Digital Commons Network^™

The Ticker, September 11, 2017

The Ticker

The Ticker is the student newspaper of Baruch College. It has been published continuously since 1932, when the Baruch College campus was the School of Business and Civic Administration of the City College of New York.

The Ticker, September 5, 2017

The Ticker

The Ticker is the student newspaper of Baruch College. It has been published continuously since 1932, when the Baruch College campus was the School of Business and Civic Administration of the City College of New York.

Desisting In Prison: Myth And The Council For Unity Model, Kevin Moran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a qualitative examination of aspects of the desistance process among incarcerated men in both prison and jail. Data collection for this project occurred in and around the correctional version of the Council For Unity program, which is also examined in this write up. The premise of this project is that a minority of men do desist whilst incarcerated and thus the research presented here analyzes how prisoners act towards their attempts to desist from crime in terms of the meaning this process has for them, their interaction with others during this process, and the interpretative progression by …

Reflections On The Implementation Of Improved Outcomes For Children And Its Impact On The Capacity Of Child Welfare Workers To Deliver Services, Rita Sanchez-Torres

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The emergence of the New Public Management with its emphasis on performance measurements and managerial strategies such as accountability, efficiency, and cost effectiveness have encouraged nonprofit child welfare agencies in New York City to pursue the practice of the private sector. In the current environment, service delivery has become more entrepreneurial, strategic and outcome minded on the assumption that the market-oriented approach is more effective (Watson-Bishop, 2007). This study examines the relationship between policy and service delivery. Specifically, it investigates the impact of the initiative known as Improved Outcomes for Children on child welfare supervisors in a managerial environment.

The …

Genealogy Of The Concept Of "Hate Crime": The Cultural Implications Of Legal Innovation And Social Change, Roslyn Myers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The term "hate crime" is new to legislative and public discourse, as well as legal and social science scholarship. A decade after the concept of a "hate crime" was introduced in Congress, the 2009 Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA), to punish criminal actors who target victims because of their characteristics (race, color ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, gender, gender identity, or disability). Using relevant archival sources, this project uses genealogical qualitative methods to examine the interplay of cultural elements manifested in this provocative term, which reflect dominance and subjugation among social groups (In- and Out-Groups) …

Underrepresentation Of Women In Politics: Focus On New York City, Yuliya Szczepanski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines how the factors that account for underrepresentation of women in American politics play out in New York City. Although women comprise more than a half of the country’s population, and more women than men are registered and turn out to vote, the United States is below average in terms of percentage of women politicians as compared to other countries, and keeps dropping in those ratings. Further, New York City, arguably one of the most diverse and liberal cities in the U.S., has never elected a female mayor, and, in 2017, only about a quarter of the city …

Are Dhs Technology Grants For Local Police Departments An Effective Tool Against Terrorism?, Erika Mcginty

Student Theses

This paper examines the effectiveness of allocating funds to the nation’s police departments for the prevention of domestic terrorism, as is done annually through the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Grants Program. The program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Administration, has distributed billions of dollars since its 2003 inception in equipment, software, and technology services based on the recipient police agencies’ own risk assessments of local terrorism. Much of the technology desired by police consists of systems of mass surveillance; this thesis focuses on implementations of surveillance video cameras or CCTV, license plate readers, and unmanned aerial vehicles. …

Tenure Carries Both Privileges And Responsibilities, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Politicians and many in the general public ask, “Why do university faculty need tenure?” One could give many reasons based on history or philosophy. But sometimes examples prove the most powerful explanations.

Two weeks ago, on July 18, one of the world’s academic heroes passed away. His name is not familiar to most, but thanks to his work we live in a healthier world. His name was Herbert Needleman. Born on Dec. 13, 1927, in Philadelphia, he came from a Jewish family of modest means. His father sold furniture, and his mother, whose family owned a pickle business, ran the …

College Enrollments Continue National Decline., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

If there is a statistic that all college administrators look at every year it is enrollments, the bread and butter of higher education for multiple reasons. First, all private colleges – and increasingly public ones – depend upon students enrolling in order to main- tain the financial flow to their institutions. Second, many public institutions have their state budget tied to the number of students they enroll. Third, the attractiveness of an institution of higher education is partly based on its enrollment success. No wonder everybody looks at those numbers every year with apprehension.

Enrollment numbers for the spring semester …

For Social Justice, We Need To Look In The Mirror., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the most contentious issues in politics in general – and in higher education in particular – is political correctness.

Usually defined as the avoidance of language or actions that are seen as excluding, marginalizing, or insulting groups of people that have been dis- criminated against because of their gender, race, or other identifying factors.

The term is now oftentimes used in a pejorative sense, particularly in conservative circles.

