While tragic, stories like this are unfortunately common. Maryland provides Medicaid beneficiaries access to care through managed care organizations (MCOs) or corporate middlemen who are supposed to "reduce Medicaid program costs and better manage utilization of health services." However, because they receive Medicaid funds upfront, they are incentivized to delay and deny care, using bureaucratic hurdles such as prior authorizations to generate profits. Recently, they have even begun using automated systems to deny cases en masse without ever opening these requests. Yet, when patients or clinicians appeal, and a human reviews the case, the denial is reversed over half the time, indicating that it was wrongly issued. This administrative red tape not only harms patients but also leads to clinicians leaving the Medicaid program, limiting beneficiaries' choice in doctors. Additionally, Medicaid MCOs, ironically marketed as "HealthChoice," already restrict beneficiaries' options with narrow provider networks.

And yet, for all its trouble, Medicaid managed care is not even delivering its promised cost savings. Instead, these profit-seeking MCOs keep roughly 13 cents of every taxpayer-funded Medicaid dollar they receive, while beneficiaries see their cost-sharing and bills go up. Medicaid does not need to be administered this way. Transitioning to a single, state-run program using a fee-for-service model (in which the state pays clinicians directly for their services) would actually reduce costs to an estimated maximum of 4 to 6 cents in administrative overhead on the dollar. And Maryland would not be the first state to make this shift.

After it eliminated MCOs from its Medicaid system in 2012, Connecticut's overhead costs have declined to 3.8%, with reports estimating overall savings of over $4 billion in the 13 years following implementation. Doing away with MCOs' administrative waste and profit was not the only source of these savings. Rather, the resulting improvements in primary care delivery and care coordination had profound impacts. Removing MCOs led to increased physician participation in Medicaid, providing Medicaid patients with better access to primary care and preventative services. Consequently, ER visits and hospitalizations, some of the most expensive health care services, declined, since patients were being seen and treated before their conditions became critical.

The future of Maryland's health and of our state budget can benefit greatly by following Connecticut's lead. With 1.5 million Marylanders covered by Medicaid, and 85% of those individuals enrolled in one of the state's nine MCOs, it is estimated that a shift to a unified Medicaid program could save Maryland taxpayers up to $521 million annually. All while preventing patients like ours from experiencing disastrous delays in care.

Maryland is facing a Medicaid crisis following the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Act which will reduce federal Medicaid funding by $1 trillion nationwide over the next 10 years. However, a bill currently advancing in the state House of Delegates, HB1112, requires the Maryland Health Insurance Coverage Protection Commission to formally investigate how removing MCOs and adopting a fee-for-service model for Medicaid can help the state respond to these impending funding cuts. Passing this bill can serve to protect Medicaid enrollees, reduce physician burnout, increase Medicaid utilization and improve the health and finances of our state. As a Marylander, make your voice heard by calling or emailing your state delegates to share your story and support for HB1112.

Hope Zamora, Rohan Jaiswal, and Amanda Andriessen are medical students at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

What is What2Do?

At its core, What2Do is meant to ease boredom amongst the students. Through a centralized event feed and real-time updates, the group simplifies how students at Hopkins discover what's happening around them. Additionally, the platform encourages users to both attend and create events within their own community.

"So basically, What2Do is a platform that we're trying to make to give people live events happening around campus and, eventually, we're going to branch out in a way that's like TikTok style - like a feed of events just like the same way that you scroll through any other platform [that] you're used to," Tabrizi explained. "We're basically eliminating the question of 'What should I do today?' Instead of having to search or dig through different sources, [we can have] everything presented in one feed."

This approach prioritizes convenience and accessibility, mirroring the design of platforms that students are already familiar with. By adopting a familiar scrolling interface, the app lowers the barrier to entry for new users.

The team's goal is to streamline event discovery into one seamless experience. Ultimately, the app is designed to make social planning effortless. In doing so, What2Do aims to increase participation in campus life.

"What2Do is a real-time platform that helps people discover and create nearby events, solving the common issue of not knowing what to do, from pickup sports to book clubs and networking events," Raissi elaborated.

