Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

‘No Possible Peace’: Rising Construction Worker Deaths In New York And Tennessee, Ana Lucia Murillo, Mary Conlon

Capstones

Construction worker fatalities and injuries are a growing problem across the U.S. And for a myriad of factors, death rates are higher in the Southern and Western U.S. than in other regions. Over 1,000 construction workers died from injuries received on the job in 2019, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, many of whom are Latino workers. Now, advocates and workers are demanding reform after years of diminished regulation and little oversight that have cost numerous lives. Link to capstone project: https://medium.com/@analucia.murilloa/no-possible-peace-rising-construction-worker-deaths-in-new-york-and-tennessee-796f757dd199

He’S ‘Like A Math Magician’: One Man’S Path Towards Clemency, Steven Vago

Capstones

This is a profile on Bobby Ehrenberg, an incarcerated person who recently applied for clemency after turning his life around. https://medium.com/@steven.vago/hes-like-a-math-magician-one-man-s-path-towards-clemency-9bcea1cfdfdc

Engaging Underserved Voters In West Virginia During The Pandemic Election, Jacob Wasserman

Capstones

This report is the final product of my Social Journalism practicum for the Class of 2020 at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. My community focus for the degree program was underserved voters in West Virginia during the pandemic election. Within this report, I discuss the community that I intended to serve with engagement journalism, the activities and approach that I took to pursue that engagement, and how I evaluated the project with both quantitative and qualitative metrics. I also discuss ideas that I learned during the process of this project, and offer reflections on the philosophy of engagement …

Gun Country, John Philp

Capstones

This report discusses Gun Country, a multi-format online project that serves as the capstone of my Social Journalism Masters degree at the Craig Newmark Graduate school of Journalism. The report begins by exploring the community the project was built to serve, the gun safety community, made up of survivors of gun violence, their friends and family and other advocates for gun violence prevention. The report then details what I determined to be the community’s storytelling needs, and discusses the approach I took to address these needs, by building a multi-format website that weaves together news, storytelling, dialog and advocacy. …

Expanding The Boundaries Of Food Policy: The Turn To Equity In New York City, Nevin Cohen, Rositsa Ilieva

Publications and Research

Policymakers acknowledge that the food system is multidimensional and that social determinants affect diet-related health outcomes, yet cities have emphasized programs and policies narrowly connected to food access and nutritional health. Over the past fifteen years, the boundaries of food governance have expanded to include a wider range of issues and domains not previously considered within the purview of food policy, like labor, housing, and education policies. This paper illustrates the processes by which this shift occurs by presenting the case of New York City, which has broadened its food governance to a larger set of issues, requiring cross-sectoral initiatives …

Evidence Of Incipient Song Divergence In A Hawaiian Population Of Warbling White-Eyes, Jesse D. Robinson

Theses and Dissertations

Natural or human-mediated founder events can lead to changes in avian communication signals, potentially impacting the trajectory of evolution. Warbling white-eye (Zosterops japonicus) was introduced from Japan to the Hawaiian Islands between 1929 – ca. 1937. I recorded primary songs in Hawai‘i (O‘ahu, Big Island) and collected archival recordings, then conducted a comparative analysis between introduced and native song types which revealed significant differences in the O‘ahu and Big Island populations. To test for behavioral responses that corresponded to these differences, I presented conspecific playback stimuli (intra-island, inter-island, native) to individuals in Hawai‘i (O‘ahu, Big Island). Big Island individuals increased …

Applying The Food-Energy-Water Nexus Approach To Urban Agriculture: From Few To Fewp (Food-Energy- Water-People), Silvio Caputo, Victoria Schoen, Kathrin Spect, Baptiste Grard, Chris Blythe, Nevin Cohen, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Jason Hawes, Joshua Newell, Lidia Poniży

Publications and Research

Many studies examine the correlation between the use of resources such as water, energy and land, and the production of food. These nexus studies focus predominantly on large scale systems, often considering the social dimensions only in terms of access to resources and participation in the decision- making process, rather than individual attitudes and behaviours with respect to resource use. Such a concept of the nexus is relevant to urban agriculture (UA), but it requires customisation to the particular characteristics of growing food in cities, which is practiced mainly at a small scale and produces not only food but also …

When The City Sells Some Landlords’ Tax Debt Year After Year, It’S The Tenants Who Suffer., Peter Senzamici, Allison Dikanovic