Procedural Justice For Youth: Discrepancies In The Provision Of Defense Counsel For Youth In The Juvenile Justice System, Emily K. Pelletier

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Youth in the juvenile justice system experience racially disparate outcomes at all contact points throughout the system process, despite race-neutral state policies governing the juvenile justice system. States provide defense counsel for indigent youth in the juvenile justice system through policies containing race-neutral language; however, each state maintains different policies protecting youth rights to defense counsel. This study questions the relationships among state policies protecting youth rights to defense counsel, racially disparate outcomes for youth in the juvenile justice system, and state socioeconomic and racial composition. The study relies on content analysis to transform qualitative state policies into quantitative data …

Youth Activists In Kashmir: State Violence, Tehreek, And The Formation Of Political Subjectivity, Mohamad Junaid

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is an ethnographic and historical study of youth activism in a space of geopolitical conflict. It examines ways in which young activists in Indian-administered Kashmir, caught in chronic conditions of state violence and traversed by transnational discourses of identity, experience precarity while desperately seeking to constitute themselves as political subjects through their involvement in Tehreek, or the movement for independence. Toward a theory of political subjectivity as a process of autopoiesis, understood both as a historically contingent yet critical form of reflexivity and as practices of protest, and precarity as a condition marked by persistent vulnerability to state …

Characterizing The Impacts Of Contaminants On Fish Embryogenesis And Revealing An Alternate Molecular Mechanism Of Ahr Mediated Cardiac Defects, Corinna Singleman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a long history of damage to natural ecosystems from environmental pollution. Many environmental contaminants are man-made and have been released with abandon over the last 100 years including dioxins, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These chemicals act on similar cellular processes and cause skin lesions, cancer, learning disabilities and reproductive problems in many vertebrates. There are many studies exploring various aspects of TCDD and PCB exposure on model and wild organisms. Few studies however, have compared effects of PCB mixtures on ecosystems to effects of individual PCBs in the lab. The first aim of this thesis is …

Inmate Death In Private And Public Prisons, Alexis Acevedo

Student Theses

Despite the vast body of research on privatization of prisons in the United States, little is known about the relationship between these types of facilities and death in custody. The literature on privatization compares private prisons to public prisons on many factors such as recidivism and cost-benefit analyses. However, there is a gap in the literature regarding death in custody in public and private facilities. This study focuses on both individual and facility level differences in Florida and Texas to explore potential difference in death in custody between public and private prisons. The research focuses on differences in the number …

What The Proposed Federal Budget Really Means., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

The proposed 2018 budget by the Trump administration has been presented and now we have a clear picture of the list of programs related to higher education that will be either severely cut or totally eliminated.

Among the programs to be eliminated are the Public-Service Loan-Forgiveness program (which currently helps more than 550,000 students), Stafford Loans (offered to eligible students enrolled in accredited American institutions of higher education to help with their education) and the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (a federal assistance grant for college students with the greatest need for financial aid). It also includes plans to allow the …

Alternatives To Pretrial Detention:Pre Global Best Practice Catalog, Jerry Cho, Sara Cronqvist, Sara Curran, Laura Galeano, Camila Jimenez Lugo, Alexandra Lynn, Weronika Kozyra, Justyna Maksimiuk, Suchaya Mokkhasen, Kelly Ortega, Kartika Rahman, Ashley Roman

Publications and Research

This Global Best Practice Catalog of Alternatives to Pretrial Detention was completed by students of the Master of Arts Degree Program in International Crime and Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice as part of their capstone course, in collaboration with the US State Department's Diplomacy Lab program. This catalog is intended to cover best practices in reducing pretrial detention (either before it occurs or while it is occurring) across the globe, including laws, policies and programs. It does not include Oceania or very detailed information on North America. Each entry meets 5 of 8 criteria below, as decided …

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/

Colleges May Take Blame For Government Actions., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In the last few weeks a number of news events have taken place that may not have been very noticeable, but which can seriously affect higher education in a very detrimental way.

The first event was the publication of the results of a survey conducted by New America, a non-partisan think-tank based in Washington, D.C. The poll surveyed 1,600 people and found that the American public is becoming more and more ambivalent about the value of higher education. Three-quarters of the respondents agreed that it is easier to be successful with a college degree, but one-quarter said higher education is …

Tattoos And Criminal Behavior: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Body Art And Crime, Daniel D. Dajani

Student Theses

This thesis investigates the relationship between having tattoos and crime. A review of past research concerning tattoos, crime and other forms of deviancy demonstrates that a relationship exists to some extent. This thesis gathers new data concerning tattoos and crime and adds to the knowledge base by examining the alterations in the correlation and what may be causing said alterations. This thesis utilized the survey method and participants were recruited via a mix of in-person and online strategies. We aimed to garner participation from a varied group of respondents that would ensure data relevant to the study would be produced …

College Senate Minutes April 27, 2017, Bronx Community College Senate

BCC Governance Archives

Minutes for the meeting of the College Senate on April 27, 2017.