When asked why What2Do has decided to devote heavy efforts toward social media promotion, the team emphasized visibility as a key factor in early growth. The founders explained that consistent posting assists in building their credibility, highlighting how short-form content drives engagement.

"Social media is where people already spend their time - on Instagram, TikTok, even LinkedIn - so it's the best place to meet them where they already are," Khadilkar said. "The goal [isn't just] promotion, it's also to build more awareness and create a recognizable presence - and also a brand name that really sticks."

The team expects the application to begin like the current popular app "Sidechat" - a discussion platform where anonymous students can engage with others across their college campus - having it start off as only present on the University campus, where users would have to be verified using their school email.

The application will consist of three methods for event hosting: a setting for "Everyone," which will show up on the public feed for all account holders, "Friends," which will only appear to those who have a mutual connection and "Custom," which is an "Invitation Only" option.

The group emphasized that as Hopkins students, academics must come first and that discipline is needed to make their passion project a success.

"It definitely takes discipline," Tabrizi explained. "We try treating What2Do like a full-time job because we want to consistently keep posting and making sure that we stay relevant [and] on top of things. But, you know, academics still have to come first."

Who is behind What2Do?

The What2Do team is comprised of various developers, a social media team and the leadership unit. In addition to Raissi, Khadilkar and Tabrizi from Hopkins, students such as Cam O'Neil - who is an undergraduate from Cornell, What2Do's fellow cofounder and Chief Business Officer (CBO) - and coders Krishnam Jhalani and Souham Tekriwal also assist in building and refining the app's technical structure. Furthermore, students Tori Gordon and DeeDee Golla are prominent in the group's social media promotions, aiding in creating engaging promotional content.

In the interview with The News-Letter, Raissi emphasized the importance of creating a well-rounded team who are passionate about the development of the platform.

"We selected people who we know would be interested in this. We also asked many people and filtered throughout whether we felt they were a good fit for us or not," he elaborated. "For example, DeeDee is a good friend of mine. She's very social, she's very well connected on campus and she's not afraid to put her face out on social media, so it was a very good fit."

For those who have further questions regarding the application and would like to be involved in the platform, the team requests that they message the What2Do Instagram (@joinwhat2do) or email them at teamwhat2do@gmail.com.

Why should we care about What2Do?

"We noticed that people just often don't know what's happening around them. I remember - more than just on campus, [but] more off campus - the summer coming to Johns Hopkins, I remember I was so bored and I was like, 'Man, is there an app on the App Store literally called 'What To Do,' because I just had no idea," Tabrizi said.

Moments like these highlighted a clear gap in the market for social events; even though there may be many events to attend around campus, many students still struggle to find specific ones that they are interested in. Moreover, the founders established that maintaining a centralized hub for various functions can ease the process of socializing and allow users to connect to one another in real time.

"I think our generation is always experiencing social media," Khadilkar added. "I think having an app that really takes us off our phones and connects [us] in real time and [allows us] to meet different people [...] is super important, especially over the next few years.

The success behind the What2Do team is closely tied to user engagement and feedback. In order to measure it, the developers track user behavior and engagement patterns, analyzing retention rates and interaction frequencies.

Together, these metrics help define what success means to the team. This dual approach ensures that user satisfaction and growth are taken into account. By approaching feedback in this manner, the team is able to continuously refine the app based on user behavior and satisfaction.

"I mean, honestly, it really comes down to two things, right?" Tabrizi explained. "One is basically how our users and the people who [we] are trying to reach really interact with this application - if they really love the events they see. The other is the statistics of it, which is like how many times [people are] really coming back to this app to see what's going on around campus. If we see that in a week they come back to this app 4 or 5 times, that's amazing metrics for us."

Unlike Hopkins Groups (the University-wide platform for students to discover and register for organizational events around campus), What2Do aims to offer a more dynamic and user-friendly alternative. The application focuses on real-time updates and introduces a more engaging experience.

"The main thing is just the fact that [there is] a global feed," Tabrizi said. "We're trying to be spontaneous with more live events as well."

The app emphasizes real-time interaction, encouraging users to act on events as they appear. Informal gatherings are promoted in addition to formal events, and their privacy settings allow for tailored experiences.