Capstones

New York City’s tax lien sale has been put on hold since last spring, giving homeowners some relief and allowing landlords who are behind to continue to neglect their obligations without consequence. Now, the state’s new eviction and foreclosure moratorium offers protection from the lien sale until May, and City Council is poised to vote on a new bill that would reauthorize the sale for one year. http://petersenzamici.com/liens

Corporations And The American Polity, Patrick Labossiere

Student Theses and Dissertations

Research on corporate communications’ effects on politics presents an acknowledgement of a relationship between the two topics, leaving a void in the explanation and examination of this topic. The void presents an opening to introduce a conceptual process for how corporations are able to craft communications to influence the American Polity, the democratic social organization within the United States. This research begins with a historical review of how corporations gain prominence in American society, capturing the ability to participate in the democratic social organization of the polity. A qualitative analysis of several conceptual frameworks serves as data, to establish an …

Review Of Memory Lab Network Resources, Annie E. Tummino, Tomasz Gubernat, Jeanie Pai

Publications and Research

Review of Memory Lab Network resources for American Archivist Reviews, a portal which highlights websites, digital collections, and technologies that have an impact on the archives profession. The authors review the resources published by the Memory Lab Network and discuss their own work building a Memory Lab at the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library of Queens College, CUNY.

On Paper, Off The Records, Valen Iricibar

Capstones

Argentina’s new non-binary ID cards (DNI in Spanish) were highly celebrated when they were announced in July 2021 via a presidential decree. Government agencies had until November 18th to update systems and databases to include the new gender marker “X.” But that didn’t happen, so those with the non-binary DNI are unable to access essential services. The Argentine government cited the national 2012 Gender Identity Law, which guarantees a DNI that fully reflects a citizen’s gender identity, as the basis for the measure. However, for many in the trans*, non-binary and gender non-conforming community, the decree was unnecessary to enforce …

Jornada, Mary Conlon

Capstones

Jornada, which means "day" or "journey" in Spanish, is a short documentary following a day in the life of volunteers at a food pantry during the pandemic. La Jornada is the largest food pantry in Flushing, Queens, providing food for 10,000 families across the borough each week. Angélica is one of 400 volunteers who keep the organization running, and our protagonist in the film. Through her eyes and others, we see the cost of what it takes to provide for the community during this time of need, in what was the epicenter of the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. …

Nyc Communities Battle Flooding, But Not From Coastal Storms, Danielle C. Cruz

Capstones

A look at the impact high-tide flooding and inland flooding has on various communities in New York City. This article also looks into what city officials are doing and not doing to address the concerns of residents who have had to deal with recurring flooding in their community.

Link to Capstone: https://danielle-cruz.format.com/nyc-communities-battle-flooding

Connecticut’S Liberal Image Hides A History Of Systematic Housing Inequality, It’S Time For A Change, Ashley Rodriguez

Capstones

Affordable housing is an issue that plagues 10’s of millions of Americans in the United States.

In Connecticut, decades of predatory zoning laws that differ from city to city and a broken public housing system has created a state with concentrated pockets of wealth and poverty that disproportionately affects people of color. Connecticut has an opportunity to change its decidedly unliberal policies by taking notes from Japan’s Zoning laws, that enable mixed-income families to live side by side, and activists like Connecticut’s very own Ned Coll, who fought for free and open beaches in the state in the '60's and …

Thousands Of New York Businesses Are In Debt With Little Hope Of Survival, Holly L. Deaton

Capstones

Lack of New York City commercial tenants' rights and protections, and government inaction, means small business owners are facing hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars of debt due to COVID-19 closures.

Link: http://project3482486.tilda.ws/

Mum’S The Word: Are Mothers Choosing To Give Up Their Careers Or Being Booted Out Of The Labor Force?, Harini Chakrapani

Capstones

Since the pandemic began, mothers have been leaving the labor force in droves. Mum’s the Word: Are mothers choosing to give up their careers or being booted out of the labor force examines the reasons that are forcing mothers to quit their jobs, the cost of mothers’ not participating in the labor force and what steps corporations and the government can take to support mothers’ return to the labor force. https://www.hcpani.com/post/mum-s-the-word-are-mothers-choosing-to-give-up-their-careers-or-being-booted-out-of-the-labor-force

Pirate Radio Proves Invaluable To Immigrant Communities During The Pandemic — But The Fcc Isn’T Having It, May Olvera

