range near Blacksburg, VA, USA provide information about the reservoirs and pathways of lead at shooting ranges in an upland setting and humid environment. Metallic lead corrodes rapidly and develops a coating of corrosion products. The type and amount of corrosion products found on lead shot and bullets are best understood through examination of Eh-pH relationships. X-ray diffraction analysis identified hydrocerussite (Pb₃(CO₃)₂(OH)₂) as the corrosion phase present on lead shot recovered from the range. Hydrocerussite dissolution can produce soluble lead concentrations ranging from 2 ppb to 2 ppm for the soil pH values at this site. This soluble lead is captured by the soil. Sequential chemical extractions revealed that vertical lead migration beyond the A-horizon was minimal. The bound-to-Fe & Mn oxides and bound-to-carbonates soil fractions were identified as significant reservoirs for sequestration of lead in the soil. The highest concentration of extractable lead contained in the soil was directly correlated with the highest concentration of lead shot and bullets measured on the shotgun range surface. The geochemical framework for understanding the corrosion process, identifying the corrosion product(s) that control lead solubility, and identifying the geochemical barriers to lead migration that were employed at the Blacksburg, VA shotgun range, provides a basis for selecting best management practices for this and other shooting ranges. / Master of Science

The investigator became interested in the status of basketball goal shooting in modern girls' basketball as compared to that of boys' goal shooting. Types of shots, their frequency and accuracy, and the zones on the court from which they were taken, were all considered as components of the status of basketball goal shooting. It was on the basis of this interest that the present study was undertaken.

To date, there are no evidence-based peer bystander intervention trainings (BIT) aimed at educating peers in school shooting warning behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine an interactive BIT where peers were taught warning behaviors related to someone planning a school shooting and how to report this information. This training was evaluated against a currently available training method (i.e., PowerPoint presentation based) and a control group to determine the best training approach. College students between 18 and 19 years old (N = 57) completed pre, post, and one-month follow-up assessments. At each timepoint accuracy in detection of warning behaviors, overall willingness to report, attitudes toward reporting, perceived behavioral control (PBC), and intent to report was assessed. A linear regression mixed effects model was performed for each variable of interest. Results indicate that all groups increased in accuracy from preassessment to post assessment, and from preassessment to one-month follow-up for the first accuracy assessment, but not the second. Participants’ willingness to report, attitudes toward reporting, PBC, and intent to report increased between preassessment and post assessment, and preassessment and one-month follow-up. The was a significant interaction effect between time and group for willingness to report and PBC between preassessment and post assessment for the interactive BIT group compared to the control group. The interactive BIT group demonstrated the highest positive attitudes toward reporting compared to the control group between pre and post assessment. For intent to report, the PowerPoint presentation group demonstrated the highest increase in intent to report compared to the interactive BIT group at one-month follow-up. Results indicate the intervention training has potential for educating peers in warning behaviors with modifications. Future research should focus on these modifications.

Title: Influence of physical demands on shooting accuracy with hand-operated weapon. Objectives: Aim of this thesis is compare how physical load, present by Burpee motor abilities test, aplicate on selected group of soldiers influence their shooting accuracy from pistol in stand up position with bouth hands grip at standing target. Aggregate of twenty test subjects is comosed of policemen from Department of protect and escort Military police Prague and students from VO at FTVS UK in Prague. Methods: For statistical data processing we used the method of comparison and comparison of averages. To determine statistical significance, we used two- tailed, paired t - test. For the evaluation targets, we used numerical method for detecting mean point of impact. Results: The measured data were processed statistically, it was found that physical activity has statistical effect on the shooting accuracy, while standing and with both hands grip, from pistole in the first group (MP). The second measurement work out similary, which mean physical exercise has statistical effect on the shooting accuracy, while standing and with both hands grip, from pistole. Furthermore, we found that the greatest influence on shooting accuracy after physical exertion realized by Burpee test, have the individual level of fitness...

