The checks are intended to provide relief to New Yorkers who now pay more in sales taxes due to inflation. From the end of September to November, qualifying New Yorkers will automatically begin receiving checks. The policy has faced disapproval from some progressive state lawmakers, who claim the initiative is misguided due to the Trump administration’s expected cuts to Medicaid and other social services that increase next year’s state budget deficit.

The amount taxpayers receive will depend on how they filed their taxes and the income they received in 2023. The highest check is $400, which will be awarded to married individuals who filed jointly and to qualifying surviving spouses who earned $150,000 or less. Single individuals, married couples filing separately and heads of households who made between $75,000 and $150,000 will receive $150.

To qualify for the checks, full-year residents must have filed a New York State Resident Income Tax Return, reported an income of less than $300,000 a year and must not have been claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s return.

Since full-time undergraduate students can be claimed as dependents on their parents’ tax returns if they are under 24 years old and receive over a majority of their financial support from their parents, many will not receive a check. Still, some graduate students meet the qualifications.

Viktorya Erdogu, president of the Graduate Student Employees Union chapter at Binghamton University and a third-year Ph.D. student studying political science, spoke with Pipe Dream about the economic concerns of graduate student workers and how the rebates might impact them. She addressed how the base stipend for doctoral students at the University, which they bargained to increase to $25,000 per year starting January 2026, still lags behind the minimum annual living wage needed in Broome County of about $40,000, according to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s living wage calculator.

“We do appreciate that [Hochul’s] trying to help, but this one-time payment isn’t a solution, and we’re advocating for fair wages, for better benefits, including health insurance, for all TAs and GAs, all grad student workers across the SUNY system,” Erdogu said.

Hochul has argued these inflation rebate checks will put money back in the pockets of New Yorkers, who now pay a higher price for many household items due to inflation.

According to ABC’s price tracker, overall grocery prices in the Northeast are 27.3 percent higher than they were in January 2015. The cost of living in New York in 2025 is 27 percent higher than the national average.

As prices rise, New Yorkers are paying more for purchased items and sales taxes on those goods. According to Hochul, the rise in sales taxes increased state revenue by over $2 billion, which will directly finance refund checks.

“It dawned on me instantly — this doesn’t belong to us,” Hochul said at a press conference, referring to New York’s surplus sales tax revenue. “This is because hard-working New Yorkers got slammed with higher costs of everything.”

Hochul, State Sen. Lea Webb ‘04 and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Some progressive state lawmakers believe the money would be better spent on closing the state’s projected $10.5 billion deficit gap to thwart deep cuts to social services. According to Blake Washington, the state’s budget director, federal funding cuts contribute at least $3 billion to the shortfall.

In August, some state lawmakers held a rally in Manhattan and criticized the rebates, calling on Hochul to convene a special state legislative session to raise taxes on the wealthy to fund social services like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid that were cut by the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” act.

“We have a responsibility to actually tax the ultra-wealthy and big corporations,” said Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado at the rally. “ Two billion dollars — that could be very useful right now.”

Additionally, since the program sends out checks instead of acting as a tax credit, the checks will be subject to federal income tax, providing hundreds of millions of dollars to the federal government. New Yorkers will have to report the rebates on their income tax returns next year.

Hochul has been criticized for a comment she made in September at the True Bethel Baptist Church, a predominantly Black congregation in Buffalo, New York, regarding inflation refunds.

“Don’t spend it all in one day,” she told the congregation. “Get something you really need, OK? Don’t stop by the liquor store, OK? Buy something for the kids — buy them some food.”

Following the remarks, she stated, “Sometimes I have to stop by the liquor store too. I understand. It’s alright. It’s alright.”

Sarafina Chitika, Hochul’s campaign spokesperson, claimed the moment was not racist and instead was intended to be lighthearted and self-deprecating.

Republicans in the state legislature condemned the policy as insignificant and not doing enough to help New Yorkers.

“I never say no to giving money back to our taxpayers, but it’s a gimmick,” said Edward Ra, a Republican assemblyman from Nassau County. “It’s a one-shot initiative.”

Passed as part of the state’s 2025-2026 fiscal year budget, the distraction-free schools law bans the “unsanctioned use” of internet-connected devices at public, charter and boards of cooperative educational services schools for the entire day, including lunch and study hall hours. The policy comes after Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State United Teachers, a labor union representing teachers statewide, saw phone use as an obstacle to learning and a harm to student mental health. Last July, Hochul began a listening tour across the state to gather feedback from teachers, students and parents over the use of electronics in schools.

Initially, Hochul faced skepticism from some state legislators and opposition by local school boards and superintendents before the proposal passed. State Sen. Lea Webb ‘04 and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo MA ‘84 voted for the policy in the state budget. In a May 12 press release, Webb highlighted the policy as one of several that would promote “access to quality education from early childhood through college.”

Lupardo told Pipe Dream she supported the initiative because it would give schools flexibility to implement distraction-free policies rather than forcing all to adopt “a one-size fits all approach.”

“Schools that were already doing this, and early reports this week, show students more engaged in their classroom work and with one another,” Lupardo wrote. “There is also a hope that this will relieve the pressure to text and check social media accounts, giving students a needed break and a fresh perspective on themselves and others.”

Webb did not immediately return Pipe Dream’s request for comment.

Middle and high schools received a total of $13.5 million in state funding to help purchase lockable pouches, lockers and other secure storage options. Students attending school throughout the Vestal Central School District and the Binghamton City School District will lock their phones, smartwatches and earbuds in pouches until the end of the school day. Students in 10th to 12th grade who leave during their lunch period are allowed to bring their cell phones but must lock them before returning to class.

Last year, both districts implemented a similar policy, but the new state law means Vestal High School students will also have to lock away their devices this year. Previously, high school students had to put their phones in a pocket organizer hung in each classroom.

“There is substantial research indicating that personal electronic devices distract students from learning,” Patrick Clarke III, the assistant superintendent for instruction at the Vestal Central School District, wrote to Pipe Dream. “We also believe there are social and behavioral benefits to pausing device usage during the school day. Last year, Vestal Middle School experienced a reduction in disciplinary infractions associated with cell phone and social media misuse.”

Students face similar restrictions on cell phone usage in 13 other states.

