Digital Commons Network^™

Bike-Geist Nyc, Jack D'Isidoro

Capstones

More people ride bicycles in New York City than ever before, and that number continues to grow. At the turn of the 20th century, this city was the epicenter of a cultural obsession with bicycles, and is on the verge of a second renaissance with these simple machines. This project highlights different iterations of bicycle culture within modern New York City, and the socioeconomic, interpersonal, and self-expressive stories it produces.

Lives On Hold And Dreams Delayed, Andrew Menezes

Capstones

Increased demand for high-skilled foreign labor in recent years has led to an upsurge in applications for employment-based U.S. green cards. But the limits on the number of green cards given out each year have not changed in over two decades. This has caused a backlog in the legal immigration system leaving many immigrant workers from populous countries like India waiting many years to become permanent U.S. residents. Their legal status is entirely dependent on their jobs - they are often unable to accept promotions or switch employers easily in the interim. Any change in employment status could jeopardize their …

Unsettling: The Flawed Us Refugee System, Kanyakrit Vongkiatkajorn

Capstones

The US has had a long commitment to resettling refugees, and currently funds one of the largest third-country resettlement programs through UNHCR in the world. However, an examination of US's refugee resettlement program shows that the program often does not live up to its promises, and has long ignored systemic issues. This report takes a specific look at the experience of newly-resettled Syrian refugees, and includes memos by the author that was submitted for a larger group project.

The War At Home, Joseph A. Altobelli Mr.

Capstones

This site was made to show how the cuts to and politics behind the Veterans Affairs Hospital in New York affects the veterans it is set up to care for.

White Faces In A Black Movement: Why Their Voices Matter, Chauncey L. Alcorn

Capstones

This story follows the lives of two white activists in New York's Black Lives Matter movement. It examines the largely ignored impact white activists have had on the BLM movement and also explores the history of white activists in the abolitionist and Civil Rights movements. The climax details a highly-publicized spat between rival Black Lives Matter organizations that happened during a Dec. 4 protest to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Officer Daniel Pantaleo's non-indictment in Garner's death. My main character, a white male, was blamed for causing the rift and was asked to step down from his leadership position in …

'Hope For Every Addicted American' An Opioid Epidemic In The Age Of Ethopolitics: Implications For U.S. Drug Policy And Governing Problematic Subjects, Elizabeth Newcomer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The United States is in the midst of an unprecedented drug epidemic instigated by overprescribed pain relievers and cheap, accessible heroin. Beyond its immense scope, what makes this opioid epidemic distinctive is a widespread awareness of its effects among privileged populations and a political consensus that it cannot be effectively addressed with existing, punitive drug policies. Building upon analyses of the drug addict identity and policy change as well as critical addiction studies, I critically examine the discourses of the opioid epidemic, considering their impact on U.S. drug policy since 2000 and analyzing the implications of these changes for governing …

View From The Front Gate: A Comparative Study Of Nyc Schools From A College Admissions Perspective, Sharon Hardy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study evaluated patterns of college applications from NYC Schools to CUNY. Specifically, a cohort of former large high schools that were reorganized into small schools of choice (SSCs) under the City's Children First education plan were studied. Coupled with the assessments of college admissions directors, the study concluded that despite an increase in applications, the outcomes of student academic quality and college preparation from a college admissions perspective were mixed.

Law Enforcement Innovation And Diffusion: A Network Analysis Of Police Accreditation, Jeremiah Paul Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study seeks to identify network structures capable of predicting innovation uptake among law enforcement organizations. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, diffusion is studied through the lens of a single innovation, state law enforcement accreditation. Quantitative data culled from a variety of social artifacts in two New England states are used as a basis for the study. Relational data extracted from meetings held by a private police chief's association over an 11 year period were used to construct an affiliation matrix. Social network analysis demonstrates that actors with high levels of centrality are more likely to self-select state accreditation enrollment than …

