Digital Commons Network^™

Two Major Ontario Hospital Labs Bought Research Dogs From U.S. Breeder With Troubled Pastdogs Bred For Scientific And Medical Testing Suffer Abuse As The Scientific Industry Increasingly Turns To Alternatives For Research., Allison Hunter, Mary Beech, Sami Marshak, Kate Morano

Capstones

The purpose-bred dog breeding industry for research is little known. Each year, thousands of dogs are bred for scientific and medical testing, supplied to research facilities by a handful of major commercial breeders. But gaps in enforcement and regulation have allowed abuses to persist, even as the industry increasingly turns to alternatives to animal testing. Animal rights advocates have been decrying the treatment of these dogs. A federal Inspector General report found lax oversight of the industry, raising further concerns about how dogs are treated. This story was reported in collaboration with the Investigative Journalism Bureau, based in Toronto, and …

Relief, At A Cost: New Bill Forces Landlords To Offer Ac, But Leaves Tenants With The Bill, Niamh Mcauliffe

Capstones

As summers in New York City are getting hotter and hotter every year due to climate change, lack of home air conditioning is a serious issue. A newly passed City Council bill would require landlords to provide air conditioning upon tenant request. While advocates see the legislation as a necessary step to protect tenants from the dangers of extreme heat, there are still unresolved questions around energy affordability, costs and implementation.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XgVilwyn6ncwVbslr1UcdP6p-3OwGQAseHXMY3EYCeY/edit?usp=sharing

The Glow Up Guide: Chicago Edition : Housing + Stability After Foster Care, Lucila M. Baptiste

Capstones

For my practicum, I examined what “independence” looks like for young people aging out of foster care and how the transition to adulthood is shaped by housing instability, rising living costs, and uneven access to support. Using an engagement journalism approach, I centered lived experience and community-informed reporting to document the challenges young people face as systems shift responsibilities onto them often quickly and with limited safety nets.

This practicum pairs narrative reporting with a practical, service-oriented resource component designed to be useful beyond the classroom. The project draws on interviews, field reporting, and collaboration with people closest to the …

The Trust Equation: Users, Companies, And Safety In The Online Dating World, Hayley Solomon

Student Theses and Dissertations

Digital dating platforms have become essential to modern-day relationship formation, yet concerns about user safety, harassment, deception, and accountability have intensified distrust, particularly among women. This study explores (1) how women’s personal experiences of danger shape their perceptions of dating apps’ trustworthiness, (2) how women explain the nature of trust and distrust in these digital environments, and (3) how communication professionals can design messages that promote safety and strengthen trust on dating platforms. Using a qualitative study design, four focus groups with three participants each were conducted with heterosexual cis-gender women aged 18–50 who had used Hinge, Tinder, or Bumble …

Method Development And Optimization For The Detection Of Synthetic Cannabinoids In Hair Using Lc-Msms, Linda K. Obeng

Student Theses

Synthetic cannabinoids represent one of the most prevalent and high-risk classes of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS), continuously evolving in structure and potency. Their widespread presence in seized materials and toxicology casework underscores the growing need for reliable analytical methods capable of detecting these compounds in biological matrices. Hair offers several advantages for drug testing, including a long detection window, minimal invasiveness, and resistance to adulteration; however, detecting synthetic cannabinoids in hair remains challenging due to their low incorporation levels and structural diversity. This study focuses on the method development and optimization of an LC-MS/MS technique for the detection of selected …

Violence Between Residents In Nursing Homes Is An Enduring Problem. The Agencies, Nursing Homes, And Residents Are Playing Hot Potato With The Responsibility, Cindy Marchionda, Rafael Escalara Montoto

Capstones

Resident-to-resident aggression in nursing homes is a persistent issue, far more common than the general public realizes. While many of these violent situations can be managed, some tragically escalate to fatal outcomes, leaving families mourning the loss of their loved ones at the hands of a facility that was meant to provide safety and care during their final years. Experts agree that this issue is largely driven by chronic understaffing and insufficient training for employees on how to manage patients with dementia and aggression issues.

