Digital Commons Network^™

For An Afghan Minority Us Involvement Has Been A Blessing And A Curse, Sharif Hassan

Capstones

My capstone is about, Hazaras, an ethnic and religious minority long persecuted in Afghanistan. But after the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, they made remarkable progress in education, politics, economics, art and culture. That success did not go unnoticed by militant groups. Hazaras are increasingly becoming the target of deadly attacks. Over 350 of them have been killed and more than 750 wounded in at least 13 targeted bombings since June 2016. And these attacks forcing Hazaras to flee the country to Europe. They were massacred and forced from their lands throughout the 19 and 20^th centuries in religious and …

Sanctuary, Sumeja Tulic

Capstones

The Sanctuary is a multimedia project documenting the stories of different members of the New Sanctuary Coalition in NYC -- an network of interfaith congregations, organizations, people fighting against the detention and deportation of undocumented immigrants.

The projects include a short documentary film, a book of recipes, and an audio documentary.

From Tenement To Trendy, John Friia

Capstones

Hell's Kitchen is located on the West Side of Manhattan. It is bounded by 34th and 59th streets between Eighth Avenue and the Hudson River. The now affluent neighborhood was once home to tenements, murderous gangs and speakeasies. Luxury apartment complexes and high-end restaurants are reshaping the identity of the once working-class neighborhood.

www.tenementtotrendy.squarespace.com

Unseen Science: Modern Discoveries Too Far Away Or Tiny For Human Eyes, Lucy Huang

Capstones

As science has progressed, scientists have realized that evidence goes beyond the realms of physical sight. Whether it is too small or difficult to find, scientists have developed different ways to get around this problem. We see this in cancer genomics and in extrasolar planetary research. Scientists use what they know and what they measure to validate their work.

https://lucy-huang-9tge.squarespace.com/

Nature, The New Rx, Christina Dabney

Capstones

In 2010, Candice Opperman's job made her sick. The weight of working full-time while going to grad school began to create so much stress and anxiety that she felt like she was being "held down by a lead vest."

In 2013, after three years at Merrill Lynch, Opperman’s doctors diagnosed her with burnout and insisted she go on disability. Thats when she started using nature in her recovery.

Opperman turned to green spaces instinctively, but doctors are increasingly prescribing nature as therapy. Experimental data suggest that parks and open spaces can help heal the human brain, especially from disorders involving …

In Liberia: A Silent Health Care Catastrophe Replaces A Viral One, Clarissa Sosin

Capstones

Underfunded and understaffed, the structural issues within the Liberian healthcare system were first exposed during the 2014 Ebola Epidemic when the system collapsed under the pressure. Its failure to respond effectively resulted in the deaths of nearly 5,000 people, the highest fatality rate out of the three countries most affected by the epidemic. Years later, despite efforts to rebuild and strengthen the system, many of the issues still remain.

http://www.clarissasosin.com/liberianhealthcare

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.

On Vinyl: Revival & Survival, Thom Leavy

Capstones

As a record collector and journalist, I take stock of what they mean to me while searching to better understand the “Vinyl Revival” of the past decade. I meet and pick at people who’ve worked with the medium at its height, its demise, and today. We talk about what digitization has done and will do to music, and what vinyl means to them.

https://readymag.com/u29439050/onvinyl/

Tattoo For Life And Afterlife, Kimberly Chin

Capstones

Man has searched for ways to live forever from time immemorial. But a curious group of tattoo enthusiasts developed a way to preserve one’s tattoo skin (at the least) post-mortem. Here’s a cultural exploration of a small albeit growing trend in which people’s perception of tattoos, burial rites and how to commemorate loved ones is examined and re-examined.

https://kimberlychin.atavist.com/tattoo-skin-preservation-capstone

Fighting For Justice, Anuz Thapa

Capstones

“Fighting for Justice”

Anuz Thapa

This feature documentary focuses on how the criminal justice system is reluctant to charge people with a ‘hate crime.’

Imam Maulana Akonjee and his assistant, Thara Uddin were shot last year in broad daylight in Queens. Fighting for justice follows the Akonjee family, focusing on their son Saif. Since losing his father, Saif has been thrust into a new role, as head of household to this devastated family. Deferring his dreams for a career — Saif is responsible for taking care of his mother, siblings and their children.