Additionally, its design - which is built around user participation - makes browsing intuitive and keeps content fresh. Raissi explained how these features reflect the platform's upcoming potential.

"I'm in contact with all [of] the fraternities and sororities on campus. Our eventual hope is that [we can] provide many different services, and one of them is a ticketing thing for fraternities - so our hope is that eventually everyone uses What2Do instead of [Facebook invites]," Raissi detailed. "A big feature of What2Do that I think is unique is that every event that you go to gets tied to your profile, and every event you go to, there's a group chat made, and people can text in that chat, and all the photos that are sent to that chat also get tied to the event in your profile."

Another idea for the app that the team is intending on implementing is a "Month in Review" feature - which would be similar to the popular app BeReal. With this, users would be able to see everything that happened within a month on What2Do.

In the future, as the launch of the app draws closer, the What2Do team will be engaging in more promotional and television-style events, such as giving away free merchandise and Speed Dating. For anyone who wants to help the group, they encourage students to show up and tune in for more information.

Moreover, ambassador programs will also become available for those who would like to be even more engaged. Currently, the What2Do team has ambassadors at more than 25 universities across the United States. When the application launches at Hopkins within the next few weeks, these ambassadors will begin working to integrate the program into their own campuses.

Induced pluripotent stem cell research hits its 20-year anniversary

Shinya Yamanaka, winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, recently published a reflection on the two decades that have passed since his discovery of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The piece started with a brief personal account of the discovery of the Yamanaka factors (Oct4, Sox2, Klf4 and c-Myc), transcription factors that have the ability to reprogram differentiated somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells. iPSCs have been used to study early human development and have removed the need to harvest pluripotent stem cells from embryos, a process with many ethical and technical considerations. Yamanaka also noted the development of iPSC-based regenerative therapies, especially one using iPSC-derived corneal epithelial cells to treat blindness. More broadly, Yamanaka predicted a gradual unity of the fields of stem cell, computational, synthetic and translational biology in the next two decades, which would expand the applications of iPSCs to the industrial scale.

President Trump announces new science and technology advisors

President Trump recently announced the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST), a council that has been appointed by the president since Franklin D. Roosevelt first formed it in 1933. The newly formed council, containing 13 members, is mostly made up of high-profile technology figures like Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Meta), Jensen Huang (CEO of Nvidia) and Lisa Su (CEO of AMD). The members of the council have a combined net worth exceeding $900 billion. The only academic scientist on the list is John Martinis, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara who won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics for finding that quantum tunneling can be observed on a macroscopic scale. The makeup of the council differs significantly from that of Trump's first term, which was made up of 7 academic scientists and 6 industry executives. This shift, with a notable absence of biologists, likely reflects the administration's focus on AI and quantum information science.

Social media companies sued for addictive content

A Los Angeles jury recently awarded $6 million to a woman who sued Meta and YouTube (Google) over her childhood social media addiction. Jurors declared that the tech companies intentionally acted maliciously in order to create addictive platforms that target children with features like infinite scroll and autoplay. The decision came a day after a New Mexico court requested Meta to pay $375 million for endangering children. Along with these two high-profile cases, there are also thousands of related lawsuits moving through courts in the United States, signaling growing public discontent towards social media companies.

This is how to make the best matcha latte. Swipe. Come study with me for four hours straight. Swipe. Follow along for a day in the life of a… Swipe.

From watching videos of homemade drink recipes to productive study vlogs to creators hopping on new trends, I have seen it all, with one swipe leading to another, and this motion can continue on for hours. Of course the logical decision would be to just close the app after being dissatisfied with the first choice of content the algorithm presented to me, but that never happens. I usually don't even find the first video I click on my feed interesting, but, nonetheless, I continue to swipe with the hope that I will eventually land on videos that appeal to my mood at that moment.

However, even after I come across a video that captures my attention, I will continue to scroll, telling myself I'll stop once I feel a sense of satisfaction, although the feeling never comes. Instead, I'll stop when my eyes have dried out and my brain has been overcome with fog. Sometimes, the "stop scrolling" themed videos can expedite the process, but I'll typically surf the temptation until multiple of them have appeared, and I finally take the advice and anchor my phone down for good.

