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.
Neglected Diseases and Patients: The NIH Funding Crisis — Timothy Yi
The proposed funding cut “means fewer new treatments, slower time to realizing some of the benefits of medical research, and probably, ultimately, an inability to advance innovative health care in the way that we have in the past,” Prensner said in an interview I conducted with him in April. Though Prensner hasn’t reported experiencing disruptions to ongoing clinical trials in his own lab thus far, cancer treatment plans have already been suspended for a number of patients across the country.
Immeasurable Talent: Trump’s Erosion of School Accountability & Choice — Ethan Yoon
Trump cuts have dulled what was once the sharpest weapon in policymakers’ educational arsenal. Since the start of his second term, the Trump administration cut around $1 billion from the Department of Education’s funding. Despite promising to insulate NAEP from those cuts, Trump cancelled the 2015 NAEP for 17-year-olds and has since placed the former Biden-appointed commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics, who oversees the NAEP, on paid leave before the completion of her term. His cuts on the Department of Education’s headcount left only three employees at the National Center for Education Statistics to run the NAEP.
Doctors on Strike, Patients in Limbo: Korea’s Healthcare Crisis — Emily Kang
Trust was already strained. Doctors who work long hours, handle life-or-death cases, and shoulder high legal risk are deeply familiar with the healthcare system’s shortcomings. Many felt the new policy ignored on-the-ground realities. The government had long failed to address systemic issues like burnout, low compensation in high-risk specialties, and rising litigation. Now it was pushing a policy that, to many doctors, felt more political than medical—an attempt to boost sagging approval ratings by casting reform as a battle between the administration and obstructive elite doctors. Although the government later adjusted the number to 1,509, it was too late.
Halting Science at its Roots: The Trump Administration’s Attacks on Early Career Scientists — Anna Kilpatrick
A country that disinvests from science does so at its own peril, and targeting early-career scientists is particularly short-sighted for a country that has led the world in scientific discovery for more than eight decades precisely because of our university-centered structure. Abandoning support for future scientists will reduce the quality of the science we’re able to produce, something which is especially alarming as we continue to navigate complex, accelerating problems.
Medical Debt Doesn’t Have to be Normal — Aidan Shannon
The good news is that we know what works to prevent medical debt. It starts with the foundational step: expand health insurance coverage. States that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act have seen dramatic reductions in medical debt. A 2021 JAMA study found that new medical debt fell by 44 percent in states that expanded Medicaid, compared to just 10 percent in states that refused to expand. Expanding Medicaid in the ten holdout states would extend insurance to millions of working poor Americans, dramatically cutting the amount of unpaid hospital bills.
Prohibiting Prosperity: The High Cost of the Taliban’s Opium Ban — An Anonymous Author
In 2022, Afghanistan produced more than 80% of the world’s opium, capturing as much as 95% of the market in Europe. With a shaky start to external relations, the Taliban’s edict to outlaw opium was likely deemed an effective way of appealing to Western sentiment. But using force to outlaw the main source of livelihood for a significant percentage of the population holds potentially devastating ramifications from which the Afghan nation will struggle to recover.
All Bets are off… the Air? — Vikram Joshi
American sports gamblers lost $13.26 billion in 2024, and the amount has risen every year since states began legalizing sports betting in 2018. These losses entail serious financial consequences: sports gambling is pushing people into debt and even bankruptcy. Despite this danger, quitting is difficult; many people are at risk for developing or have already developed a gambling addiction. Meanwhile, the industry continues to broaden its reach. A recent poll by the Siena College Research Institute found that 39% of Americans bet on sports, which has almost doubled from two years ago.
School Smartphone Use & The Rise of the “Screenager” — Sonika Menon
Perhaps the most dangerous phone use during school is cyberbullying, including the distribution of sexually exploitative content and videos of students physically abusing their peers in school bathrooms or locker rooms. While the implementation of classroom phone bans will not curb cases of in-person bullying, the presence of smartphones exacerbates the issue by giving sensitive content a permanent residence on the internet, complete with a global audience. Therefore, along with classrooms, teachers should enforce phone-free zones in areas like bathrooms and locker rooms, where bullying is more likely to occur.
Japan’s Sex Industry: The Cost of Ambiguous Regulation — Sabrina Matsui
The legal landscape surrounding Japan’s sex industry is a paradox. On paper, prostitution is illegal under Article 3 of the Prostitution Prevention Law. However, the law is riddled with loopholes. The regulation only bans vaginal intercourse for money, meaning other forms of paid sex work exist in a legal gray area. As a result, an entire industry of “delivery health” services, hostess clubs, and soaplands thrives by skirting legal definitions and thereby avoiding prohibition. Rather than protecting vulnerable individuals, this fragmented policy approach fosters an environment where abuse flourishes unchecked.
Combatting the Algorithm: How Delivery Riders Survive and Thrive the Platform Economy — Jessie Zhang
Why can’t Chinese delivery riders stop the hustle? How does the delivery platform hold on to its laborers? In this video, Jessie will introduce you to the challenges, vulnerabilities, and aspirations of delivery riders through their own voices.
Retail Electricity Markets: Explainer for Illinois Residents — Luke Delaney
While some customers have good reasons for switching to an Alternative Retail Electricity Supplier (ARES), staying with the default utility supply option is the best decision for most Illinoisans, given current market trends. The video also covers predatory marketing practices in the retail electricity market so that viewers can recognize and avoid them.
Powering Artificial Intelligence: A Conversation with Kent Chandler, the Former Chairman of the Kentucky Public Service Commission — Eric Fang
In the interview, Chandler and Eric discuss topics such as the historical precedents of United States’ electricity demand, grid reliability, the role of energy efficiency, balancing economic development with a fair cost allocation, the role of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and finally, Chandler’s advice to future Commissioners of the Kentucky Public Service Commission.