Investigation Of The Effects Of Graphic Cigarette Warning Labels On Youth And Adult Smoking Behavior In Southeast Asia, Jessica Brooke Steier

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The objective of this dissertation was to investigate the impact of graphic cigarette warning label policies enacted in Thailand and Malaysia on youth and adult smoking outcomes. We sought to examine the effect of the policy on youth smoking intention, susceptibility, and behaviors. Among adults, who were all baseline smokers, we sought to examine the effects of graphic warning labels on smoking intensity, quit attempts, and cessation. Secondary data were utilized from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) South East Asia (SEA) Survey, a nationally representative cohort survey for which eight years of data spanning from 2005 to 2012 were available. …

Imagining What Could Be: The Role Of Youth Leadership In Realizing College For All, Tara Bahl

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In New York City, there exists an uneven landscape of college guidance among high schools, creating a college "guidance gap". While some schools offer robust counseling that helps students contextualize college admissions information toward making relevant college decisions, other schools have elevated student-to-counselor rates and do not have access to other educational resources necessary to effectively support students. Using ethnographic research and survey data, anchored by dynamic narrative inquiry, this dissertation explores how young people enrolled in under-resourced schools can act as agents of change in the lives of their peers within the context of college planning. Youth Leadership for …

Getting Out Of The Ghetto: Harm Reduction, Drug User Health, And The Transformation Of Social Policy In New York, Rachel Faulkner-Gurstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a qualitative study of the emergence and evolution of harm reduction drug policies in New York City. It examines harm reduction as a case of the institutionalization of a public health policy movement. Harm reduction seeks to treat the medical and social consequences of drug use without requiring abstinence. The dissertation examines the process by which harm reduction has managed, in the words of one informant, to 'get out of the ghetto' and become increasingly integrated into New York's public health establishment. Harm reduction has undergone three stages of institutionalization. It began as an activist policy movement. …

Understanding Failure: Social Workers Reflect On Their Licensing Examination Experience, Scott Graybow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Passing the social work licensing examination is a critical part of the professional development of contemporary social workers. However, the literature has consisted largely of debates over the ethical and theoretical merits of professional licensing that fail to shed light on the lived experiences of social workers sitting for the examination. This dissertation study sought to gather and analyze data about the manner in which social workers experience licensing examination failure. A series of semi-structured, narrative interviews captured the nuance, complexity and uniqueness of this experience. The study had three major objectives that gave it direction. First, the study sought …

The Ecology Of School Readiness, Miriam Beth Tager

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative study applies a critical and constructivist grounded theory approach (Charmez, 2014) to a narrative inquiry of how White middle-class early childhood educators perceive or make assumptions when identifying school readiness in low-income Black children. The data collection included an online districtwide survey of kindergarten and first-grade teachers (n=24), interviews of five teacher participants, observations of five identified non-school ready low-income Black children and two focus groups (participating and interpretative). The findings revealed an ecology of school readiness, in which teachers felt that the increase in standards impacted their quick identifications of non-school ready children. These participants claim …

Protecting The Stranger: The Origins Of Us Immigration Regulation In Nineteenth-Century New York, Brendan P. O'Malley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

From 1847 to 1890, a state authority--not a federal one--oversaw the entry of most immigrants arriving in the United States. The New York State Board of the Commissioners of Emigration supervised the landing of over eight million newcomers in nation's busiest entry point, the Port of New York, during the second half of the nineteenth century. Most were processed at the Board's Castle Garden Emigrant Depot in Battery Park, which opened in 1855. This study demonstrates why and how New York State developed a complex regulatory regime well before the federalization of immigration authority in 1882.