With the gift of time spring break had allotted to me, scrolling on social media naturally found its place in my days. However, I came across a TikTok video that shockingly made me divert from going down the usual path of endless scrolling. The video was not one that used the phrase "stop scrolling" in a cautionary manner. It instead employed a soft and uplifting tone while incorporating the symbol of flowers as a reminder to stay present to nudge me back into reality.

In the wise words of the Floral Designer Kristen Griffith VanderYacht, "Flowers are not supposed to last. Their job is to help us to stay in the present. They grow, they blossom, they thrive and then they're gone."

I have never thought about this aspect of flowers before. Naturally, upon receiving or purchasing them on special occasions, I have an inner desire to make them last as long as possible. I'll trim the stems off, transport them to a clean vase full of fresh water and place them on the breakfast table, an area that will not expose them to too much direct sunlight. But even when I treat them with the best care and place them in the ideal conditions, I am aware that I will still be met with devastation at their perishing. But, that's the point. To not take the moments of their presence for granted because they only last for a moment after all.

Perhaps this also moved me because the weather has been getting warmer as spring has finally arrived. Although I do enjoy how the sun is out for longer and the weather has become fit for short sleeves and sundresses, I have actually never been too fond of the spring season. To me, it has always just served the role as an intermediate between the cold winters and hot summers, where getting summer to come about was the end goal.

There is no school in the summer, but there is still school during the months of spring. There are summer camps, summer vacation, summer heat, summer sunsets - a plethora of good times awaits us in the summer. Therefore, my mindset has long been to hope spring passes quickly, so I can engage in the fun summer has in store. But, I believe that it is time for a shift in mindset. I have not been giving the spring season enough credit for being a beautiful season of active growth. Flowers are currently blooming and I don't want to be oblivious of it. The final moments of my freshman year are also blooming, as they soon will pass and I will only be left with the memory of it.

Sooner or later I will no longer be living in AMR II, losing track of time while yapping in the hall with friends past midnight. Sooner or later I will no longer have the convenience of the Hopkins Cafe being right next door. Sooner or later I will no longer be looking forward to having class and solving challenging problem sets together with the same people. Sooner or later I will no longer be a freshman.

I don't know what the future has in store for me, and I don't need to know that now. All I need to know is that everyday, I am met with the opportunity to witness moments in full bloom, and I don't want to simply glance over them and let them evolve into a faint distant memory of the past.

Catherine Chan is a freshman studying Molecular and Cellular Biology Potomac, Md. She is a Social Media Manager for The News-Letter. Her column consists of reflections on various moments in her life, from the distant past to the current present, in pursuit of discovering the underlying impact they have on her life's story.

Reporting on the cabinet meeting with President Ronald J. Daniels, Executive Vice President Omotara Tiamiyu shared a summary which included discussion regarding registered student organization (RSO) funding, student life engagement and the administration's response to community concerns about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. University administrators are searching for options to get students more involved in creating a socially engaged atmosphere on campus -they are promoting music and programming in student spaces to accomplish this. Administrators also recognize that students are concerned with conflicting midterm schedules and will meet with the Dean's office to address any issues with multiple exams being scheduled at the same time. As for immigration-related issues, they indicated that they would love to hear the student views on what the University could do to provide better support to the affected community.

Senator Shreeman Patel then discussed a "Community Solutions Network" which would allow students to develop a network between RSOs and local communities for addressing challenges identified by the community in Baltimore. This initiative would work with local nonprofits to develop a plan for identifying important problems through community surveys. Through a microgrant system, certain groups would have the chance to receive funding (approximately $5000 per year). In response to this proposal, senators expressed concerns around several different issues, including accountability, sustainability and the potential for short-term or extractive engagement; to address these issues, the proposal includes mechanisms to ensure continuity. Ultimately, the bill was moved forward for consideration.