The Vestal Teachers’ Association, a local branch of the NYSUT representing Vestal Central School District teachers,supports the initiative. Joseph Herringshaw, president of the union and a teacher at Vestal Middle School, said that teachers handled fewer social media difficulties as a result of the school district’s policy.

“We’re giving back children seven hours to be a kid again rather than focusing on social media, TikToks, Instagram, wherever the phone takes you,” Herringshaw said. “This is an opportunity to engage in face-to-face conversations, learn to engage with others through verbal discourse, rather than digital.”

Launched in October 2024, the chatbot was created by the Office of the Dean of Students and EdSights, an educational technology corporation, as a tool for new students to receive support and give feedback on their college experience. According to Amanda Finch, the dean of students, the chatbot has “fielded over 15k text messages and sent out 17 targeted campaign texts” to first-year students. She said that the initiative has a 95 percent opt in and use rate, and more than half of the students use the chatbot regularly.

“At the end of last semester, Baxter did a temperature check with students regarding their feelings about returning to Binghamton in the spring,” Finch wrote. “Sixty-seven students said they didn’t intend to return or were unsure about returning. After direct outreach to those students by the CARE Team to help navigate issues, 61 of those students (91%) returned for the spring semester.”

Pipe Dream interviewed three students about their experience using the chatbot. All three students said that the AI asked general questions on topics like their experience at BU, workload and mental health. The chatbot then usually asked the student to select one of three responses.

Liam Rupprecht, a freshman majoring in geography, shared some of the messages sent by the chatbot with Pipe Dream. One text, dated Feb. 11, asked him to rate whether he was enjoying his classes for the semester with three options: “[1] Yes, I am,” followed by a smiling-face emoji ; “[2] Neutral,” with a neutral-face emoji ;  and “[3] Not at all,” with an unamused-face emoji .

“I guess I answer the questions seriously, but the chatbot’s name in my phone is ‘Big Bax,’ and I usually laugh every time I get a message,” Rupprecht wrote. “I assume it’s a similar case for most students, where this doesn’t really feel like a legitimate or serious resource.”

In a September 2024 interview, Finch said that the chatbot would help the University “hear the student voice directly.” As of April, University services directly reached out to students after around 17 percent of the targeted messages, according to Finch.

Students can also ask the chatbot questions about campus resources. While Rupprecht and Hatim Husainy, a freshman majoring in political science, have not used this feature, Kris Patel, a freshman majoring in computer science, asked the chatbot trivia questions about the University and directions to campus locations.

“I asked where the Watson College Advising Office was located, but it gave me this link,” Patel said. “I think this link did help, but on other things, for example, I asked, ‘Where’s the Engineering Commons,’ and it just gave me a map of Binghamton University, which did not help me because it doesn’t show where it is in the Engineering Building.”

Husainy said his UNIV101 class already connected him with campus resources, but that the chatbot “seems like a good resource” for those “looking for a person to talk to,” while allowing students to interact with “new technologies.”

In its first message, the chatbot informed users that their “texts aren’t anonymous” and that “if I’m ever not the best resource, someone from BU may reach out to help.” The students, however, said they did not realize that University personnel could view their messages.

Husainy said he did not see the disclaimer on his Samsung phone because he had to tap a “View All” button to read the entire message. After learning his messages were not private, he said, “I’m happy I didn’t chat with it then. That kind of freaks me out.”

“Creating deeper support networks and actually incorporating these discussions into all parts of campus would all be helpful even if it’s a minimum, but instead my huge tuition goes to making AI slop,” Rupprecht wrote. “In addition to this, it should be up to the student to decide where to talk about their mental health and who to take it to.”

“The university not explicitly stating who is reading these messages feels like a violation of privacy and security,” he continued.

Finch said in September that students must opt in to keep receiving AI messages. Rupprecht, Patel and Husainy said there was no explicit opt-in process and they could only choose to stop receiving messages.

“As we move toward the end of the semester, we continue to evaluate our progress and the impact of the initiative,” Finch wrote. “So far, we are very optimistic.”

While this article was intended to provide an overview of the program and its implementation, it developed into a monthslong investigation after interviews with its founder and the Broome County executive’s office cast doubt on several of the claims in the initial solicitation and communications with Pipe Dream.

“I am introducing an exciting opportunity for your business to contribute to a transformative initiative in our community — BC Bike, a public bike share program launching in Broome County in spring 2025, operated by Central Mobility, a local nonprofit organization based in Binghamton,” the November email read.

It was signed by Steven Carter, a local businessman who also operates a photography studio. The bike-share program was pitched as a service where users could temporarily rent a bike from various docking stations, similar to Citi Bike in New York City or the University’s Koloni program.

In a Dec. 3 interview, Carter said he planned for the program to launch in March. The program, however, had not yet been approved by the county as of February, according to Colleen Wagner, the county’s deputy executive for human services. Garnar’s office also denied supporting the program.

Wagner added that starting the bike-share program in March would not be possible because the county “would never be able to just start a program with an individual without putting it out to the RFP process,” referring to a request for proposal bidding. She said a bike-share company named Tandem Mobility responded to the county’s e-bike and e-scooter pilot program request for proposal in September 2024, while Central Mobility did not. The county decided not to pursue the pilot program due to its high costs.

“He has reached out to several entities, indicating that the county executive has told him to reach out to them,” Wagner said in a Dec. 3 interview. “He’s never met with the county executive.”

The Roberson Museum told Pipe Dream on Feb. 7 that it spoke with Carter, and while it did not choose to establish a relationship with his bike-share initiative, “We believe a community bike share program could be a valuable asset once authorized by the appropriate municipalities.” The Phelps Mansion Museum said it “decided to not be involved with” BC Bikeshare, as “there seemed to be a lot of unknowns about this program.” The Ross Park Zoo also told Pipe Dream on Feb. 25 that it was “not involved with BC Bikes.”

Wagner later wrote that, as of Feb. 11, Carter has only met with Brenda Gowe, the director of Broome County Parks, Recreation and Youth Services, and has not received approval from the county or spoken with Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham.

“The BCBikes program is a local issue, not a state issue,” a representative from Webb’s office wrote in an email in response to repeated requests for comment on whether Webb supported the program.

