Digital Commons Network^™

What Bitcoin Is, And How It Can Change Commerce, Jeffrey Bukhari

Capstones

The use of the digital currency Bitcoin has spiked dramatically over the last several years. Spurred by interest from investors and those excited about its commercial and banking potential, the value of the cryptocurrency has seen its value greatly increase since its beginning in 2009.

This project explains the underlying technology behind Bitcoin, how Bitcoin is and will change commerce, and what potential lies ahead for the digital currency.

Shoppers Aren't Buying What Ivanka Trump Has To Offer, Elizabeth Ramanand

Capstones

My capstone is on Ivanka Trump's business, how it's really doing and how politics plays a role. For many shoppers buying her products is a political statement but not purchasing is just as big of a statement to enforce their political beliefs. Even though her business is not public I used research, reporting and interviews to prove that her company isn't doing as well as she claims it is. From super discounted products to lawsuits on her brand and boycott movements, Ivanka Trump's brand is suffering under her father's presidency.

https://journalizt.atavist.com/shoppers-arent-buying-ivanka-trump

Too Little Too Late For City Spending On Workers Cooperatives, Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech

Capstones

New York City spent $606.7 million in 2016 on Career Pathways, a national workforce development strategy designed to increase education, training, and learning opportunities for the current and emerging workforce. A small portion of that money has gone to worker cooperatives, a business entity that is worker-owned and worker-controlled. Female immigrant entrepreneurs have taken to the model. But the model's strength might prove to be its weakness.

http://alejandraoconnell.com/2017/12/27/too-little-too-l…ers-cooperatives/ ‎

Two-Way Contracts: The Solution For The Nba, Stefan Anderson

Capstones

This project takes a look into the NBA's first season introducing it two-way contracts. These contracts allow players to be in both the NBA and its developmental/minor league, the Gatorade League–widely known as The G-League at the same time. With the two-way being established it opens the door for many other things. This project goes more in depth on it.

https://sportswithstef.wordpress.com/2017/12/14/two-way-contracts-the-solution-for-the-nba/

The Vibe, Sarah P. Douglass

Capstones

The Vibe is a long-form narrative about where tech is taking the female orgasm. The piece concludes that physiological research is a required next step when creating the climax of the future.

http://sarahpdouglass.com

In Brownsville, A Struggle For Revitalization Without Displacement, Katherine Warren

Capstones

As many parts of Brooklyn buzz with a startling rate of economic resurgence, Brownsville seems like a neighborhood left behind.

Struggling with poverty, poor health statistics, unemployment and high crime rates, and with the highest concentration of public housing in the city, it has not seen the same commercial and real estate revival as Williamsburg, Bushwick, Crown Heights and other areas of Brooklyn.

“In Brownsville, which has had challenges battling negative perceptions of this community, most of the residents are lower income and investors in the past have deemed this community as not being as good as an investment as …

Utah's Black Hole Of Tax Incentives, William Mathis, Claire Molloy, Kevin Breuninger

Capstones

In Utah, a state job-creation program gives out millions of dollars a year to private companies. Over the course of a semester, our team looked through hundreds of pages of court documents, EPA violations and workplace safety violations to uncover what kinds of companies the Utah state government pays to expand there. We also analyzed employment data to show, for the first time, which companies create the jobs they are supposed to and which do not.

http://mcgillmathis.com/projects/capstone/index.html

Kushner Companies Questionable Business Practices Are Another Dent For The Trump Administration, Teddy Grant

Capstones

While investigators from special prosecutor Robert Mueller zero in on Jared Kushner's role in the alleged collusion between the Russian government and the Trump campaign, the real estate company of President Trump's son-in-law is mired in increasingly serious financial and legal problems which could upend the business.

https://medium.com/@teddygrant/kushner-companies-questionable-business-practices-are-another-dent-for-the-trump-administration-6e0ac0d6320e

Palm Papers, Nicole Rothwell

Capstones

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) came into possession of a secret dataset of property owners of the Palm Islands, the elite high-end artificial islands on the coast of Dubai.

With over 250 neighborhoods on Dubai’s waterfront, a group of journalists around the world has been investigating who these individuals are that can afford the posh and pricey real estate. While most fall into the uber-rich category, some also have corrupt to criminal backgrounds leading to questions such as if the Palm Islands are truly a real-estate paradise, or instead a refuge for the corrupt.

The task for …

Breadcrumbs: Privacy As A Privilege, Prachi Bhardwaj

Capstones

Breadcrumbs: Privacy as a Privilege Abstract

By: Prachi Bhardwaj

In 2017, the world saw more data breaches than in any year prior. The count was more than the all-time high record in 2016, which was 40 percent more than the year before that.

That’s because consumer data is incredibly valuable today. In the last three decades, data storage has gone from being stored physically to being stored almost entirely digitally, which means consumer data is more accessible and applicable to business strategies. As a result, companies are gathering data in ways previously unknown to the average consumer, and hackers are …

Personal Privacy And Data Security In The Age Of The Internet, Alexandra Langone

Capstones

This project highlights the vulnerability of personal privacy in the age of the internet and the lack of control consumers have over their own data online. As sharing sensitive personal information with entities like social networks and major corporations becomes more and more commonplace for ordinary people, consumers are slowly waking up to the fact that they are often inadvertently giving up control over their personal information. The articles in this portfolio tackle different aspects of the dangers of online privacy, touching on the lack of regulation in the U.S. to protect consumers from companies that do not do enough …

Running Out Of Options: The Threat Of Declining Competition, Tanvi P. Acharya

Capstones

As industries are becoming increasingly consolidated in the past few decades, Running Out of Options examines how this is causing concerns about declining completion and how it can be harmful for the American people if this trend continues.

http://coveringcompanies.journalism.cuny.edu/2017/06/13/running-out-of-options-the-threat-of-declining-competition/

Do Rio, Barbara Brasil Marcolini

Capstones

Do Rio is a solutions journalism platform for residents of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It consists of a website and Facebook page where Rio de Janeiro’s citizens find inspiring stories of people who found solutions for their city’s problems, exchange ideas about the the challenges Rio faces and take part in events with positive impact. This project was created by Barbara Marcolini at the Tow-Knight Center for Entrepreneurial Journalism as part of her Master’s in Entrepreneurial Journalism at CUNY J-School.

Link: http://do-rio.com/