SGA then passed The HopTHON Collaboration Funding Bill, which promotes their collaboration with HopTHON, a student-run fundraising group that supports the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. Executive Director of HopTHON Sofia Sileo provided an overview of the mission of the organization and provided an overview of the fundraising goal for this year for the organization. SGA then approved funding for "Sex Week." This programming was based on a Harvard University course titled "Cliteracy 101," which is designed to promote sexual health education and discussion around sexuality. They also passed the Spring Cleaning Funding Bill, which is intended to clarify and combine SGA resources to help make it easier for student groups to find resources. They also passed an "SGA Initiatives Update Bill," which will add a new agenda item to each meeting. Under the policy, three senators will provide brief updates on their initiatives each week to increase transparency and encourage accountability.

The meeting transitioned to a second reading of several bills. SGA members passed the "Action Report Act," which required the executive board to publish monthly summaries of SGA activities. These reports will contain updates on what SGA has accomplished, addressing various concerns that existing meeting minutes and articles may not fully detail the daily workings of the body. Finally, the Senate approved an omnibus update to SGA bylaws to maintain consistency with current practices and remove contradictions with the SGA constitution.

Primary elections take place across every state in order to select the candidates that are to represent their Party in the General Elections. Positions up for election range from offices at the local, state and federal levels. This year, the Maryland Primary Elections are taking place on June 23, 2026. General Elections will take place on Nov. 3, 2026.

Candidates addressed the increased costs of living, energy bills in Baltimore, Medicare, and gun violence.

Most candidates brought personal anecdotes as motivating factors for running in the Primaries. Mark Conway, District 7 candidate for Congress, for example, emphasized that he is a public servant first and politician second.

"I want to be an example to my two daughters, so that they can always be proud of their dad when they become young women and make decisions in their career," Conway explained during the event.

Siyeon Joo, KSAS Freshman and student volunteer with Hopkins Votes, believes something largely overlooked in present-day politics is kindness. Joo shared her thoughts in an interview with The News-Letter.

"I think it's really hard to find candidates who feel like people first and then politicians second. Something I really resonated with tonight was [Conway mentioning] that he wanted to be a public servant first and then a politician next...At the end of the day, progress moves at the speed of trust. And so if you can't be a kind human being, why would I trust you with handling the future?" said Joo.

Sheriff Candidate, Sabrina Tapp-Harper, is a retired Assistant Sheriff who is dedicated to protecting victims of domestic violence and advocating for gun violence prevention. In an interview with the News-Letter, Tapp-Harper stated that developing policies requires being driven by principle.

"The sheriff is the enforcement arm of the court, so we need to make sure that at the forefront of everything we do is for the safety and security of the courthouse, the judges, the individuals that work there, the jurors who come to serve, and the citizens who visit the courthouse daily to take care of business," said Tapp-Harper.

Phong Lee is a Charles Village community member who attended tonight's event. Lee remarked about the significance of smaller elections like these in an interview with The News-Letter.

"I certainly didn't know the sheriff is such a down ballot race. It's hard to get information [compared to]. I came partly as a community member, but also I was curious about the differences [in platforms] in the Sheriff's Office in particular. It's nice that both candidates were here," said Lee.

In addition to community members, the event was intended for students to engage in local politics. For Luis Sierra Moncion, Deputy Director of the Center for Social Concern and Director of Hopkins Votes, that is what he believes is the starting point for getting to know Baltimore. He shared his thoughts in an interview with The News-Letter.

"This was a great example of one of the many events we want to expose our students to…My hope is that...whether you were here to attend or volunteer, it piques their interest on the things that matter in Baltimore and how [students] can continue to learn about the assets of the city, which includes groups like the CVCA," explained Moncion.

As for what voters are hoping to see in the upcoming cycle, tonight suggested it to be a combination of compassion and new ideas.

"I think we are in a different moment, and we need different types of leadership. As much as I appreciate the work of the previous generation of leaders, I think we really need new leadership…leadership that feels different and has different values and different priorities. And I saw a little bit of it [tonight]," concludes Lee.

Generally, individuals must be registered with either the Democratic or Republican Party in order to vote for specific candidates in the Primaries. Students attending Hopkins out of state may register at their school address to be eligible to vote in Maryland.

Primary election day is taking place on June 23, 2026 from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM. More information can be found here or through Hopkins Votes.

