The Four-Hour Death: U.S. Law Fails to Address the Fish Slaughter Crisis — Riley Hocker
While evidence of fish pain perception accumulates, regulatory responses vary dramatically by region. The EU requires by law that fish be spared unnecessary pain during slaughter. Norway banned carbon dioxide stunning, a particularly painful method, more than a decade ago, with 80% of their fish facilities now using less harmful stunning methods instead. The UK has scientific committees specifically focused on fish welfare at slaughter. America? Complete silence on the issue. The most frustrating part is that we already have better methods that are entirely practical.
Inside the Chaos: The Numbers Behind USAID’s Dismantling — Emily Shi
In February, the Trump administration announced a plan to eliminate over 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and $60 billion in assistance. A month later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that 83% of USAID’s programs would be cancelled, without offering a rationale for the figure change. Out of 6200 contracts appropriated by Congress in the last budget approval, Rubio said that the 1000 that remained would be transferred to the State Department. Within the first few months of the administration, programs have been suspended, reinstated, and terminated multiple times.
Unprecedented Times and Authoritarian Signs: One International Student’s Journey through Trump’s Second Era — Ariana Ukaonu
President Donald Trump began his second term in January of 2025, and has since taken multiple measures to increase deportation, the revocation of visas, and the detainment of noncitizens–regardless of status, criminal background, or legality. In light of how these measures present a threat to universities, this conversation offers an unfiltered space for the emotions, opinions, and reactions of one student on a F-1 visa, a primary demographic target of Trump’s authoritarianism and ideological control. They will be referred to as Student X for their safety. A conversation between two college friends, this interview is filled with personal anecdotes, hot takes, and the occasional banter. The interview was conducted on April 17, 2025.
Stay Alive, Stay True: How Nonprofits are Navigating Trump-Era Threats — Faustina Yick
Together, these stories reflect a hard truth: no money, no mission. As Christa Velasquez, nonprofit lecturer at the University of Chicago, puts it: “If [nonprofits] don’t have the money, they can’t do their work.” Diversifying funding is no longer optional— it’s a strategic imperative.
Implications of Frozen Federal Funds for the Illinois Finance Authority — Austin Yang
Many IFA grants are now jeopardized by President Trump’s sweeping federal freeze mandates from earlier this year. The order drafted by the Office of Management and Budget mandated freezes across trillions of dollars in federal grants. Although the initial decision was subsequently rescinded in response to a legal and public backlash, these developments upended the lending sector. For the non-profit sector working with the IFA, it meant disruptions and uncertainty across a range of climate-related projects.
The CTA Needs to Keep Funding Homelessness Outreach, Other Cities Should Too — Natalie Floreancig
Most would agree that public transit is not an ideal place for people to be sheltering. Sleeping on trains can be both physically harmful and dangerous. However, it is still essential that infrastructure is developed specifically with the goal of making trains safer and more comfortable to sleep on, not because this is a permanent solution but because, as Jacob Wasserman, the Research Program Manager for the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies, said, “transportation has to bear the burden of failures in other social realms”.
2026 World Cup and the Threat of Travel Delays — Sofia Brady
Lingering delays in visa processing from the COVID-19 pandemic will only be exacerbated by the 2026 World Cup’s expanded format to 48 teams instead of 32, which will incentivize fans from a greater number of countries to travel for the competition. Unfortunately, some of these fans will be more inconvenienced by delays in the visa approval process than others. Wait times for available consular appointments can vary greatly depending on the country, but in some cases, delays are so extreme that fans may miss the competition entirely. For example, fans applying for visas in Bogotá, Colombia must wait over a year for the next available appointment, making it impossible for them to be approved by the time the World Cup starts in June 2026.