The film follows the Akonjees as they …

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

Expecting The Inevitable: Daca And Mental Health, Jade Gardener

Capstones

On September 5, 2017, Attorney General, Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump Administration was ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Better known as DACA, the passed into action in 2012 by the administration of former President Obama, was heralded for providing young undocumented adults the ability to do things such as legally work and attend college.

The repeal of DACA is just beginning to affect the mental health of recipients. Researchers contend that the repeal of the DACA is a violent act that thus results in the psychological distress. Citing research published in American Association for the Advancement …

Is Issa Amro The Palestinian Gandhi?, Micah Danney

Capstones

Issa Amro is a Palestinian activist who practices nonviolent resistance to Israeli occupation. His work has risen him to international prominence, and drawn the ire of the authorities he criticizes. He preaches peaceful action but stands accused of incitement and troublemaking.

https://micahcdanney.atavist.com/is-issa-amro-the-palestinian-gandhi

Left Out In The Cold, Kayla Rivera

Capstones

Left Out In The Cold is a film about two mothers on the hunt to find justice after their sons were brutally murdered. Both cases are based in the Bronx, remain unsolved, and have been classified as “cold cases,” meaning they no longer have any leads.

For over three months I followed Yamilet Gambaro and Glenda Soto. They do not know each other but these women share the same pain.

Yamilet’s 17-year-old son Joshua Baez was stabbed in the heart on his way home on April 7, 2012. In October of the same year, she moved to Florida to get …

Of Rats And Men, Thomas S. Walsh

Capstones

This capstone is a data-driven investigation into New York City's rat problem. By using publicly available government data to map rat activity in NYC, I identified several socio-economic variables that correlate with rat populations at the community district, borough, and city-scale. I used these findings (mainly that rat problems are linked to lower incomes) as the basis of an investigation, which includes interviews with residents, experts, and city officials. Prof. Bobby Corrigan, urban rodentologist and formerly with the NYC Department of Health criticizes the city's efforts for the first time on the record.

https://thomasseiyawalsh.wixsite.com/ratstone

A Little Known Trade Deal Could Soon Derail America's Booming Solar Industry, Sam Donnenberg

Capstones

A trade deal has been winding its way through hearings at the International Trade Commission for months that could have major consequences for America's solar energy industry. Two solar energy companies are requesting that tariffs be applied to Chinese solar product imports. But industry analysts say this will cause the price of solar to rise and harm the industry during a period of unprecedented growth. The petition has only one stop left on its way to approval: The desk of President Trump.

https://www.alanapipe.com/sam-donnenberg/sam-donnenberg-index.html

Username: sam-donnenberg

Password: capstone

Hair Is The Root Of A Revolution: How Black Women Are Embracing Their Identity With Hair, Shanel Dawson

Capstones

For years, black women have been demeaned for their features; their noses, complexions and hair. Straight hair and wavy hair have been considered “good hair.” And for centuries these ideas have been perpetuated by images in the media, cultural messages and even policies in schools and professional settings.

Today black women, nationwide, are rejecting straightening chemicals and embracing their natural hair as a point of pride. I spoke with several black women who are attempting to distance themselves from these negative narratives by honoring their roots.

For black women in America, hair has been the easiest way to connect on …

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/ ‎

Hazmat Storage Near Nyc Waterways Endangers Communities, Brett E. Dahlberg, Nicole Acevedo

Capstones

New York City has 520 miles of shoreline--that’s more than Miami and Los Angeles combined. These waterfronts are home to some of the city’s most polluted sites because major part of it is zoned for industrial use. Dozens of industrial plants in this area store toxic chemicals in flood zones: substances that are hazardous to our health, like Benzene, which is used in rocket fuel, toluene, a paint thinner, and lead a neurotoxin. In a flood, these chemicals can easily get caught up in moving waters and pollute entire neighborhoods.

That’s exactly what happened when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012. …

How The “Greatest Rapper Alive” Returned Hip Hop To Its Political Roots, Meeran Karim

Capstones

Rapper Kendrick Lamar’s powerful documentation of his own personal struggles and that of a country overcome with racial strife have revitalized the genre of hip hop music. More than just the “greatest rapper alive,” Lamar is also one of the most important storytellers in America today.