Committee On Academic Freedom Minutes April 25, 2017, Bronx Community College Committee On Academic Freedom

BCC Governance Archives

Minutes for the meeting of the Committee on Academic Freedom on April 25, 2017.

Study: Students Often Perceived Differently By Race., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

In past columns, I have reported on more than one study that shows that expectations for “brilliance” for women in higher education were much higher than that for males. For example, when a research paper is co-authored by a male and a female the assumption by many is that the male did “the real work.”

Now comes a study showing that there is a similar bias when it comes to students – only this time the differences are based on race.

Moody’S Paints Grim Picture For Higher Education., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Predicting one’s own future is an uncertain business.

But when institutions known for their prognosticating

skills predict your future, you might

want to listen. This lesson is one that America’s

institutions of higher education seem to be failing.

After looking at the budget proposal by the

Trump administration, Moody’s Investors Service

painted a grim financial future for the nation’s

colleges and universities. According to their

analysis, Trump’s budget proposal to slash federal

research funding and end financial support

for the arts and humanities would irreparably

harm institutions that rely on those government

dollars.

The Ticker, April 3, 2017

The Ticker

The Ticker is the student newspaper of Baruch College. It has been published continuously since 1932, when the Baruch College campus was the School of Business and Civic Administration of the City College of New York.

Cyber Security Risks In Public High Schools, Ion Goran

Student Theses

Today, just like other organizations, schools are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. This vulnerability has vividly revealed itself in recent years, with the number of attacks on public schools increasing and taking ever-changing forms. Today, the student’s grades, disciplinary notes, learning diagnoses, phone numbers, addresses, and another identifying information is all at risk of being exposed. Moreover, poor network security poses a dire threat to parents of school children whose personal records contain sensitive or dangerous information. The practical implications of these attacks require intervention or remedy to increase cyber security. Cyberattacks may take place when storage facilities or infected devices are …

Does Unconscious Bias Effect Higher Ed Hiring?, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

Nobody wants to be called a racist or a misogynist. Most people think that they are not. However, we are constantly making decisions that are influenced by unconscious biases.

Unconscious biases are defined as social stereo- types that are formed about certain groups of people by individuals from outside their own conscious awareness. Psychologists agree that everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and that these biases stem from one’s tenden- cy to organize social worlds by categorizing.

Young Men In Neighborhoods With Cure Violence Programs Adopt Attitudes Less Supportive Of Violence, Sheyla A. Delgado, Laila Alsabahi, Jeffrey A. Butts

Publications and Research

New York City neighborhoods with operating Cure Violence sites show stronger declines in less violence-prone attitudes. This databit displays data collected by the NYCCure study at JohnJayREC. It demonstrates that the presence of Cure Violence in a neighborhood is associated with significant reductions in the willingness of young men to use violence in conflict situations.

Teaching Must Become Engaging To Be Effective., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

We live in a time of intense scrutiny as to the

effectiveness of instruction in higher education.

Questions are being asked of college and university

administrators about the retention and graduation

rates of their students. In fact, some states have tied

funding of public institutions to this data. Others

are asking how well we are teaching students to get

that well-paid job after graduation.

It is interesting that the fundamental question

of how well we are teaching our students is rarely

answered. One reason for this hesitation is that we

are still struggling with just how to measure teaching

effectiveness …

Nourishing Nycha: Food Policy As A Tool For Improving The Well-Being Of New York City’S Public Housing Residents, Nevin Cohen, Nicholas Freudenberg, Craig Willingham

Publications and Research

This policy brief examines food environments in New York City public housing. It looks at the food public housing residents buy, prepare and eat and the role food plays in the health, environment and economy of the city’s NYCHA population. Our goal is to contribute new insights into how NYCHA can use food policy and programs to improve the well-being of its residents and make New York City healthier, more self-sufficient, safer and more sustainable.

Not All Presidential Spouses Are Created Equal., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

One of the individuals who is usually around on campuses but many times is almost “invisible” is the president’s partner. Sometimes they take on major roles for social functions, fundraising, and public relations; others are quite inconspicuous. In some cases, they even get financial compensation for their work. In others, they have to make sacrifices for the wellbeing of their partners.

A new study helps to clarify the role of presidential partners and how they feel about their roles. “The Lives of Presidential Partners in Higher Education Institutions,” published by the University of Minnesota, provides a good understanding.