“They’d Cry. Then They Vanished”: Inside the Collapse of USAID, in the Words of Those Who Lived It — Tal Yahalom
“Without the House, Democrats can’t do anything,” Quigley said. But even he acknowledged the broader governing failure of USAID’s gutting: “It’s not charity. It’s national security.” Indeed, foreign aid is one of America’s smartest soft-power investments. It prevents pandemics. It promotes stability. It makes the world safer — including for Americans. James Mattis, Trump’s former Defense Secretary, once said, “If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition.” Congress, apparently, forgot.
Shifting Funding Priorities from Prevention to Public Health Crisis? — Paige Heffke
The announcement came in March, with the Department of Health and Human Services stating it would rescind nearly $12 billion in funds earmarked for infectious disease control, including coronavirus, measles, Candida auris, bird flu, sexually transmitted infections, and influenza. These enormous cuts include $125 million in previously awarded funds to the Illinois Department of Public Health, and an additional $324 million in future funds promised to Illinois-based health centers.
When Monopoly Met Malware: How UnitedHealth’s Dominance Led to a Catastrophic Cyber Attack — Mihika Jain
More than a year after a cyber breach affecting UnitedHealth Group (UHG) subsidiary Change Healthcare compromised 190 million people’s data, providers continue to feel the pain of UHG’s scale
Unprotected: How Battered Migrant Women Struggle for Protection in the Era of Trump 2.0 — Marcela Cid-Rosas
But this is not all. The impact of defunding reaches far beyond individual programs. It disrupts the ability of organizations like CLS to function at even the most basic level. When I asked about the broader implications, Barrientos was clear: “Without our federal grants, we have had huge financial cuts, and so it calls into question hiring and salaries. How will we get the work done if we don’t have the budget to hire/pay attorneys?” This simple question cuts to the heart of the crisis: there can be no legal aid without lawyers. And without funding, migrant women are all the more susceptible to the predations of both abusive men and a nativist government.
Outdated by Design: Reimagining Schools for Real-World Skills — Micayla Roth
Of course, cognitive and social-emotional skills go hand-in-hand: engaging with the real-world challenges of a project can teach resilience, and resilience allows students to tackle real-world problems. The strongest school models should reflect that truth – whether that looks like Polaris, where Crew is coupled with expeditionary learning, or HTH, where projects frequently challenge students to examine their identities and communities. Critically, this requires the funding and autonomy to experiment with new curricula, educational leaders committed to continuous improvement and iteration, and massive scaling of successful programs to reach students across the country.
Strings Attached: Why UChicago’s Fight Against NIH Cuts Should Matter to Everyone — Laine Weis
NIH funding is the engine behind most major medical breakthroughs in the U.S. Basic biomedical discoveries—those made in university labs, funded by public dollars—form the backbone of nearly all new FDA-approved therapies. These discoveries are shared openly, reducing duplication, lowering drug costs, and accelerating innovation. This is the key difference between private funds and federal. Federal funds acknowledge that funding early career scientists and projects that may produce slower returns on investment is an essential responsibility of the federal government, which recognizes scientific progress as a public good.
Fire Season Has Begun and Wildland Firefighters Are Facing a New Threat: The Trump Administration — Kate Wehle
Despite the objects of many experts, the administration, in January, issued a federal hiring freeze, preventing the hiring and onboarding of seasonal firefighters, who, last year, composed a third of all federal wildland firefighters. The administration has also attempted to eliminate the jobs of permanent Forest Service employees. In early February, the administration issued an executive order that fired (and was subsequently forced to rehire) 3,400 probationary employees, about 10% of the Forest Service’s workforce.
Going Corporate: Trumps Threat to Privatize the United States Postal Service — Kalysa Blunt
The threat of privatization facing USPS is looming and it is pertinent that those most affected understand the potential dangers these changes may bring. However, recognizing the value USPS brings to communities, particularly rural and underserved populations, empowers citizens and policymakers to push for reforms that strengthen USPS rather than dismantle it. As USPS continues to be a lifeline for millions, ensuring that essential communication and goods remain accessible regardless of location is necessary.