Carter said that the emails requesting sponsors were sent due to a hack into his customer-management software, adding that because the email signature is different from the one he typically uses, he could not have sent them. Instead, he said, “There is a personal life matter that happened, and the person decided to log into my account.”

Central Mobility’s pitch deck, which was linked in the fundraising solicitation to local businesses, claimed that “each BC Bikeshare bike generates up to 5,800 impressions per trip” and that their “mobile app generates 75,000 impressions/year.” Pipe Dream was unable to find a mobile app from BC Bikeshare.

Carter said the program is owned by Central Mobility, a company he founded that was in the process of gaining 501(c)3 nonprofit status. However, before a corporation can register as a nonprofit with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, it must first be incorporated. As of publication, there is no registered corporation or limited liability company named “Central Mobility” in New York state.

According to the deck, Carter founded Central Mobility last year to “transform the local community by providing a high-quality, convenient, and affordable bicycle transit system that will connect people to more places.”

While Carter told Pipe Dream that Garnar and Webb had asked him to contact Binghamton University students to amass support for the program, he later said he was referring not to any local officials but to two friends who are local entrepreneurs.

“Are the local politicians aware of it?” Carter said during the Dec. 3 interview, referring to the bike-share program. “Yes, they are. Have we had any support from them? No, we have not.”

When asked to describe the circumstances around the alleged hack, Carter ended the interview, claiming his on-the-record conversation was not meant to be heard by the general public. Hours later, Carter wrote in an email that he was “currently at the office of the president with my attorney looking for your supervisor.”

“This one [is] not adding up and I’m not sure why we would get involved in that anyhow,” a University spokesperson wrote when asked about Carter’s claim.

Pipe Dream followed up with Carter in April, and he declined to comment on any of the allegations by local officials or businesses.

Set forth by the inclusion of elements of the Build Public Renewables Act in the 2023-24 state budget, which mandates that three hearings be held, the Southern Tier hearing was one of 12 across the state. The act is championed by Public Power New York, a coalition of political and climate advocacy organizations, including chapters of Democratic Socialists of America, the Sunrise Movement and Food and Water Action.

Endorsed by labor unions across the state, the legislation enables the Power Authority to build publicly owned renewable energy with union jobs to keep the state on track with its green energy mandates. The strategic plan highlights how the agency will achieve its new renewable energy goals.

Public Power New York has called on the Power Authority to build 15 of the 20 gigawatts needed to meet their goal of reaching 70 percent renewable energy by 2030, which can include solar, wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and additional clean energy sources. They argue that the private sector will fail to meet the state’s renewable energy mandate, given low profit margins and rising raw material prices that make renewable energy projects too risky.

“With residents of the Southern Tier facing already unaffordable utility rates which are due to rise, more than ever, we need affordable, Public Power,” said Adam Flint, director of Clean Energy Programs at the Network for a Sustainable Tomorrow, in a press release. “NYPA’s draft proposal lacks the scope and ambition needed to meet the climate and affordability crises. We call on NYPA to expand the plan’s goals to 15GW, and to be sure every region of New York, including the Southern Tier, benefits from the jobs, economic development and low cost electricity this program will bring.”

At the Nov. 14 hearing, Public Power New York advocates and labor unions claimed the agency is not building enough renewable energy to meet New York’s climate goals and create a sufficient number of new union jobs. A report from Strategen Consulting and Public Power New York found that 20 additional gigawatts of renewable power must be built to reach the state’s climate goals by 2030.

Alex Patterson, the campaign coordinator of Public Power New York, alleged that the Power Authority’s decision to build 3.5 gigawatts of solar and wind energy originates from NYPA’s Republican chief executive, Justin Driscoll and the agency’s consultants from McKinsey & Company, who he said are “notorious for hollowing out public institutions and helping support private sector work.”

Vennela Yadhati, the Power Authority’s vice president for renewable project development, said a lack of state funding, less sunlight in New York compared to states like California and bureaucratic limitations contributed to its decision.

“NYPA went and built three-and-a-half gigawatts in just our first tranche,” Yadhati said. “I think that is actually very commendable, not because it’s my work, but because we know what it takes to build these projects, so we continue to look for opportunities that we can append to our pipeline.”

The public hearings come after 49 New York state legislators, including State Sen. Lea Webb ‘04, called on Gov. Kathy Hochul last year to direct the Power Authority to “build enough renewable projects” to meet the state’s climate goals as mandated by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. They said the authority’s ability to finance projects at low interest with highly rated bonds makes it suited to build renewable energy without raising taxes.

The legislators praised a provision in the Build Public Renewables Act that subsidizes the energy bills of low- to moderate-income ratepayers, calling on the agency to build more renewables to provide bill relief to New Yorkers.

Public Power New York advocates and elected officials also called on the agency to prioritize SUNY and CUNY in their strategic plan by building renewable energy projects on campuses, facilitating renewable energy research and establishing workforce development programs at such institutions.

After the public comment period is complete, the agency will submit its final Renewables Strategic Plan to the governor and the state legislature by Jan. 31, 2025.

“The work hasn’t stopped with the particular first tranche,” Yadhati said. “We continue to identify more opportunities.”

Editor’s Note (11/26): A clarification was added to specify the provision included in the 2023-24 budget and the number of hearings held across the state.

The Dean of Students Office has partnered with EdSights — an educational technology corporation that develops chatbots for higher education applications — to jumpstart the program. The chatbot, which takes the name of Baxter the Bearcat, will be piloted only to new students, who will be given the choice to opt-in to its services. The program will be expanded to include additional students based on the pilot phase’s results.

Throughout the year, the Baxter chatbot will periodically reach out to students, asking about their college experience. According to Amanda Finch, the dean of students, it will utilize a large language model from OpenAI and draw from a database of information about the University to provide relevant responses to students.

“We can have an understanding of where students are and how their experiences are impactful or not impactful — positive and negative — and to hear a little bit of student feedback about some of those things,” Finch said. “The other part of this initiative is that we really want to help the students and provide resources and support and advocacy for the students that need us the most, and so this helps us to identify them.”

The initiative addresses a drop in the University’s first-year retention rate, from 92 percent for the class of 2023 to 88.6 percent for the class of 2026. The four-year graduation rate also declined between 2021 and 2023, dropping from 77.1 percent for 2021 graduates to 74.7 percent for 2023 graduates. The chatbot is intended to bring these numbers back up, foster an improved student experience and provide users with a greater sense of belonging on campus.