Assessing The Relationship Between Treatment Quality, Matching And Dosage And Juvenile Justice Outcomes Among Youth With Co-Occurring Substance Abuse And Mental Health Disorders, Kevin T. Wolff, Michael T. Baglivio, Joshua A. Lang

Publications and Research

This study examined differences among youth in deep-end juvenile justice residential placement who did, and did not, present with co-occurring disorders. The prevalence of cooccurring mental health and substance use/abuse issues was found to be 19%, far lower than that of prior work. Researchers demonstrated more similarities than differences between youth with and without co-occurring disorders, both in terms of their criminal histories and the prevalence of their criminogenic needs. Additionally, the residential programs across Florida appear to provide treatment at similarly high levels of integrity, as measured by 1) matching treatment services to the highest three dynamic risk assessed …

Latino Economic Inequality In New York City: Income And Snap Recipiency, 2013–2023, Oswaldo A. Mena Aguilar

Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies

This Latino Data Project Report analyzes trends in the economic well-being of Latino households in New York City between 2013 and 2023, focusing on household income and participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The findings reveal a paradoxical pattern: although median Latino household income increased over the decade, economic inequality within the Latino community widened substantially. Income gains were unevenly distributed, with higher-income households pulling further ahead while the lowest-income households experienced stagnation or decline. Over the same period, Latino households fell further behind all other racial and ethnic groups in the city. Additionally, Latinos consistently exhibited the …

Fake News Y Redes Sociales: Cómo El Algoritmo En Torno A La Migración Afecta La Salud Mental, Maria F. Alarcon

Capstones

Las redes sociales son la principal fuente de información para migrantes latinos en Estados Unidos, pero también son un terreno fértil para fake-news que afectan la salud mental y desinforman.

Halt Under Threat Why Legislators Must Demand Compliance Before Change A Playbook For Action, Vanda Seward

Capstones

This playbook examines the implementation of New York State’s Humane Alternatives to Long-Term Solitary Confinement (HALT) Act and presents evidence demonstrating that the law has not been fully or consistently enforced by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (NYSDOCCS). Drawing on findings from the New York State Inspector General, the Correctional Association of New York, the Justice Center, court rulings, and community testimony, the analysis documents persistent violations, including excessive and illegal use of solitary confinement, inadequate documentation, failures to protect vulnerable populations, and insufficient accountability for staff misconduct. The playbook critically evaluates the recommendations of …

What’S That Smell? It’S Climate Change!, Perry Gregory

Capstones

Climate change is going to make New York City smell worse. Reporter Perry Gregory breaks down the process of olfaction and explains how heat affects what we smell. The piece features a collage of voices of New Yorkers describing the current smell profile of the city. The report features insight from several Atmospheric Scientists into why New York City is getting hotter and more humid, and how those climate changes will make the existing smells of the city stronger, and worse. The most economically vulnerable New Yorkers, who cannot afford air conditioning to buffer them from heat, will be the …

Grappling With Parenthood In 2025, Elisa Muyl

Capstones

In 2024, I became a parent for the first time. Within the first year of my child's life, president Trump was elected for a second term and came into office on the back of a right-wing project to “restore” the American family as the central unit of American life. I knew instinctively that the values and policies this project espoused would not work for my family or many others. At the same time, I was grappling with a profound sense of social alienation and the lack of structural support for new parents, exacerbated by the way that community is sustained …

“Comenzando De Nuevo”: Los Niños Migrantes Enfrentan Inestabilidad En Las Escuelas De Nyc, Adelina Romero

Capstones

This article documents how housing instability and frequent shelter relocations are disrupting the education of migrant children in New York City public schools. Through in-depth reporting centered on a Venezuelan family living in a Midtown shelter, as well as interviews with teachers, librarians, and advocates, the project demonstrates how frequent moves lead to reduced enrollment, academic delays, and emotional strain among English Language Learners. The reporting presents individual experiences within broader citywide trends, such as declining school enrollment and gaps in mandated services for multilingual students. As schools struggle to provide adequate instruction, public libraries have emerged as one of …

The Remnants Of Nyc's Asylum Shelters, Charles Finnerty

Capstones

Since the spring of 2022, over 200,000 migrants and asylum seekers have arrived in New York City. For three years, the Eric Adams administration’s response shifted constantly, from welcoming new arrivals with open arms, to clashing with the Biden White House over federal support, to collaborating with the Trump administration’s mass deportation regime

Behind all these headlines and political fights, the city’s outer borough neighborhoods have absorbed new arrivals in school systems, gig work economies and over 150 shelters. Local government and corporate news media have largely failed to inform the public about the city's shelter program, allowing confusion and …

Despite Successful Lawsuits And Investigations, Kensington Grocery Stores Still Deny Workers Legal Wages, Tareq Saghie