Capstones

In January 2020, congress passed the PIRATE Act into law, expanding the legal consequences for operating pirate radio tenfold. Although the FCC claims that the reason they are cracking down on pirate stations — that is, stations broadcasting on regulated airwaves without an FCC license — is that they could interfere with emergency messaging, the pandemic has proven otherwise; there is no evidence of pirates interfering with official safety warnings. In fact, most pirate stations are run by immigrants speaking in their native tongue and they have been able to provide vulnerable and underserved communities with the information they need …

16 Cents Per Hour: Corcraft And New York State’S Prison Labor System, Gus Fisher, Diana Kennedy

Capstones

If you’re a student or faculty member at CUNY, the desk you write at, chair you sit in, and shelves you use are likely being made by New York State prisoners, who are paid a starting salary of 16 cents per hour by the state-owned corporation known as Corcraft.

Link to Full Article: https://gus-fisher.medium.com/16-cents-per-hour-corcraft-and-new-york-states-prison-labor-system-2b687792a03d

Where Are America’S “Missing Workers”?, Jill Shah

Capstones

A puzzle has emerged as the American economy marches towards recovery: Where are the 4 million workers still missing from the U.S. job market—and when will they return? The country had a near-record 10.4 million job openings through the end of September, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This shortage may have worsened over the last month to 11 million unfilled jobs in early November, according to estimates by the job posting site Indeed. This piece discusses the reasons that American workers are opting to stay out of the job market.

Nyc’S Boom: More Jobs And Housing, No Affordability, Lacandis Brown

Capstones

Although the number of NYC jobs is steadily growing faster than housing units are being created. Housing units are still being made in abundance, but residents say these new jobs just don't provide an adequate wage necessary to live within them.

https://lacandisbrown.home.blog/2020/06/19/nycs-boom-more-jobs-and-housing-no-affordability/

The Fourth Wall Of Jericho: Wrestling With Covid, Cheyenne R. Ubiera

Capstones

COVID has affected everyone in the world in some shape or form. The Fourth Wall of Jericho hones in on independent wrestlers whose lives have been altered due to the virus — a rookie whose been down on his luck in kick-starting his career and frequent worker whose using the extra time in quarantine to get better at the craft.

The Fourth Wall of Jericho breaks the fourth wall of pro wrestling in an effort take a look a wrestler’s lives outside of the ring

Baseball Has A Race Problem: The Decline Of African-Americans In Baseball, Ariel Pacheco

Capstones

African-Americans have been on a decline in the sport of baseball since the 1980’s. Of the 900 players on the 2020 opening day rosters, only 65 were African American. There are currently only two Black managers and one Black general manager in the MLB. As other sports like basketball and baseball continue to rise in popularity, baseball has staggered. The question remains, what is baseball doing wrong? Is it too expensive? Is it simply not inviting to African-Americans? And what, if anything, can be done to curtail these numbers?

In Pursuit Of Diversity In The Cuny Library Profession: An Effective Approach To Leadership In Academic Libraries, Nilda Alexandra Sanchez-Rodriguez

Publications and Research

Maximizing the current organizational culture and diversity/inclusion practices within CUNY libraries is crucial to retaining highly talented support staff with significant potential for future leadership roles. This research explores equity, diversity, and inclusion within the library profession, with the intention of implementing strategic frameworks to attract, recruit, and retain underrepresented groups within the University. To spotlight areas of upward mobility within CUNY academic libraries, a CUNY-wide Library Workplace Climate survey on the perceptions of diversity, universal inclusion, and career progression was conducted. The scope of the survey study compares the different perspectives of CUNY librarians, full-time library classified paraprofessionals, and …

El Papel De La Dialogicidad En Los Trabajos De Investigación De Posgrado, David Sánchez-Jiménez

Publications and Research

El presente trabajo advierte de la importancia que adquieren los recursos metadiscursivos en el inter- cambio dialógico que se establece entre el escritor y el lector en los textos académicos redactados en la universidad. Esta interacción es un aspecto de la comunicación académica que los autores necesitan articular de manera efectiva con el fin de establecer relaciones apropiadas con el lector y predisponerlo así para aceptar los argumentos propuestos en sus escritos. Por este motivo, en esta presentación se insiste en la necesidad de elaborar una didáctica que incorpore dichos elementos al contexto universitario, cuyo objetivo final sera el de …