“Student success and well-being are our top priority, and as part of that mission, we are always looking for new ways to help our students thrive here at Binghamton,” Ryan Yarosh ‘02, MPA ‘09, the University’s senior director of media relations, wrote to Pipe Dream. “The Baxter Chatbot initiative offers a quick go-to for campus resources, answers to commonly asked questions and assistance of any kind to all first-year students — providing them another tool toward the goal of a smooth, stress-free and successful experience at Binghamton!”

Most publicly available language models, like ChatGPT, authorize a limited number of people and service providers to review conversations only under certain circumstances, like when investigating abuse or handling legal issues. Unlike these models, University staff will monitor all student conversations with “Baxter.” Students should not expect total privacy when using the service.

According to Finch, the software will refer students to University services “to support the students who need [them] the most” based on their conversations with the chatbot. These conversations will be shared with the appropriate University staff, who will reach out and provide help to those students.

EdSights said they will comply with federal law to ensure “only personnel responsible for helping students succeed” will have access to student information shared with the chatbot. “Data anonymization techniques” will be applied to protect individual student data.

While addressing the accuracy of large language models and their ability to spread false information or “hallucinate,” EdSights said the education-related focus of the chatbot combined with rigorous testing and other limits placed on the A.I. tool will “minimize the risk of hallucinations.” Common chatbot systems like those engineered by OpenAI and Google hallucinate three and 27 percent of the time, respectively.

The chatbot is expected to be piloted to new students in mid-October.

New York’s Democratic and Republican presidential primaries resulted in overwhelming success for President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — both parties’ presumptive nominees.

Despite his win, many Democratic voters across the state opted to submit blank ballots as a protest vote against Biden’s Middle Eastern foreign policy. Of the 302,609 total Democratic votes, around 12 percent were blank, meaning none of the candidates were selected. In the 19th Congressional District — which includes Binghamton — 9.4 percent of Democrats submitted blank ballots with 100 percent of the vote tallied. In 2020, only 1.0 percent of Democrats did so in Broome County.

Voter turnout decreased during this year’s largely uncompetitive primary — only 3,107 Democrats voted in Broome County this year compared to 13,487 in 2020, excluding “blank” or “void” votes.

The Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at Binghamton University, which strives to foster dialogue and engagement on campus through nonpartisan voting programs, described their contributions to the increase in student voting at the University.

“We have seen meaningful increases in voter registration and turnout rates over the past several election cycles, including a 16-percentage-point increase in our student voting rate from the 2016 to the 2020 presidential elections,” a CCE representative wrote. “While youth turnout was up across the nation in 2020, [BU’s] increase outpaced the national average, showing the impact of efforts by the CCE, student leaders and campus partners to make voting accessible for our students.”

Primary elections were also held in Wisconsin, Rhode Island and Connecticut. In the Republican contests in New York, Trump won over 80 percent of the total vote, while former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley trailed behind taking almost 13 percent. Biden won over 80 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary with between eight and 15 percent of the vote being “uncommitted” in states where that was an option.

The “Leave It Blank” campaign, inspired by similar initiatives in other states like Michigan and Minnesota, has won over 370,000 votes nationwide and at least 20 delegates for the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The initiatives are designed to pressure Biden into calling for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza and ending United States military aid to Israel. In New York, it was endorsed by various state legislators and grassroots organizations, including the Working Families Party, the Muslim Democratic Club of New York and Jewish Voice for Peace.

“We do not believe that this campaign will make significant inroads within the Democratic Party,” wrote David Brennan, the treasurer of BU’s College Democrats and a senior majoring in political science. “It has not gained significant support in many states and will only serve a small percentage of delegates during the 2024 convention. After all, Biden was able to easily win after a competitive primary with serious [in-party] conflict during the early months of 2020. We overall support Biden’s Gaza policies due to his advocacy for a cease-fire and focus on providing aid to civilians. This is the best approach to create stability in the future.”

The College Republicans declined to comment.

Biden has since attempted to distance himself from Israel rhetorically and diplomatically, rebuking Israel for not taking enough measures to protect aid workers after the nation killed over seven World Central Kitchen aid group workers in Gaza and abstaining from voting on a temporary cease-fire resolution at the UN Security Council.

Broome County Democratic Committee chairwoman Karen Beebe acknowledged voters’ concerns but said she believes Biden’s policy is shifting due to pressure from the Working Families Party and protesters.

“I do believe that we will see a response from [Biden] with those numbers,” Beebe said. “He is a good human being, and I know he understands what’s happening is an atrocity. I think the fact that since voters do not support what’s happening, he will hear that and he will listen, and I believe his policies will reflect that going forward.”

TEDxBinghamtonUniversity held its 14th-annual conference, themed “Odyssey,” on Sunday in the Fine Arts Building’s Chamber Hall.

This year’s speakers sought to center their talks around “breaking barriers and trailblazing forward toward a new future,” and audience members were given the opportunity to network with them following the event. Each speaker made fundamental changes in their careers, academic pursuits or lives that can inspire attendees, according to Jay Yong, TEDxBinghamtonUniversity’s vice president and director of sponsorship and a sophomore double-majoring in accounting and psychology.

TEDxBinghamtonUniversity, an independent affiliate of TED — an international nonprofit organization that hosts speakers and creates online video programs about various scientific, political and cultural topics has organized conferences at BU since 2014, booking both student and professional speakers.

This year, the organization showcased six speakers, including three current students and an alumna.

“As they explore the uncharted territories in their lives and careers, we wish to inspire, enlighten and motivate our audience and spread the message of perseverance and courage,” the TEDx website said.

Eden Robbins ‘16, the lead designer at Venmo, described her struggles with imposter syndrome after shifting from an athlete interested in math to double-majoring in art and design and business administration. She shared how her mother’s validation of her art ultimately led to a design career, which has included work for Meta, Adobe and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Robbins said her ingenuity was overshadowed by doubt when describing her experience in both the University’s graphic design program and her first UX design analyst job.

