This week, nearly one in 10 people across the world will use a tool that did not exist just a few short years ago — ChatGPT. According to a September 2025 working paper by economists and researchers at OpenAI, more than 700 million people actively use ChatGPT each week and that “for a new technology, the speed of global diffusion has no precedent.”
In September, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, responsible for Boston’s public transit network, announced they would be cracking down on fare evasion — the practice of traveling on public transit without paying. This move comes after the MBTA has already lost tens of millions of dollars from unpaid fares. According to a 2021 MBTA analysis, the system lost between $5 million and $6 million in annual revenue from unpaid fares on subways, trolleys and buses. Including the commuter rail, the MBTA lost an additional $10–20 million each year. When an NBC investigative team scoped out several Green Line stations near Boston University, they found that almost every passenger boarded the train without paying.
As a new semester at Tufts begins, food is everywhere — at dining halls, social bonding events, late-night study sessions and parties. It is ubiquitous, a triviality many of us neglect to consider, yet essential for survival — and for most Americans, food is also synonymous with meat. 89% of Americans include meat as part of their regular diet, while only 4% of Americans identify as vegetarian and a minuscule 1% as vegans. However, as we enter the fall, I would like to respectfully urge those who enjoy meat to consider eating just a little less of it this semester, or at least consider the notion before rejecting it immediately.
In recent weeks, the H-1B visa program has faced an onslaught of criticism. Intended to encourage skilled immigration to the United States, H-1B visas allow companies to hire temporary foreign workers in specialized occupations. Today, most H1-B visa holders hail from India or China and the biggest beneficiaries of the H-1B visa program are tech companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
In less than one hundred days, President Joe Biden will leave office, passing the baton to President-elect Donald Trump, who will reassume control of the presidency with Republicans in charge of both chambers of Congress. This governmental trifecta means the incoming Trump administration will have a significant amount of power with which to enact their economic agenda — an agenda that could both raise prices and increase deficits.
On Nov. 5, 2024, Democrats were handed their worst defeat in a presidential election since 2004. Donald Trump decisively defeated Kamala Harris, winning the popular vote by around two points and sweeping every swing state. The “tipping point” state in the election was Pennsylvania, which Harris lost by two points, roughly the percentage by which she lost the national vote. This was not a close election and Harris’ loss cannot be attributed to Electoral College bias or depressed voter turnout. On Election Day, American voters sent a loud and clear signal they wanted Donald Trump back in the White House.
In 1991, Louisiana voters were faced with two unfavorable options for governor: Democrat Edwin Edwards and David Duke, a white supremacist and former KKK grand wizard. Edwards had a history of gambling, corruption and scandalous affairs. In 1985, Edwards even admitted to taking $1.9 million to sell state hospital and nursing home permits. Nevertheless, faced with the choice between Edwards and a white supremacist, Lousianians chose Edwards as the lesser evil.
At the end of eighth grade, my school decided to take us on a one-week overnight trip to Yosemite National Park. We learned about Yosemite’s ecosystems and history while hiking through forests and among thundering waterfalls. Almost a decade later, I remember this trip vividly, just as I remember every national park I’ve been to.
I’ve spent the last year writing columns about how U.S. public policy can be improved. From housing to public transportation to education to climate change, there are many areas where we can do better. For my last edition of this column, however, I wanted to write about beneficial public policies that have been passed and that are often missed or ignored in a media consumption environment with a strong negativity bias.
Clean energy is a core part of the Democratic Party’s platform. The 2020 Democratic Party platform calls for building a “globally competitive clean energy economy”[a]. Yet in 2024, the state with the most installed solar infrastructure is not New York or California, where Democrats dominate state government, but Texas, a Republican-controlled state[b]. This isdespite billions of dollars spent by California’s state government to invest in solar[c].
