2023 Capstone Award Winners
On October 20, the Boston University College of General Studies celebrated the outstanding students who received awards for the Capstone projects they completed last May. The Capstone project is a 50-page research paper that CGS students complete in their sophomore year. Students draw on two years of interdisciplinary studies, working together as a team to synthesize data into a meaningful whole. The Capstone award is given annually to the group of students who present the best overall Capstone paper and defense on each team. It is the highest honor bestowed upon a College of General Studies student for an academic project.
Team S: Evaluating Implementation of AI in Healthcare: Effective Use of AI
Team S’s winning Capstone group—Donggyu Kim, Chaelin Lee, Jian Lee, Valerie Mensah, Oghenerukevwe Omusi, Krsna Sarma, Melissa Wills, and Sara Yazdi—acted as medical professionals to investigate the positive and negative effects of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the medical field. Group members combined their diverse academic backgrounds to suggest feasible plans that would benefit patient care, including the automation of repetitive tasks, freeing professionals for more important work, and reducing costs. Furthermore, their research revealed the harmful results of misdiagnoses associated with biases toward gender, race, or age. The team’s conclusion called for more extensive research put toward the use of AI in medicine to evolve it into a more useful and beneficial tool.
Team T: A Systematic Review of the METCO Program and its Effects on Boston and Springfield Public Schools
Team T’s winning Capstone group was made up of Alessandro Altavilla, Bermina Chery, Janiyah Flagg, Lola Mukadi, Sophia Sabala, Nabeeha Samater, Isabella Teixeira, and Jack Wallace, who investigated the effects of a voluntary segregation program on Massachusetts students. Their research focused on a variety of areas, including students who were ‘left behind’ and not bussed to schools located in affluent suburban areas. The project produced poignant results and highlighted the impact of a community’s inaction: students experiencing systemic racism in the classroom. Group members named themselves “Boston United,” and hit the ground running early on in the project’s development with passion. Faculty said their dedication to the research shined through in the completed project, which included a thirty page long annotated bibliography, a visually engaging brochure, and excellent evidence provided for all claims.
Team U: Mental Health Crisis: MindMatch at Boston University
The students from Team U’s winning group–Christian Ahn, Sophia Doiron, Vivian Jiang, Josephine Kim, Jimin Park, Rachell Paz, Jisu Yi, and Chenyu Zhu—extensively researched the mental health problems and solutions specific to the Boston University community. The team created a survey for BU students that offered insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the university’s Student Health Services and helped in constructing possible suggestions to improving the department. The group created ‘MindMatch,’ an online platform dedicated to connecting people to therapists based on their unique needs. Additionally, the team produced 17 appendices of charts, graphs, and other written and visual information to support their ideas.
Team V: Advancing a Policy to Ensure Peace and Security Across the Taiwan Strait
The winning Capstone group for Team V–Aaron Ahmed, Tommaso Arona, Mihir Bhuptani, Akhil Saranath, Victoria Sonn, and Julia Staianof Borri–were driven by the question: How can the US preserve the de facto independence of Taiwan while managing US relations with the People’s Republic of China? After hours of research and compiling an incredibly well-written Capstone project, the group offered a policy that “ensured peace and security across the Taiwan Strait” by avoiding both war and appeasement, largely due to the deterrence of China invading Taiwan. A variety of historical points were used to craft their final resolution, including current US policy on China, the importance of Taiwan to China, the necessity of maintaining US credibility, and other nation’s viewpoints on on Chinese expansionism. Faculty said that in their oral defense, each group member confidently demonstrated their knowledge and passion for the project and impressed the professors with their ability to answer all questions in detail.
Team W: The Greening of Nevada: Vertical Farming and Veggie Trucks in a Las Vegas Food Desert
Team W’s winning Capstone group—Jacqueline Jeffries, Ethan Liu, Tina Phan, Nate Pike, Tammy Tie, Alex Ye, Wendy Zhang—researched the widespread problem of inaccessible and unaffordable nutritious food in impoverished urban communities. The group decided to focus specifically on Las Vegas as it presented a special case: food deserts in a literal desert. Their Capstone found that one of the most effective ways of making healthy food, specifically fruits and vegetables, more accessible to impoverished communities is growing food locally. However, Las Vegas lacks the proper farming land needed to achieve this, or so it seemed. Eventually, the group stumbled upon their action plan: build hydroponic farms in neighborhoods most impacted by food insecurity. Hydroponic farms do not require pesticides and use much less land and water than traditional farms, making them a feasible solution for communities in Las Vegas. Additionally, the group came up with various ways to fund their project, obtaining trucks to transport vegetables within the food deserts, and ensuring that food would remain affordable. Faculty said that the group’s decision to choose a unique location like Las Vegas made their project, research, and solutions impressive and made their Capstone successful.
Team Y: Partisan Gerrymandering and the Threat to Democratic Representation — An Analysis of the Constitutionality of Partisan Gerrymandering
The winning Capstone group from Team Y, made up of Jules Germek, Emilia Giovannini-Yarnell, Eva Luz Torres Henry, Joseph Levins, Fiona Mellin, and Alexa Podalsky, constructed a fictional legal case to argue before the United States Supreme Court. Their case was against North Carolina’s legislature redistricting in 2020, which advantaged the Republican Party. The team presented arguments from both sides of the case. To prepare, the team provided an in-depth analysis of the history of gerrymandering and all the significant legal precedents. Their conclusion involved ending the practice of gerrymandering entirely and passing pending legislation in both states and Congress to circumvent the Court. During their oral defense, the team divided into two to represent each side of the case. North Carolina’s case was presented in a staid, legalistic manner while the opponents of gerrymandering presented with a degree of indignation and called out the Court for its questionable distinction between impermissible racial gerrymandering while allowing the corrosive political variety.
—Compiled by Gabrielle Drillis, Photos by Photo by Ziyu Julian Zhu