The establishment of this …

The Archdiocese Of New York: Transition From Urban Powerhouse To Suburban Institution, 1950-2000 A Case Study, Henry A. Sheinkopf

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

From 1850-1950, the New York Archdiocese welcomed newly arriving Irish and Italian Catholics and forged a political block that influenced local, state and national politics with political leverage sufficient to influence the city's commercial sectors. This mobilization transformed the once penniless and discriminated-against Irish, and later Italians, by enabling the Archdiocese of New York, through the power of the vote, to promote its religious interests as its adherents rose to positions of political and economic power. The Archdiocese of New York became the owner of vast real estate, a provider of social and educational services, and an arbiter of morality …

Super Fun Superfund: Polluted Protection Along The Gowanus Canal, Jessica Ty Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research reflects on the patterns of uneven development occurring in the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, social and physical changes taking place there, and how these elements of the canal relate to the changing purpose of urban waterways. Gowanus has mimicked the development of New York City since the 1600's through several phases: city settlement and development, abandonment, and redevelopment. The redevelopment phase in Gowanus couples environmental clean up with gentrification and displacement. Using an urban political ecology framework, this research attempts to answer the following questions: Why, after many years of pollution, is the area being cleaned up? Will …

An Exploratory Study Of The Role Of Cooperating Teachers In Preparing Teacher Candidates For Academic Success With Students Of Color In High-Need Schools, Audra Michelle Watson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates the teaching practices, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations, cooperating teachers hold and model for teacher candidates preparing to work in high-need schools with significant populations of students of color. Using a culturally relevant and critical race theory lens, I argue that the clinical placements in which many teacher candidates are placed provide limited opportunities for them to see and engage in the full spectrum of culturally relevant pedagogical practices.

The data for this study were captured from participants in a nationally-administered, state-based teacher preparation program through surveys, interviews, and observations over a period of four months. Using a …

The Ones Left Behind: Making The Connection Between Poverty And The Achievement Gap, Audrey Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The achievement gap has been a major issue plaguing the education system in the United States for decades. There has been much research conducted with the goal of identifying the reasons for the achievement gap. One of the main reasons for the achievement gap is poverty. In fact, I argue that there is a direct correlation between academic achievement and poverty, in other words school and society are inextricably connected. The focus of this paper will be the elementary school level as there is an abundance of information on elementary schools in New York City. To further demonstrate the fact …

The Relationship Between Social-Emotional Development, Academic Achievement And Parenting Practices In Young Children Who Attend Head Start, Emily A. A. Dow

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

During the preschool years, children develop social-emotional skills -- such as cooperation and self-regulation -- which predict later academic achievement. Research shows that parents play an important role in the development of these skills. However, it remains unclear how specific parenting practices may facilitate the relationship between social-emotional development and academic success. Often, children who grow up in low-income families are at risk for a variety of cognitive and emotional problems. Head Start is a federal program offered to low-income families that provides services, including early childhood education programs, to help offset these risks. Using Bronfenbrenner's bioecological theory, the purpose …

College Graduation Rates Of Hispanic Students: A Review Of The Literature, Jessica Hall

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This literature review examines what factors cause Hispanic college students to drop out before completing their bachelor's degrees. Factors include the type of college attended, financial aid, attending college part-time, enrolling in college later in life, stopping-out, taking a gap year, parents' educational levels, whether students are native- or foreign-born, high school academics, SAT and standardized test scores, college academics, the peer group, multiple disadvantages can compound for Hispanic students, sense of belonging on campus, stereotype threat, and a mentoring program. Recommendations are made for how non-college-educated Hispanic parents can be better informed about the college application process, what student …

Undocumented Youth Living Between The Lines: Urban Governance, Social Policy, And The Boundaries Of Legality In New York City And Paris, Stephen P. Ruszczyk

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation compares the transition to adulthood of undocumented youth in New York and Paris, along with analysis of the construction of illegality in each city. In both the United States and France, national restrictions against undocumented immigrants increasingly take the form of deportations and limiting access to social rights. New York City and Paris, however, mitigate the national restrictions in important but different ways. They construct "illegality" differently, leading to different young adult outcomes and lived experiences of "illegality." This project uses seven years of multi-site ethnographic data to trace the effects of these mitigated "illegalities" on two dozen …

Target Zero: Why States Choose To Eradicate Infectious Diseases And How They Succeed, Gifty Abraham