This thesis analyses the successful of shooting in the highest Czech handball competition - Extraleague Men, in season 2010/2011. The analysis was realized by watching video recordings which were taken during the basic part of the competition. Besides the monitoring of the total success of these teams, we focused on components of the attack on the overall success and, for example, on shooting from the perspective of post player or shooting methods. The data were processed into graphs and commented.

Title: Influence of the function of the deep stabilization system of the spine on the accuracy and speed of shooting in the field hockey players Objectives: The main aim of the work was to clarify the effect of exercise aimed at improving the stabilization function of the spine on the accuracy and speed of the shot at field hockey. Another parcial goel was to improve the spinal stabilization function after the interventional program. Methods: The theoretical part is processed in the form of the research. In the practical part an experimental study is containing a sample of 13 probands aged 18-35, male, was created to obtain the data. In the initial measurement, the accuracy of the shooting and the speed of the shooting was measured using the Stalker Pro II radar. Stabilization function of the spine was tested using a test battery, assembled for the purpose of this work. Probands have performed the intervention program for 4 months, twice a week, under professional supervision. Then there was a control measurement. In conclusion, the initial and final results were compared. For processing the data was used a spreadsheet Microsoft Excel 2010. The results were then processed into tables. Results: In the final measurement, all probands were able to improve the spinal stabilization function. The...

In my thesis I have been dealing with shooting accuracy of juniors in Bohemia Poděbrady in regional league. The aim of my work was to find out the effectivenes of shooting during matches, from particular positions and distance. The data were gained from technical records during one season period. The gathered data were compared with the results of technical records of juniors playing the first junior league and with the results of a shooting test in noncompetitive conditions. The examined group contained thirty players. Obtained results will be used for improvement of shooting training of juniors in Bohemia Poděbrady and can be the basement for works of similar kind.

Submitted by Marlene Santos (marlene.bc.ufg@gmail.com) on 2018-06-29T19:43:37Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Kaye Oliveira da Silva - 2015.pdf: 3763230 bytes, checksum: 2a51ab65a386fdff2c014712b4f5a7fd (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-07-03T15:21:01Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Kaye Oliveira da Silva - 2015.pdf: 3763230 bytes, checksum: 2a51ab65a386fdff2c014712b4f5a7fd (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-03T15:21:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Kaye Oliveira da Silva - 2015.pdf: 3763230 bytes, checksum: 2a51ab65a386fdff2c014712b4f5a7fd (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-07-03 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In this work, we study two problems in partial differential equations. The first one is a nonlinear eigenvalue problem given by: ( 􀀀div( (jruj)ru) = f(x; u) em , u = 0 em @ , where the nonlinearity f is oscilatory. By using Orlicz-Sobolev spaces and techniques of minimization, degree theory, lower and upper solutions and regularization of solutions, we show that for each sufficiently big, there is a family of solutions, which is finite when f oscillates a finite number of times (with respect to the second variable) and it is infinite when f oscillates infinitely many times. On the second problem, we use the shooting method, to show that the problem: ( 􀀀(r (ju0(r)j)u0(r))0 = r f(u(r)); 0 < r < R; u(R) = u0(0) = 0; has for each sufficiently small, a family fukg1k =1 of solutions, where for each positive integer k, uk has exactly k roots in the interval (0;R). / Neste trabalho estudamos dois problemas de equações diferenciais parciais. O primeiro é um problema não linear de autovalores da forma: ( 􀀀div( (jruj)ru) = f(x; u) em , u = 0 em @ , cuja não linearidade f é oscilatória. Utilizando os espaços de Orlicz-Sobolev e técnicas de minimização, teoria do grau, sub e super soluções e regularização de soluções, mostramos que para cada suficientemente grande, existe uma família de soluções, que é finita no caso de f oscilar um número finito de vezes (com relação a segunda variável) e infinita no caso de f oscilar um número infinito de vezes. No segundo problema, usamos o método de shooting, para mostrar que o problema ( 􀀀(r (ju0(r)j)u0(r))0 = r f(u(r)); 0 < r < R; u(R) = u0(0) = 0; possui para cada > 0 suficientemente pequeno, uma família fukg1k =1 de soluções, onde para cada k inteiro positivo, uk tem exatamente k raízes no intervalo (0;R).