“Something to be involved in”: Fostering intra-campus community through zine- making and the potentials of a zine library at Binghamton University

Zines encompass a wide variety of works broadly defined as self-published print works that are not made with profit in mind. They have long fostered community networks for marginalized groups and fringe interests. In recent years, they have increasingly been used in academic contexts, through class assignments, student organizations, and library programming. While there have been a number of zinemaking initiatives at Binghamton University, there has been little institutional support for this work and it has been incredibly fragmented. This project aims to bridge the gaps between zinemakers and administrative support through the creation of a campus zine library. During the Spring 2025 semester, I studied resources and articles that discussed what a zine library can provide to a university campus, interviewed faculty and student organizations already utilizing zines, and facilitated student zinemaking workshops to understand zinemaking at Binghamton as well as foster interest in zines. I will utilize these resources to create a proposal for the creation of a zine library at Binghamton University that can be used by library administration beyond this semester. By analyzing previous writing on zine libraries and zines in academic institutions and incorporating my own research with stakeholders at Binghamton University, this project contributes to the growing body of research on zines as tools for academic and social engagement as well as highlights the role that the Binghamton University Libraries have to foster creativity and engagement through a potential campus zine library.https://orb.binghamton.edu/library_research_scholars_2025/1000/thumbnail.jp

Hepatitis C (HCV) Care in the Southern Tier

The rural Southern Tier of New York has a significantly higher burden of Hepatitis C (HCV) infection than the rest of the state, emphasizing the region\u27s need for enhanced HCV prevention and care. In collaboration with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), Bureau of Hepatitis Health Care and Epidemiology, this pilot study aims to identify facilitators and barriers to HCV care in the Southern Tier. An electronic survey and focus groups were used to assess the availability and quality of HCV services in our catchment area. Organizations that currently offer or are interested in offering HCV services were invited to participate. In the future, the NYSDOH may adopt our model to better evaluate and improve HCV infrastructure across NYS.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1109/thumbnail.jp

Enhancing Psychiatric Care Through SBAR: A Quality Improvement Initiative in Inpatient Psychiatric Settings

Effective communication is essential in psychiatric inpatient settings, yet structured handover communication remains inconsistent. This quality improvement project enhances communication among nurses through SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) implementation. The intervention includes nurse education, pre- and post-assessments using the KA-SBAR survey, and tracking SBAR compliance via 24-hour administrative email reports. Data will evaluate changes in SBAR usage, compliance, and nurses’ knowledge. Guided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) framework, the project ensures continuous quality improvement. Expected outcomes include enhanced patient safety, improved interprofessional collaboration, and optimized psychiatric nursing care. This initiative highlights the importance of standardized handover communication in reducing errors and improving care delivery in psychiatric settings.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1150/thumbnail.jp

The Passport Paradox: When Citizenship Becomes a Weapon

The US and EU are often viewed as safe havens for those who are being politically silenced under oppressive governments. Acquiring US/EU citizenship is often considered a solution to the lack of political agency of those escaping these regimes, but if access to citizenship is controlled by the state, to what extent does this new citizenship status solve this problem? This research focuses on Kurdish people who have escaped persecution at the hands of the Turkish government and resettled in one of these host regions. This research will demonstrate how the US/EU use citizenship acquisition as a tool to delimit the political agency of Kurds who have resettled there. Due to international negotiations between Turkey and the US/EU, foreign policy goals, and the individual dynamics of resettlement, resettled Kurds find that their political agency is still limited by the same repressive policies they sought to escape from.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1104/thumbnail.jp

One Education, Under God: A Study of White Christian Nationalism Its Authoritarian Impact on the United States K-12 Public Education

In recent years, White Christian Nationalism (WCN) has been identified by scholars as a driving force behind the spread of authoritarian thought in U.S. institutions– including public education. This study draws on existing scholarship to define WCN, discern authoritarian ideology within WCN, and identify key intersections between WCN and U.S. public education. Legislation including the “Stop WOKE Act” and Florida House Bill 1557 are examined to highlight active WCN authoritarian policies. Findings indicate that WCN undermines U.S. public education by campaigning for the elimination of minorities’ stories in curricula (particularly Black Americans and LGBTQ+) under the guise of maintaining America’s moral integrity. In response, this study proposes the implementation of media literacy and civil dialogue programs in public education. Thus, this study contributes to the current literature by analyzing WCN’s authoritarian threat to U.S. public education and providing potential action to address this issue.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1067/thumbnail.jp