“How Can We Do Better?”: Empowering Diverse Voices Through An Academic/Public Library Partnership, Annie E. Tummino, Jo-Ann Wong

Publications and Research

Queens Memory is a local community archiving and oral history project, co-administered by Queens Public Library and Queens College, CUNY. During COVID-19, members from both institutions collaborated to create a series of virtual roundtables hosted on Facebook Live, centered on social justice, current events, and creating positive social change. Specific examples include xenophobia and Asian Americans during COVID-19; the Black Lives Matter movement; student activism and political engagement; and equity/inclusion in archives. In selecting these topics and speakers, we made sure that the diversity and lived experiences of our communities were represented, and that speakers included both scholars and students. …

Measuring Influence On Twitter, Daniela B. Martinez

Publications and Research

A survey took in MAT 1372 about students' opinions on Twitter showed that most of them assumed that if a Twitter account has more followers, it will receive more likes or replies. However, accounts can buy followers, and followers do not necessarily mean engagement. In this paper, we used Twitter because it is a significant player in social media, but we can measure influence without using Twitter's follower count. We took a reference from Meeyoung Cha's article "The Million Follower Fallacy," which has demonstrated that the Twitter follower count is a meaningless metric in determining influence. To measure influence, a …

Understanding Of Aerosol Transmission Of Covid 19 In Indoor Environments, Adama Barro, Cathal O'Toole, Jacob S. Lopez, Matthew Quinones, Sherene Moore

Publications and Research

Our reason for discussing severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or 2019 novel corona virus (Covid-19), is to understand its aerosol transmission characteristics in indoor spaces and to mitigate further spread of this disease by designing a new HVAC system. The problem that we are tackling is the spread of covid-19 droplets through aerosol transmission by looking at potential engineering solutions to the existing HVAC systems. The purpose is to eradicate the spread of the COVID-19 by testing indoor spaces in an effort to understand the effectiveness of ventilation controls. We believe that scientists and engineers have not …

Synergies Among Environmental Science Research And Monitoring Networks: A Research Agenda, J. A. Jones, Peter M. Groffman, J. Blair, F. W. Davis, H. Dugan, E. E. Euskirchen, S. D. Frey, T. K. Harms, E. Hinckley, M. Kosmala, S. Loberg, S. Malone, K. Novick, S. Record, A. V. Rocha, B. L. Ruddell, E. H. Stanley, C. Sturtevant, A. Thorpe, T. White, W. R. Wieder, L. Zhai, K. Zhu

Advanced Science Research Center

Many research and monitoring networks in recent decades have provided publicly available data documenting environmental and ecological change, but little is known about the status of efforts to synthesize this information across networks. We convened a working group to assess ongoing and potential cross-network synthesis research and outline opportunities and challenges for the future, focusing on the US-based research network (the US Long-Term Ecological Research network, LTER) and monitoring network (the National Ecological Observatory Network, NEON). LTER-NEON cross-network research synergies arise from the potentials for LTER measurements, experiments, models, and observational studies to provide context and mechanisms for interpreting NEON …

Kanien’Kéha (Mohawk) (United States And Canada) - Language Snapshot, Joseph Pentangelo

Publications and Research

Kanien’kéha is an endangered Northern Iroquoian language historically spoken in what is now the Mohawk Valley of central New Yorkstate in the United States of America. Today, it is spoken by about 3,800 people in six communities in upstate New York, USA, and in Ontario and Quebecprovinces, Canada: Akwesasne, Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Six Nations, Wahta, and Tyendinaga. The varieties spoken in these communities differ slightly in terms of phonology, vocabulary, and orthography. Robust language revitalisation efforts are ongoing, and the language is of great cultural importance to the Kanien’kehá:ka people.

Autonomous Health Movements: Criminalization, De-Medicalization, And Community-Based Direct Action, Naomi Braine

Publications and Research

This paper proposes the concept of autonomous health movements, drawing on an analysis of harm reduction in the United States and self-managed abortion globally. Harm reduction and self-managed abortion appear in the professional literature largely as evidenced-based public health strategies, more than as social movements. However, each began at the margins of the law as a form of direct action developed by activists anchored in social justice movements and working in community contexts independent of both state and institutional control according to a human rights perspective of bodily integrity and autonomy. An analysis of the history and dynamics of harm …