The Charles Village Project

In 2003, the University introduced plans to develop Charles Commons on the corner of North Charles and 33rd Streets as the beginning of Charles Village's evolution. Designed to house more than 600 students, Charles Commons provided new housing options for upperclassmen (only freshmen lived in dormitories at this time), academic support spaces, dining facilities, conference rooms, a Barnes & Noble bookstore and a credit union. This multifunctional complex intended to create a bustling student network outside of the traditional Homewood campus boundaries. Charles Commons opened to students in Fall 2006.

Between 2003 and 2006, University publications wrote favorably on the project, framing the development as a crucial strategy to revitalize student life. A 2005 issue of JHU Engineering, the magazine for the Whiting School of Engineering at the time, visualized the anticipated student experience upon construction completion.

"[Students will] be sipping lattes in the Barnes & Noble bookstore, two stories tall and three times as large as the one it replaces in Gilman Hall. They'll be dining with great views of Charles Village. They'll be trying to decide whether to pump iron, shoot pool, challenge friends to computer games, practice music, do laundry, cook for a group, or even study-all in special rooms. Student groups-from clubs and fraternities to cultural and volunteer groups-will be conferring in comfy lounges," the publication wrote.

The publication emphasized that Charles Commons served as the gateway to Charles Village and its development began a decade-long project, called "The Charles Village Project," to transform the neighborhood into a "college town," similar to places like Georgetown and Harvard Square. The University Board of Trustees appointed Baltimore-based contractor Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse (SBER), known for revitalizing urban neighborhoods throughout the city, for this project. Composed of community, business and non-profit representatives, the task force aimed to replace antiquated features, such as the University's bookstore sitting in the basement of Gilman Hall, to create a large visible center for student activity, not unlike the modern Bloomberg Student Center (BSC).

While the plan centered on Charles Commons, the task force also aimed to create a retail and dining district on Saint Paul Street. Notably, at this time, most of the area included residential homes. The project tore down the 3200 block of St. Paul, for example, to make room for new construction; today, the area includes Honeygrow, CVS and other local restaurants.

Since the plan's inception, University officials have sought student and community feedback. According to University Gazette archives, administrators, particularly the Coordinator of Community Affairs, held meetings with local residents to build support for the construction of Charles Commons. Early reporting suggests that community members were receptive and supportive to the reimagining of Charles Village; however, many residents had specific stipulations to the vision, as reported by The News-Letter at the time.

For example, residents of nearby blocks, including the 3200 block of Calvert Street and the unit block of East 32nd Street, expressed concerns regarding Charles Commons' large height obstructing the neighborhood's view and landscape. Some residents worried about the large number of students consolidated in a residential area designed for single-family units, including uncertainty about parking availability. Residents generally requested new building architecture to remain consistent with Charles Village with red bricks and tree-lined streets. In retrospect, these requests highlight a notable contrast with recent University developments, such as the BSC and the Stavros Niarchos Agora Institute (SNF Agora) buildings, that embrace modern, glass architectural styles.

Student reactions to the project were notably mixed. Some praised Charles Commons for its potential to build a connected campus community, documenting how upperclassmen dorms provide socialization opportunities in The News-Letter. Other students criticized the intended architecture of the Charles Commons building, regarding its similarity to the Homewood campus and lack of "tasteful flavor" in the wake of Charles Village's reimagination. The same student wrote in the 2003 publication that Charles Commons would limit student independence in the form of full apartments (Charles Commons notably featured kitchenettes instead of full oven-kitchens), full-year leases and required meal plans.

Another student, Maany Peyvan, strongly emphasized that the University should factor in student interests when redesigning Charles Village in a 2005 News-Letter publication. Peyvan advocated for bars, movie theaters, fast food and retailers, including locations attractive to faculty for leisure. Notably, Peyvan rationalized the drastic shift by anticipating that the University will inevitably purchase apartments and homes in Charles Village within the decade to create a "Hopkins Village." Indeed, in the following years, the University controversially acquired numerous residential properties in the area.

Property Acquisition in the 2000s

In 2009, the University bought 1.13 acres of land, then known as the Olmsted lot, on the southwest corner of St. Paul and 33rd Street (location of Nine East Apartments today). The University bought the land from Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund Charles Village LLC, a joint venture between Canyon Johnson Urban Fund II and SBER, for $12.5 million. SBER originally owned the site with the hopes of building a 12-story student apartment building, but the land was purchased by the University after the company faced financial troubles.