Capstones

This article looks at three grocery stores in Kensington, Brooklyn that continue to pay immigrant workers below legal wages despite courts and the Department of Labor penalizing them for it repeatedly. The reporting speaks to the ineffectiveness of the law at deterring labor violations, the commonality of wage theft in New York's grocery stores, and the impacts it has on workers.

https://medium.com/@tareqsaghienyc/despite-successful-lawsuits-and-investigations-kensington-grocery-stores-still-deny-workers-legal-a332c980a1cb

San Mateo County’S Digital Jail Mail Sparks Reckoning Over Private Data, Juan A. Lasso

Capstones

This capstone examines privacy and data risks embedded in digital communication systems used in U.S. correctional facilities. As private vendors introduce tablets, kiosks, and mail digitization services, these technologies enable widespread surveillance and data collection of incarcerated people and their loved ones. The project explores how these systems track and analyze digital footprints in ways that challenge established legal and ethical expectations around privacy. It documents the personal impact on loved ones of people currently or formerly incarcerated in San Mateo County. The reporting centers on the California county jail where a civil rights lawsuit is pending over the mail …

Inside Tv’S Reckoning With Writing About Race, Anushka Dakshit

Capstones

In the face of rollbacks in DEI initiatives across the entertainment industry, television writers, producers, and critics discuss how racial representation behind the scenes can impact nuanced storytelling in front of the camera. In the early 2010s Lena Dunham's "Girls" received criticism for in the early 2010s for its lack of racial representation. In 2025, "Southern Fried Rice," produced by Keke Palmer, received controversy for its lack of sensitivity towards the representation of Black women. Critics, writers, and cultural strategists weigh in on what authentic representation looks like throughout all of the stages of the television development process. Link to …

New Yorkers Training, Mobilizing To Protect Immigrants As Federal Crackdown Intensifies, Cristina Ledra, Andrew Serulneck

Capstones

As the Trump administration escalates deportation efforts nationwide, New York City is bracing for increased enforcement, with advocates warning that fear of deportation raids is already reshaping daily life for immigrant communities. New York protesters have not yet faced the most severe federal charges following high-profile confrontations, as protesters have in other states around the country. And the federal cases are largely falling apart and not resulting in trials or convictions. Despite the legal threat, some advocates see the moment as galvanizing.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQrUcmMi4XgxnkjMV-h58Cp3RTxfmIEt95H79uo7CDFlYD5lo59QylxoWozHJhBhlxHCzA98XHnwX7-/pub

The Box Office Keeps Disappointing. Indie Movie Theaters Keep Selling Tickets Anyway., Ella Feldman

Capstones

It’s been a tough five years at the box office, which has yet to recover from the impact of COVID-19 and the explosion of streaming options. But across the country, independent movie theaters have managed to buck the trend, according to industry data and interviews with theater operators. This feature story explores how indie cinemas have staged their post-pandemic comebacks.

Boeing Turns It Around, How A Change In Leadership Impacted An Industry, Fenix Suriel

Capstones

Boeing’s post McDonnell Douglas merger saw a shift from engineering-led decision-making to shareholder-driven priorities. This change is at the root of major safety failures, production issues, and ripple effects across the aviation labor market and supply chain. The appointment of CEO Kelly Ortberg, an engineer with deep aerospace experience, marked a turning point as he emphasized safety, transparency, training, and cultural reform, including mandatory safety systems and stricter competency standards. Boeing has shown signs of recovery through improved earnings, rising stock value, renewed FAA trust, and increased industry confidence. Though the company has not fully regained its pre-pandemic standing, experts …

How Armenia And Azerbaijan Are Lobbying For Influence In D.C., Gibran C. Boyce, Dawn Kikel

Capstones

In the wake of President Trump taking office, foreign government agencies and U.S.-based non-profits serving Armenian and Azerbaijani interests have been hiring lobbyists in Washington, D.C. as part of their concerted efforts to curry favor, gain influence, and seek policy changes that would benefit the rival post-Soviet nations.

Beyond The Model Minority: South Asian New Yorkers Confront Poverty, Mizuki Uchiyama

Capstones

This capstone project examines poverty among South Asian immigrants in New York City, challenging the “model minority” myth that portrays Asian Americans as uniformly successful. Through a reported NY1 television news package and accompanying written narrative, the project highlights how language barriers, economic insecurity and limited access to public benefits shape daily life for many immigrant families in Queens.