“I had to turn my aspirations into reality,” Robbins said. “My journey has been a wild ride. One that I would not be on if I hadn’t seen the invisible opportunity behind the discovery of my drawings and, more importantly, had the courage to act on the unknown. I live by a personal mantra, ‘complacency signals the need for change.’”

The following two speeches were given by two current students. The first, Madelyn Fried, a freshman majoring in integrative neuroscience, described the inspiration behind a civics-based video game she created to educate her peers about civics. (Ya Chen, a third-year Ph.D. candidate studying industrial engineering, spoke about her research into bioprinting, a process similar to 3D printing that constructs living cells. She highlighted her grandmother’s biological heart valve replacement, reducing the need for future surgery, and compared it to the potential for her own research to “fabricate artificial capillary vessels.”

During intermission, Sulpoong, a Korean percussion student group, performed for attendees. After, Johnny Stanton IV, a former football player, recounted his history of injury and what it taught him about himself.

“I learned that I must love the game a lot to be able to fight back from each one of these injuries, each one of these times getting cut and have to redouble my efforts to be able to make it back to anywhere close to where I was before,” Stanton said. “Any time I have the opportunity to speak to high school students, this is really what I try to hammer home.”

Stanton explained that his adaptability allowed him to explore his other interests — becoming a Dungeons & Dragons influencer and game publishing company owner. He will speak with athletes about developing a brand outside of their sport on his podcast, Athletics Check.

Riya Bolander, a senior double-majoring in psychology and music, expressed their struggles with amatonormativity — the expectation that people should prioritize and desire romantic relationships. They claimed that it harmed both aromantic and romantic people by “creating an unnecessary hierarchy” and causing love to be “monopolized by romantic partnerships,” harming platonic relationships.

Erin Reed, a transgender journalist focusing on trans rights amid reactionary political backlash, spoke on trans people’s presence throughout history — from Enheduanna, humanity’s first named author, in Mesopotamia over 4,000 years ago to trans people today. Even with greater representation, civil liberties and medical care than in the past, activists and advocates are still battling anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.

“In the last three years, over 20 states have banned some level of gender-affirming for trans youth or adults — sports, bathrooms, LGBTQ+ books, and more,” Reed said. “These laws have forced trans people to feel that they have to flee from their home states. In Indeed, a recent data Data for Progress poll has showed that 8 percent of [trans] people have already fled their home state[s] … with an additional 40 percent considering leaving … If this continues … this could be one of the largest political migrations in modern [United States] history.”

Even with an ongoing international harassment campaign to demonize and exclude trans people, Reed said that some places are moving in a positive direction and that she is hopeful for the future.

“The overarching theme for all of our talks this year is honoring the journeys of our speakers, who are at the forefront and changing the paradigm of their career and industries,” Yong wrote in an email. “They will be sharing about the importance of the paradigm shift they are passionate about, and the endless possibilities that may entail for all of us.”

Advocating a pause in tax increases, Gov. Kathy Hochul released her $233 billion proposal for New York state’s 2025 fiscal year budget last month. The proposal came weeks earlier than the release of last year’s budget plan, which was marked by delays and finally passed over a month after the April 1 deadline.

The budget process begins with the governor’s proposal, which is discussed with leaders of the State Legislature. Both the State Senate and the State Assembly then have until March 31 to agree on a final proposal, one of the tightest windows of any state.

With a $2.2 billion budget surplus, Hochul expressed hesitation to increase taxes to avoid future projected deficit spending. The move was criticized by progressive groups, like the Working Families Party, and legislators, including State Sen. Jessica Ramos of Queens, who previously said that refusing to increase taxes on the wealthy did not make “mathematical sense.”

“Perhaps the notion is that we shouldn’t find creative ways to tax the middle class New Yorkers to drive them away,” Ramos said. “We should be taxing the rich so that we can provide every single child in New York state with a sound education, starting with the universal child care.”

Hochul’s budget — while including an $825 million increase in K-12 school aid — decreases funding for 44 percent of school districts in the state and removes a funding provision that prevents cuts to school districts’ annual state aid. The change was condemned by public education advocates and officials like Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, who expressed her concerns with Hochul’s K-12 education funding proposal, and Melinda Person, the president of the New York State United Teachers Union.

The governor’s proposal allocated $100 million in annual SUNY funding. Lupardo addressed the need for increased funding allocated to the tuition assistance program and for SUNY community colleges.

“As a member of the Assembly Higher Education Committee, I’m OK with the [governor’s] higher education budget as a starting point,” Lupardo wrote in an email. “There will likely be the need for additional capital investments, especially for [university centers] like BU. As for Assemblymember Forrest’s [free SUNY tuition legislation], [it’s] hard to argue with the [many] benefits this would provide to students. However, the bill currently lacks a [State] Senate sponsor and is missing an analysis of the fiscal impact this would have on the state budget and the SUNY system as a whole.”

Thomas Cipro, a senior majoring in history, praised the $4.8 billion allocation for mental health funding in the governor’s proposal.

“I find it reassuring to see Hochul committing more money toward mental health resources and education,” Cipro wrote. “Hopefully, our [University] can take inspiration from this sort of initiative.”

Hochul remains committed to her “New York Housing Compact,” which failed last year due to suburban opposition to building more housing. This time, Hochul has eliminated a central part of the proposal — housing mandates that would override local zoning laws to build new homes — out of fear of potential suburban backlash during an election year.

“While I am happy to see the governor’s priorities including adding to our housing stock, we must also enact protections for renters and ensure that housing is truly affordable for all New Yorkers,” Lea Webb, who represents Greater Binghamton in the State Senate, said.

Since last year’s state budget negotiations, Hochul’s opposition to State Sen. Julia Salazar and Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter’s Good Cause Eviction legislation has led to conflict with progressives in the legislature over two competing visions over housing — Hochul’s incentives to developers and the progressives’ support of tenant protections. The bill includes provisions that would require landlords to justify rent increases over three percent and would give tenants the ability to challenge certain types of evictions in court.

Further, Housing Justice for All, a statewide coalition of pro-tenant and homeless organizations in New York state, rebuked the governor’s housing plan for its lack of tenant protections and incentives to real estate developers.