An article by the Baltimore Brew stated that a Hopkins official claimed that, while there were no plans of construction at the time of purchase, the site "felt it was important to buy it when it was available."

In late 2012, the Vice President of Real Estate and Campus Services Alan Fish mentioned the possibility of utilizing the site for a hotel, claiming that would help local businesses and improve the quality of life for students. This proposal was met with diverse reactions, with some students being excited for the change, highlighting how this could alleviate the current student dissatisfaction with Charles Village while others criticized the plan to not have the students' best interests at heart as they felt that the site could be utilized for other purposes.

In 2013, the University chose the real estate investment trust AH Realty Trust, formerly known as Armada Hoffler Properties, and Beatty, a real estate firm, to spearhead the "3200 St. Paul" project. The project aimed to occupy that space with more than 150 student apartments and a parking structure in addition to adding other types of businesses like grocery stores or a pharmacy.

This was met with backlash from the Baltimore community in March 2013 at the Saints Philip and James Catholic Church, where community members expressed their concerns regarding the possibility of chain retail stores replacing roles held by local businesses. One focus of this meeting was Eddie's Market, a family-owned food store chain with multiple locations in Baltimore, who expressed grievances about the University considering a national supermarket chain as an option to occupy the lot. This dissatisfaction resulted in a petition against this change, garnering almost 1,800 signatures (according to data from March 9, 2013) from students, professors, and members of the Charles Village community. Eddie's Market on St. Paul's street was eventually shut down in 2020 after the owner Jerry Gordon chose to retire, with Streets Market being its successor.

Construction started in 2014 and ended in 2016. Notable locations include Nine East 33rd Apartments, which began accepting residents in August 2016, Honeygrow and a CVS Pharmacy. Over time, other restaurants that have opened include Japanese restaurant Kajiken in 2022 and Chinese restaurant Lao Sze Chuan in 2025. AH Realty Trust sold Nine East 33rd Apartments in a $75 million deal to HH Fund in late 2021.

Other purchases the University has made in the past few decades include the purchasing of Dell House, the parking space behind Dell House, former Seaton High School in 2003 and unused rowhouses on 29th Street in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007 and 2019. These purchasings have been criticized by Baltimore community members who have cited the University's negligence in maintaining and utilizing these properties, as examined in a previous News-Letter investigation.

When asked what piqued his interest in the intersection of engineering and healthcare, he recounted his time as a freshman at Pennsylvania State University. There, he was a research assistant in a chemical engineering lab focused on the design of filters for pharmaceutical applications. When he transferred to Hopkins during his sophomore year, he built on this experience by joining a lab focused on pharmaceutical production, which led him to a research and development process engineer internship at Eli Lilly, a multinational pharmaceutical company.

In his sophomore year, he actively began pursuing experiences in global health. He joined the Hopkins Emergency Response Organization (HERO), inspired after witnessing them at work firsthand when he had to call HERO for a friend. He was also selected for Hopkins Community Connection (HCC), a program he applied for since he had to rely on similar social support programs during his freshman summer, when he experienced a period of food and housing insecurity at Penn State. In HCC, he worked as a community health worker, addressing the needs of the Baltimore community.

It was this diversity of experiences that led him to think about what filled his day with joy and what didn't.

"It was very removed from the impact that I felt like I wanted to make. And those experiences as an EMT and as a social worker or community health worker really stuck with me, and I was sitting there in the lab or at work, and I was like 'I wish I was interacting with someone right now,'" Alezz reflected.

This introspection led him to explore other research types with a quest to find opportunities where he didn't work in isolation and could see the real-time implications of his work, specifically in the global health space.

"And so I joined a lab at the Hopkins Hospital called the Global Alliance of Perioperative Professionals. It's a lab mixed with a non-profit that does [essentially] medical infrastructure work in Sub-Saharan Africa," Alezz said.

Some of the things he did with this team included installing medical oxygen generators and solar panels, outfitting hospitals with piping systems, and training locals to use the medical equipment. As part of his project, he also collaborated with policymakers, including the Ministry of Health, and had the opportunity to speak with the First Lady of Gambia.