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Realism has remained the dominant paradigm within international relations for most of the modern era, emphasizing the competitive nature of the international arena and the unlikeliness of states to within it to cooperate. The attempts and further still, successes, by states to eradicate infectious diseases--which remain among the most cooperative enterprises--present a number of challenges to realism's assumptions, particularly with respect to the unlikely world historical-times during which the eradication campaigns took place. As such, a two-part puzzle arises. First, why would states, which are natural competitors, cooperate to eradicate infectious diseases given structural and situational incentives not to do …

Inmate-, Incident-, And Facility-Level Factors Associated With Escapes From Custody And Violent Outcomes, Bryce E. Peterson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Introduction: Preventing escapes from custody is a critical function of prisons, jails, and the individuals who run these correctional facilities. Escapes are a popular topic in the news, among lawmakers, and in public discourse. Much of this interest stems from the widespread notion that escapees pose a serious threat to public safety, as well to the safety of correctional staff and law enforcement officers tasked with preventing and apprehending them. However, despite the importance of preventing escapes and minimizing violence, there has been very little empirical research on these issues in the past several decades. Extant research has also been …

The People Behind The Presidential Bully Pulpit, Kara Susan Alaimo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

"The People Behind the Presidential Bully Pulpit" argues that civil servants best serve the interests of both the President of the United States and the American people as public affairs officers in the Department of the Treasury. Using interviews conducted with political appointees who served as Treasury spokespeople during the administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, civil servants who served in public affairs for the Treasury, and Treasury reporters who interacted frequently with the government officials, the study finds that civil servants better advance the goals of the President in the press than the political appointees personally …

Consuming Poverty: The Unexpected Politics Of Food Aid In An Era Of Austerity, Maggie Dickinson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation tracks the remarkable growth of food assistance in the U.S. over the past fifteen years and asks what this expansion of food aid means for poor people living in New York City. Much of the scholarly literature on welfare policy in the U.S argues that social programs have become more stingy and punitive, particularly since the passage of welfare reform in 1996. On the surface, this does not seem to be the case for the food stamp program or for emergency food providers like soup kitchens and food pantries. Since 2001 food stamp rolls have risen 120% in …

What's "Black" Got To Do With It: An Analysis Of Low-Income Black Students And Educational Outcomes, Derrick E. Griffith

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Well-known social scientist William Wilson notes the Black underclass is particularly at risk of developing behaviors and attitudes that promote educational and social isolation. This situation has become characteristic of America's inner cities (Wilson 1996). Education as the great arbiter of social mobility seems to be less true for America's most vulnerable Black students. Low-income Black students graduate high school at a much lower rate than their middle- to upper-income counterparts. This statistic prompts the examination of low-income (vulnerable) students and their high school educational outcomes.

The educational (under)achievement of Black students has been well documented and researched. Far too …

Children First Reforms, Fair Student Funding And The Displacement Of Accountability In The New York City Department Of Education, Daniel Voloch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

During the first decade of the 21st century, Chancellor Joel Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg oversaw a radical transformation of the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) into a portfolio management district in which the primary responsibility of the NYCDOE was not to develop the capacity of school leaders or teachers, but instead to create a marketplace through which strong schools could be created and failing schools could be closed. Central to these reforms was a focus on the individual school as the site of both reform and accountability. In a 2006 interview with William Ouchi (2009), Joel Klein …

International Branch Campuses, Ninive Gomez

Dissertations and Theses

In this thesis, I studied the socio-economic, cultural, and political impact of International Branch Campuses in developing countries. I focused on the financial implications for the host country and examine whether international education providers are helping to enhance students’ core competency levels. I have investigated the advantages and disadvantages of international education providers in developing countries and what contribution they provide to the development of the host country’s economy. I conducted three case studies (Malaysia, United Arab Emirate and South Africa), which provided empirical understanding of all aspects of International Branch Campuses; including why and how host governments are financing/subsidizing …