“We need a robust social housing program that would create affordable, [high-quality] homes for all New Yorkers,” the group wrote in a statement. “Tenants will not stand for an ineffective housing compromise that combines [watered-down] tenant protections with failed developer handouts.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the Clean Slate Act last Thursday, sealing eligible felony and misdemeanor conviction records following an extended period after release.

According to its supporters, the legislation aims to give formerly incarcerated individuals a second chance by helping them reenter society, which will also contribute to addressing New York state’s labor shortage. It reforms a previous state record-sealing law, which was more limited in scope, did not automatically seal records and could only be applied more than a decade after one is no longer in prison.

“New York also has a labor shortage right now,” Hochul said. “I have 460,000 jobs that are unfilled today … [New York state is] lag behind other states in allowing people to get jobs because they’re haunted by long ago criminal records.”

The act goes into effect on Nov. 16, 2024 and will affect 2.3 million New Yorkers. After a fixed time when one is no longer incarcerated — after three years for misdemeanors and after eight years for felony convictions — an individual will be eligible to have their records sealed for civil purposes. Some crimes, including sex offenses, non-drug Class A felonies, murder and arson, are not eligible to be sealed under the new law.

Since the conviction records are sealed for civil purposes after the waiting period, records are still available to law enforcement and jobs requiring individuals to work with children or other vulnerable populations.

Many criminal justice proponents believe the act will deter future crime by helping formerly incarcerated individuals avoid a cycle of poverty with easier access to jobs and social services. Angela Riley, a Binghamton councilwoman, said in a press release that she considered the legislation to be part of a larger criminal justice reform strategy.

“By embracing a more compassionate and forward-thinking approach to criminal justice, we not only foster individual redemption but also contribute to building safer and more resilient communities,” the statement read. “Together we must continue to create legislation, programs and services that support the complete reintegration of individuals into society, recognizing that a society that provides a path to redemption, with a truly clean slate, is one that values justice and the potential for positive change.”

Racial justice and civil liberties advocates, including the New York Civil Liberties Union, praised the legislation because of its ability to help populations disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system, like people of color. Across New York state, Black people, who represent 14 percent of the state’s population, make up 40 percent of all misdemeanor and felony convictions. It is also being promoted by business supporters, including the Business Council of New York State and JPMorgan Chase, because of its potential positive economic impacts.

The legislation was modified to persuade holdouts from within the State Legislature and Hochul herself, as well as mollifying opposition from law enforcement groups. The waiting period was extended, and no Class A felonies except those related to drug possession can be sealed. New York State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo credited her delayed support of the legislation to some of these modifications.

“I was one of the last co-sponsors to put my name on the bill,” Lupardo wrote in an email. “I worked with the main sponsor of the bill for a long time to ensure that important safeguards were put in place. I was also persuaded by the argument that this would help address the overwhelming workforce shortages we are facing. In addition, the support of the Business Council of [New York state], labor unions and dozens of other groups across the state contributed to my support.”

Brennan Lynch, a senior majoring in political science, viewed the legislation as a welcome step in criminal justice reform.

“The Clean Slate Act is a great step in the direction of reforming our flawed criminal justice system into one of rehabilitation rather than perpetual punishment,” Lynch wrote. “Even with this move in the right direction, it is important to acknowledge that more needs to be done to aid formerly incarcerated individuals in rejoining society. I think that a bill that creates a standardized system of expunging certain records would be the logical next step.”

Continuing their Living Wage Campaign, Binghamton University’s Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) rallied in front of the Couper Administration Building Friday, delivering a petition advocating for the elimination of fees that graduate workers have to pay to University President Harvey Stenger. No university officials received the petition, leading to GSEU hanging it and its over 1,100 signatures from the railing of the building’s staircase.

This year’s New York state budget was supposed to remove fees for all graduate workers, but master’s and international students have not yet been included in Stenger’s implementation of the legislation. At a recent Faculty Senate meeting, Stenger disclosed that the $12 million in state funding over four years will be the first step in a “phased approach” to eliminate fees for some master’s student workers. Still, according to Matt Midgett — a chief steward for GSEU and second-year Ph.D. candidate studying English — many workers will not meet the University’s criteria.

GSEU’s Living Wage Campaign is aimed at improving graduate workers’ recently expired contracts to increase their stipend to a livable wage. The Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank that researches how economic trends impact American trends, estimates a livable wage for one adult living in a studio apartment in Binghamton to be $36,261. The minimum annual stipend for doctoral students is $21,000.

Midgett explained the impact of the wages on graduate students and their families.

“By paying us poverty wages, the University forces members to decide between basic necessities, rather than allowing us to comfortably pay our bills, feed our families and conduct quality research and effective instruction,” Midgett wrote in an email. “As we are currently paid, members have no choice but to supplement their diet with food pantries, choose between paying rent on time or paying utility bills and search for additional income sources in order to provide for their families — which is extraordinarily hard to do given that the University restricts our ability to work a second job in many cases and for international students, in all cases.”

At the rally, Brendan McGovern, the United University Professions (UUP) president and program coordinator for geography, and Binghamton City Council member-elect Nate Hotchkiss stood in solidarity with the graduate workers.

Ryan Yarosh, the University’s senior director of media and public relations, said that if graduate workers were full-time employees, their scaled wages would range from $56,209 to $64,248. He described some efforts BU has taken to improve the well-being of its graduate employees.

“Over the past several years, the University has been working to improve wages for its academic student employees with competitive compensation and other benefits,” Yarosh wrote in an email. “For the past six years, the University has invested $2.3 million each year to increase Ph.D. stipends while adding $500,000 per year to support additional Provost Summer Fellowships. We will continue to look at this issue in the coming months.”

He added that for this academic year, graduate employees were contracted between Aug. 17, 2023 and May 22, 2024 and that with 780 working hours over nine months, their hourly wage came out to between $26.92 and $30.77.

“Even though graduate student employees are contractually obligated to spend no more than 20 hours a week on [teaching assistant or graduate assistant] duties, they should be paid the living wage of a full-time employee,” the GSEU wrote in last year’s living wage petition. “Combining TA [and] GA duties with the work coming from classes and research, graduate employees usually work 60-80 hours a week … it is time that the University remembered that graduate workers are the backbone of this institution and that without them, [BU] would soon be brought to its knees.”

Emily Rosman, a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the Translation Research and Instruction Program, stressed the impacts of low wages on graduate workers’ health and the educational quality provided to undergraduate students.