Reporting from the South Asian Council for Social Services (SACSS) in Flushing, the story connects individual experiences in workforce and sewing programs to broader data showing that Asian New Yorkers experience poverty at rates comparable to Black and Latino residents, with …

Building Another World, Christopher Edwards

Capstones

"Another World" is a mutual aid hub in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. The space was opened in June 2025 and is ran by the Crown Heights Care Collective, a mutual aid network started in 2022. Another World hosts free events surrounding political education and provides basic needs like food and clothing to residents of the area. In just a few months, the group has made inroads in a diverse community altered by gentrification.

The Adverse Digital Childhood Experiences (Adces) Framework: A Transformative Paradigm For Decoding Digital Adversity And Safeguarding Human Agency In Child Development And Lifespan Trajectories, Asrat G. Amnie

Publications and Research

Childhood is no longer confined to physical spaces; It increasingly unfolds within digitally saturated environments where algorithmically mediated technologies shape attention, learning, and identity formation from the earliest years. Traditional adversity frameworks, particularly the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) model, do not capture the distinctive, persistent, and often invisible risks of digital life. To address this gap, this study advances the Adverse Digital Childhood Experiences (ADCEs) framework, an empirically informed and theory-driven extension of ACEs that systematizes ten interrelated domains of digital adversity encompassing social, cognitive, and environmental stressors. These include cyberbullying and exploitation, commercial surveillance and privacy harms, technoference and …

Challenges In Engineering Machine Learning (Software) Systems, Raffi T. Khatchadourian Ph.D.

Open Educational Resources

Lecture slides on the software engineering challenges unique to machine learning systems, for an undergraduate software engineering course. After contrasting traditional programming with machine learning, the deck examines why the usual tools for managing complexity—abstraction, reuse, and composition—are harder to apply to ML, given the lack of clear specifications and modularity. It covers concept drift, feedback loops (illustrated with crime-prediction and recommendation examples), and the accumulation of technical debt in ML systems, including the role and pitfalls of notebooks in moving from experimentation to production. Based on "Machine Learning in Production/AI Engineering" by Christian Kaestner and Eunsuk Kang (Carnegie Mellon …

Ai And Racism: 6 Reasons Black People Need Digital Literacy, Brianna A. Baker

Publications and Research

Key Points

• AI often reflects racial bias in its training data, which can distort how Black people are represented.
• Psychological stress increases when digital tools misunderstand or misinterpret Black experiences.
• Digital literacy strengthens emotional wellbeing by helping users recognize and counter biased outputs.

Government Regulations-Consumer And Worker Protection Laws Business Law, Lorelei Salas

Open Educational Resources

This assignment challenges the students to dive deeper into consumer and worker protection laws, by expanding their knowledge base or exploring personal experience with these issues.

Contract Law And The U.S. Legal System, Business Law Assignment, Lorelei Salas

Open Educational Resources

This assignment ties legal concepts covered in business law to specific scenarios that can measure comprehension of contracts and the US legal system

Strategies For Prolonging Ventricular Action Potential Duration Without Increasing Transmural Dispersion Of Repolarization, Candido Cabo

Publications and Research

Dispersion of repolarization results from a non-homogeneous recovery of excitability in cardiac tissue, and it is an important factor in arrhythmogenesis because it could lead to the initiation and maintenance of a variety of arrhythmias. Antiarrhythmic agents that prolong action potential duration (APD) by selectively blocking specific ion channels (like IKr) often increase dispersion of repolarization, which could result in a pro-arrhythmic risk. In this report, using computer models of the action potential of human epicardial, mid-myocardial, and endocardial myocytes, we have identified strategies to prolong APD without increasing transmural dispersion of repolarization. The first strategy, which involves blocking several …

1 Repository, 26 Campuses, 10 Years: Strength (And Chaos) In Numbers, Jojo Karlin, Jill Cirasella

Publications and Research

In the ten years since its inception, the CUNY Academic Works repository has grown to house and provide public access to more than 33,000 scholarly, pedagogical, and creative works by affiliates of the City University of New York, the largest urban public university in the United States. Representing all 26 CUNY campuses — community colleges, four-year colleges, and graduate/professional schools, with legacies as old as 1847 (The City College of New York) and as young as 2018 (CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies) — CUNY Academic Works has flourished thanks in large part to a system that combines central …