Capstone Link:

https://medium.com/@meeran.karim/kendrick-lamar-hiphop-political-roots-19e3f5e48385

Inside The Grassroots Money Machine, Elizabeth Tung

Capstones

In the year since Donald Trump’s election, grassroots canvassing groups have generated millions of dollars for nonprofits like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. These groups’ growing profile correlates with a post-election spike in liberal giving, and the rise of face-to-face fundraising in the US. But despite their progressive affiliations, several groups have come under fire for abusive labor practices and a lack of financial transparency. This piece looks at two of the biggest players in the canvassing industry, the Fund for the Public Interest and Grassroots Campaigns. Both groups are headed by the same person - a man named Doug …

Lost Wisdom Of The Elders, Miamichelle Abad

Capstones

This capstone project explores the gap of Intergenerational communication and why people should connect and interact with the older people in their lives. Social science experts say that the gap is caused by negative stereotypes of older people that younger people have.

Older people possess knowledge gained through experience—things that can’t be learned from a textbook. Parents, uncles and aunts and other older relatives can pass down life lessons, skills, and stories—from a secret family recipe for fried chicken to how to change a tire or save for retirement.

This knowledge can provide benefits that go beyond the practical, shaping …

Prodigal Father, Robert John Exley Jr

Capstones

Prodigal Father tells the story of one man’s journey from teenage drug addiction to joining one of the most violent white supremacist gangs in the country and now, nearly 20 years after turning his life around, he is dealing with the aftermath of a lifetime of bad decisions.

Bobby Exley, a former Nazi Low, spent most of his adult life in prison or on parole battling a 20-year heroin addiction. His wife, Rhonda, stuck by his side throughout his many incarcerations while raising their eight children. The Prodigal Father, told through the eyes of namesake son, filmmaker, Robert Exley Jr., …

Is The Free Tibet Movement A Lost Cause?, Tsering D. Gurung

Capstones

China's growing economic influence, internecine rivalries, and over-reliance on the West have hurt the decades-old Tibetan independence movement.

tseringgurung.atavist.com/freetibetmovement

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/

Detrás De La Industria De Heroína Del Bronx, La Sede Central Del Tráfico En El Noreste, Monica Cordero, Constanza Gallardo, Maria Camila Montañez, Joaquín Torres

Capstones

El proyecto muestra cómo la heroína llega de México al Bronx a través de los casos judiciales de los personajes que componen la cadena de distribución de la droga.

https://monicacorderosancho.github.io

A Guatemalan Trans Woman Navigates New York City In Hopes Of A Better Future, Manolo Morales

Capstones

Jamileeth, 25, is a trans woman from Guatemala. She's been in New York City for about 3 months. Before coming to NYC, she spent 26 days in a detention center in Cibola, New Mexico. Today she is navigating her way in the Big Apple to seek asylum.

Link to capstone: https://medium.com/@manolo.morales/a-guatemalan-tans-woman-navigates-new-york-city-in-hopes-of-a-better-life-bdfc5796f9d4

A Tale Of Two Seasons, Fran Kilinski

Capstones

A story of The City College of New York's rise and fall in the CUNY basketball circuit, and how an athletic department and administrative issues disrupted the flow of what could've been a winning tradition. http://thecityschildren.tilda.ws/

Control Freak: How An Injured Esports Athlete Got Back Into The Game, Imad Khan

Capstones

This capstone profiles Aziz "Hax" Al-Yami, a professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. Melee is a video game and Al-Yami is an esports competitor, i.e. a professional gamer. In this world, gamers compete as athletes, pushing their skills to their absolute limit to become the best in the world. Al-Yami, at 21, suffered from a wrist injury. This injury put him out of the game for over a year. His injury was so bad that doctor's told him that he could never compete again. But through his own research, Al-Yami surmised that if he were to get his FCU tendon …

Probing Consciousness, Samia Bouzid

Capstones

For centuries, the study of consciousness remained the purview of philosophers, spiritualists and religious leaders. But in the 1980s, the co-discoverer of the double-helix, James Crick, initiated a quest for a scientific explanation for consciousness — in a secret club. In the decades that followed, consciousness gained ground as a respectable area of scientific study, in fields such as neuroscience, artificial intelligence and physics. Yet, the more scientists learn about consciousness, the more it calls into question our fundamental assumptions about the way the world works. https://samiabouzid.atavist.com/probing-consciousness