“I teach two classes, and I also dog-sit, and I edit part-time,” Rosman said. “I have four jobs to be able to afford to live here. [It] negatively affects mental health, and negatively affects physical health. [It] affects the students too because we don’t have as much time as we would want to dedicate to them because we’re all working other jobs.”

Other SUNY campuses, including the University at Albany and Stony Brook University, have removed international student fees due to the state budget’s funding allocation.

Shruti Jain, a chief steward for the GSEU and fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in the English department, said that international graduate workers still pay about $300 a year in fees to BU.

“A lot of the University’s diversity quota is fulfilled by our faces and our presence on campus — the work that we do — and it’s really strange that we as international students not only have to pay as much as other doctoral students do but more to do this free PR for our campus,” Jain said. “When we move here from another country, we have more expenses — extra expenses — we have to send back home, sometimes families to take care of. When we don’t get paid [enough], our lives are not livable.”

Editor’s Note (11/21): This article has been edited to change the state funding number to the correct amount, from $3 million to $12 million. 

From Oct. 16 to Oct. 29, prospective students can submit applications to five SUNY schools for free.

The purpose of the free application period is to make the SUNY system more accessible by allowing low-income prospective students to apply, without having to navigate the existing means-tested barriers and forms for free applications. The fee waiver applies to all 64 colleges and universities in the SUNY system, and applicants can choose up to five schools. For those without economic hardship fee waivers applying outside the free application period, applications to each school costs $50 to apply.

This program is part of New York state’s College Application Month, which also offers free City University of New York (CUNY) applications for all New York City high school seniors for the rest of October. There will also be free applications at 40 New York state private colleges and universities during parts of October.

In a press release, Gov. Kathy Hochul proclaimed the initiative as focusing on “students from low-income families, first-generation students and students who may not otherwise apply for college.”

“I am thrilled that SUNY, CUNY and several of New York [state]’s private institutions will waive application fees,” the statement read. “Removing financial barriers enables students who may not have considered completing an application due to financial constraints to take the first steps of their educational journey.”

After the onset of the free SUNY application weeks last year, the program was credited for a “historic growth” in applications — more than double the amount received for the fall 2022 cycle.

Krista Medionte-Phillips, the University’s director of undergraduate admissions and assistant provost for enrollment management, predicted that the trend of increased application rates would continue.

“The free application period offered by SUNY is a great opportunity for prospective students to explore the options that exist within the SUNY system,” Medionte-Phillips wrote in an email. “Overall, last year, there was an increase in first-year applications submitted to [BU]. While there are many factors involved in where and when a student applies, we are once again anticipating a significant number of applications to be submitted over the next two weeks.”

New York State Sen. Lea Webb, ‘04, also an alumna of SUNY Broome, discussed her advocacy for increased SUNY funding, which resulted in a $163 million budget expansion, avoiding tuition increases.

“I am a proud [alumna] of two SUNY schools, and I know how important our public institutions are to working families across the state,” Webb wrote in an email. “I fought hard to increase funding for SUNY in this year’s budget to make opportunities like SUNY Free Application Week possible. I will continue to work to ensure that access to our public institutions of higher-ed are within reach for every New Yorker.”

Data detailing the effect that last year’s free application week had on the University’s acceptance rate has not yet been published. Still, the program may have had unintended consequences as increased enrollment, impacting the University’s ability to meet the housing needs of new students on campus. At the beginning of the semester, over 150 freshmen were reported to be living in super occupancy housing (SOH) — consisting of three or more students being placed in a room that was designed to fit less than three individuals — due to a lack of on-campus housing for newly admitted students.

Jordan Mayorga, a freshman majoring in biomedical engineering, credited the free application period for influencing to his decision to apply to BU.

“[The free application period] was one of a couple reasons why I applied here,” Mayorga said. “I wanted to take advantage of the fact that it is an easy way to apply and not have to worry about paying any fees.”

Stanley Chan, a freshman majoring in accounting, said he believed the reduction of financial obstacles outweighed potential drawbacks.

“[The free application period] should still continue,” Chan said. “A lot of people stress about the cost of applying to colleges, and [the program] helped me not worry about the cost of that.”

The New Energy New York (NENY) initiative recently received a $1.5 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).

This grant comes after NENY, a coalition led by Binghamton University to bolster battery production in the Southern Tier, won a total of $113.7 million last year from both New York state and the federal Build Back Better Regional Challenge — named after President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Plan. The funding’s purpose is to promote job growth and investment in the Southern Tier and help achieve federal climate goals, according to statements from the White House and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.

“This funding will power the next generation of workers to get the skills they need to enter the battery industry and connect innovative startups and cutting-edge supply chain companies with the resources they need to help make their home in the Southern Tier,” Schumer’s statement said. “[BU] is leading the charge to bring the battery industry back to America, and this funding will help to strengthen those critical efforts. I will continue to fight to keep this economic engine for BU juiced up to reach its full potential.”

The $1.5 million grant announced by the ARC — a partnership between the federal government and states in the Appalachian region tasked with promoting economic development — is intended to help further develop the battery industry in New York State’s Southern Tier through both the NENY’s workforce training and development program and the distribution of University resources to battery startups, according to Kari Bayait, NENY’s marketing communications manager. New York state is one of 13 federally defined in the Appalachian region.

“The funding from the ARC will help to boost the work and programming within our workforce development and innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives,” Bayait wrote in an email. “This additional funding will allow us to expand our current impact and reach to include development within distressed ARC areas to ultimately lead to high-paying jobs within [research and development] and manufacturing in these areas. Part of this includes rolling out a Technology Development Voucher Program. This will provide financial aid to battery and energy storage startups and small to medium-sized businesses, as well as provide them with access to [BU]’s resources and equipment for R&D.”

Ensuring that good-paying jobs exist in the clean energy industry has been a significant goal of the labor movement nationally as parts of the economy begin to transition away from fossil fuels. The Biden Administration’s report on “building resilient supply chains” and “revitalizing American manufacturing” found that — overwhelmingly — nonunion automotive battery plants pay disproportionately less than the automotive jobs they seek to replace.