Plant Community Assembly Dynamics on Rock Walls: The Role of Environmental Filtering and Dispersal Syndrome

Natural rock walls serve as habitat patches for plants, offering protection from competition, predation, and disturbance. We examined plant community assembly on rock walls, assessing whether colonization is primarily influenced by top or bottom communities and how dispersal methods affect establishment. Across six locations in New York, 97 plant genera were identified, with 15 (15.5%) found exclusively on rock walls, dispersed by wind (48%), gravity (7%), ballistic (3%), ants (6%), and other animals (36%). Sampling along 0–18 meter transects, it was found that similarity to top communities increased with height (p = 0.005), while no significant effect was found for bottom communities. Slope influenced dissimilarity to both top (p \u3c 0.001) and bottom (p \u3c 0.001) communities, with colonization favoring shallower slopes. Micro-features (cracks, faces, ledges) significantly impacted dissimilarity (p = 0.013). These results suggest plant communities are primarily filtered from top communities, shaping their persistence in extreme environments.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1092/thumbnail.jp

HOW FAR-RIGHT POPULISM HARMS ETHNIC MINORITIES’ HEALTH: THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES

Public health is a political issue, and the health of ethnic minorities is a key component of it. We argue that far-right populism, whether grassroots or elitist, harms the health of immigrants and minorities. Anti-minority attitudes and policies—such as health chauvinism promoted by far-right populists—along with hate rhetoric and ensuing personal and institutional discrimination create a climate of hostility that negatively affects health outcomes in underprivileged communities. We hypothesize that immigrants and ethnic minorities living in such a climate are more likely to experience health problems and underutilize healthcare. To test this, we leverage the significant variation between U.S. states in anti-minority attitudes and support for far-right populist candidates. Using data from the World Values Survey on immigrants’ and ethnic minorities’ status, self-rated health, and the number of foregone necessary doctors’ visits, we find that ethnic minorities in states with strong support for far-right populist presidential candidates and corresponding anti-minority agendas are more likely to report poor health and to forgo necessary healthcare visits

Enhancing Teacher Training: Understanding Educators’ Knowledge of Evidence-Based Practices for Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders face significant challenges in inclusive educational settings, yet research on effective strategies for supporting these students remains limited. Many educators receive inadequate training in managing the unique needs of students with emotional and behavioral disorders, creating barriers to effective classroom management and instruction. This mixed-methods study aims to explore educators\u27 knowledge of evidence-based practices and high leverage practices for students with emotional and behavioral disabilities. Specifically, researchers used survey research to investigate New York educators\u27 understanding of evidence-based practices, the relationship between evidence-based practice knowledge and perceptions of inclusive practices, and whether educator characteristics impact evidence-based practice knowledge. Content analysis was used to examine participant responses, utilizing meaning units, codes, and categories to identify patterns in evidence-based practice knowledge. Frequency counts were used to track the number and types of evidence-based practices recognized by participants. This research aims to provide valuable insights for enhancing teacher preparation and improving inclusive practices for students with emotional and behavioral disorders in general education classrooms.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1016/thumbnail.jp

Workfare and Women: Work Requirements and Sexism from the New Poor Law to Clinton-Era Reform

Welfare has been distributed in the English-speaking world since the Elizabethan era, but the prospect of cash relief without work has often proved controversial. In response, so-called workfare, or welfare with work requirements, has repeatedly been implemented, yet often forces poor people to take on jobs with terrible working conditions and little opportunity for advancement. By comparing Britain’s switch from outdoor relief to workhouses in 1834 and the transition to conditional aid during the 1996 U.S. welfare reforms, this project examines the impact of work requirements on women. Drawing on parliamentary reports, government documents, newspaper articles, and discussions by historians and economists, this paper delves into the ideology of those who created the legislation and the perspectives of those who were affected by it. In both reforms, sexism and neo-Malthusian concerns of poor women reproducing led legislators to impose work conditions for welfare, as an attempt to increase self-sufficiency.https://orb.binghamton.edu/research_days_posters_2025/1004/thumbnail.jp