“Top-scale unionized workers earn more than $31 per hour in base pay,” the report said. “In contrast, the automotive battery plants that are in existence or are advertising for production workers pay much less than existing powertrain plants, in the range of $17-21 per hour. In addition, some existing or announced [electric vehicle] plants are nonunion. To support a sustainable industry with a skilled and resilient workforce, [automotive equipment manufacturers] should leverage and support existing auto industry employees working in parts of the industry value chain that will see a transition in the coming years. This includes through access to training and retraining support and the opportunity to unionize and collectively bargain.”

While Binghamton does not have a large automotive industry presence, it is attempting to expand its battery industry through initiatives like NENY. iM3NY is a local nonunion commercial and battery manufacturer that is supported by NENY programs and is located on the former IBM campus in Endicott, NY with NENY’s BATTERY-NY manufacturing and development facility. The company plans to further expand into EV battery manufacturing, requesting a $700 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy in February and signing a joint venture with Omega Seiki Mobility — an Indian EV manufacturer.

“NENY, especially if turbocharged as an NSF [grant recipient], could mean an unbeatable support system, and C4V — [iM3NY’s research and development partner] — and iM3NY are excited to be part of this and lead as an active industrial partner,” Shailesh Upreti, iM3NY’s chairman, said in a BingUNews article.

iM3NY did not respond to additional requests for comment.

Last month, this loan program was strengthened with an additional $3.5 billion being available for future DOE battery industry loans with a new priority from the federal government — “creating new, good-paying jobs” where workers are given “a free and fair choice to join, form or assist a union” according to a DOE notice of intent.

The push for building new battery manufacturing infrastructure comes as many autoworkers are on strike across the country. Around 18,600 autoworkers working for the ‘Big Three’ automotive manufacturers — Ford, General Motors and Stellantis — are currently striking for more benefits and higher wages in a new labor contract. Additionally, concerns about any potentially negative effects a national transition away from gasoline-powered vehicles to EVs might have on employed autoworkers are also motivating this latest wave of strikes. EVs generally contain fewer parts than their traditional gasoline-powered counterparts, and they can be built with fewer workers. Shawn Fain, the president of the United Auto Workers — the labor union representing striking workers — demanded that the transition to EVs still ensure that autoworkers have a reliable source of employment.

“The UAW supports and is ready for the transition to a clean auto industry,” Fain said in a statement. “But the EV transition must be a just transition that ensures [automotive] workers have a place in the new economy. Today’s announcement from the [DOE] echoes the UAW’s call for strong labor standards tied to all taxpayer funding that goes to auto and manufacturing companies.”

Nadia Nabeel, a sophomore majoring in economics, and Erica Albert, a senior majoring in environmental studies, are members of Binghamton University’s Citizens’ Climate Lobby. They acknowledged the potential for battery manufacturing to help revive Binghamton’s economy — but warned against what they viewed as a project that could be environmentally detrimental.

“While this will likely have a positive impact on Binghamton’s economy and lithium batteries are a — very imperfect — upcoming source for green energy, these projects need to be done with extreme caution,” Nabeel and Albert wrote in an email. “Lithium battery plants contribute much to soil, water and air pollution wherever they are produced. Since some areas in Binghamton are low-income communities consisting mainly of people of color, it would be extremely unjust if these plants were placed closest to these areas as they historically have been, and this would simply further the cycle of [e]nvironmental [i]njustices.”

With over 18,600 students returning to Binghamton University this fall, the housing process is as competitive as ever. As the hunt for off-campus housing starts in earnest, here’s a guide on your rights as a renter.

Illegal lease provisions

A lease, which contains the terms and conditions of the rental, cannot be changed without the consent of both parties. According to the office of Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, leases must define the due date and payment of the rent, the length of the lease and the obligations of both the landlord and the tenant.

Leases must be easily readable and in everyday language, not legalese. The following provisions are illegal under state law — if they are in your lease, then the contract is not enforceable.

Giving up the warranty of habitability

Lease provisions cannot waive the warranty of habitability — your right to a livable, safe and clean home and associated public areas. It also requires landlords to make necessary repairs to your home. Violations include failing to regularly provide adequate heat or hot water, unhandled insect infestations and appliances that do not function properly. However, the law doesn’t protect against self-caused damages.

Make sure to document all breaches of the warranty of habitability, and give your landlord written notice of the conditions — which will allow you legal recourse to sue your landlord for a rent reduction or to withhold rent entirely until conditions are repaired. New York state law protects you from retaliatory evictions, though it can be difficult to prove in court that an eviction was retaliatory in court.

Landlords must respond as soon as possible for emergency repairs and have one week to respond to non-emergency repairs, according to the Ithaca Tenants Union. If your landlord fails to make timely repairs, you may withhold rent money to make the repairs yourself, if the cost of the repair is reasonable and the damage creates “a danger to the life, health or safety” to occupants. Failure to meet these conditions when doing a self-repair can result in eviction.

Giving up the right to a jury trial

You are entitled to a jury trial if your landlord attempts to bring a lawsuit as a result of alleged property damage or personal injury. This right cannot be removed by any language in your lease, though your landlord may mandate in the lease that you must pay their legal fees in the case of a lawsuit — which automatically entitles you to force your landlord to pay your fees as well.

Illegal fees

The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 prevents landlords from charging security deposits greater than one month’s rent, application fees exceeding $20, forcing you to pay to have a pet and adding charges separate from the security deposit.

Rental transparency

Landlords are required to let tenants inspect apartments before moving in. Ensure you put all requests for repairs in writing to create a paper trail, which should help protect you from the withholding of a security deposit at the end of your lease.

Late rent

After your rent is due, you have five days before it is legally considered late. Your landlord cannot charge late fees greater than $50 or 5 percent of the rent, whichever is less. You have the right to negotiate a payment plan with your landlord during or after these five days, and this right cannot be taken away by terms in your lease.

Landlord entry

Landlords can only enter your apartment for five reasons, according to the Ithaca Tenants Union:

1. Move-in or move-out inspections at the start or end of a lease

2. Inspections to ensure compliance with the terms of your lease

3. Showing the apartment to potential future tenants or buyers

4. Making repairs

5. Responding to a safety emergency

Your landlord must notify you at least 24 hours in advance of arriving for inspections and showing, though that requirement is waived when responding to a safety emergency.