"That was engineering, that was international development, and that was healthcare... I realized that I needed to learn more about policy," Alezz explained, prompting him to apply for the Schwarzman Scholarship.

Alezz pointed out that when one looks back on his experiences, they seem to form a cohesive story.

"Throughout the years, it was just me getting involved in [like] things I was interested in…I explored my passions, and it [kind of] fell into place, which was nice," Alezz remarked.

This observation is a good reminder to enjoy the journey and not get fixated on the outcome. Speaking of journeys, when asked how he balanced being a Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering major and pre-med student, he noted that engineering was what he naturally gravitated toward because he enjoyed applying a problem-solving mindset. His pre-med, memorization-intensive classes were the ones that challenged him, keeping him striving for more.

He also noted that his engineering classes allowed him to partake in projects he would never have had the chance to do otherwise. In 'Multidisciplinary Engineering Design', his team worked with nurses from the Cardiovascular Surgical Intensive Care Unit to design a simulation to train them to use pacemakers. It is these unique opportunities that have equipped him with a perspective that not many other pre-med students get.

Alezz was an active member of JHUMA, the Johns Hopkins University Muslim Association, which welcomed him with open arms during his sophomore year, which he describes as "freshman year part two" as a transfer student. They introduced him to and helped him with his applications for organizations like HERO. In his junior year, he helped JHUMA build partnerships with Masjid Ul Haqq and the Islamic Society of Baltimore, culminating in his election as JHUMA's president, where he worked to institute daily iftars at Hopkins during Ramadan.

Balancing this multitude of commitments was no joke.

"It's just a matter, for me at least, of sitting down every day and thinking 'What do I want to accomplish today? What is the most important thing to do?'" Alezz mentioned.

He acknowledged that he often overcommitted, but by prioritizing what mattered to him, he was able to find the motivation and energy to keep pushing.

"That didn't mean that I didn't have to take some days off, and be like, oh whoops, I can't go to class today, can't do anything today. This is going to be my rest day," Alezz said.

Mentors, from physicians to doctoral students to undergrads, were pivotal to Alezz's success. Sharing why he wanted to do something helped him glean valuable insights from these mentors. For instance, a friend at JHUMA helped him find global health research opportunities after Alezz told him wet-lab research felt isolating. It was these very same relationships that helped him secure letters of recommendation for the Schwarzman Scholarship. Samson Jarso from the Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design helped him navigate the global health space, and Ryan Calder, director of the Islamic Studies Program at Hopkins, became a close connection through JHUMA.

As Alezz looks towards the future, he continues to ask himself about the impact he wants to make and how he can achieve it by taking small steps every day. Right now, he is finishing his medical school applications, hoping to attend medical school after his fellowship. In the long term, he is interested in bridging his policy, medical and engineering backgrounds to make as significant an impact as possible.

In the near future, he looks forward to traveling in China, something the Schwarzman Scholarship emphasizes. Like his engineering projects, he hopes to learn experientially by studying Mandarin, talking to people, and, of course, trying new food.

In a world driven by science and technology, research continually redefines how people live. Practically every human will turn to medicine for relief in times of illness. And in these fields, few names are as recognizable as Johns Hopkins University. Within the research "garden" in the University, investigators pour their efforts into growing and harvesting "fruit" - perhaps a new molecule, pathway, protein, therapeutic or medical device. Yet, the greatest challenge lies in ensuring that those fruits can be shared widely and enjoyed by many, a process that depends on successful translation and commercialization.

The process of translating research discoveries into practical and accessible solutions presents numerous obstacles - such as in securing ample funding, scaling from lab to mass-production, navigating conflicts of interest, maximizing sustainability and upholding ethical standards. The discussion largely centered around the idea of a "reduction to practice." Namely, a discovery must be extensively validated and optimized in real-world models - animals, prototypes or early clinical studies - to develop a reliable product. Indeed, translating discoveries often requires moving beyond the academic lab into the private sector, involving start-ups or licensing of findings to existing companies.

Although basic research endeavors are often viewed as more creative and receive more NIH or NSF funding, the "reduction to practice" stage is often seen as less creative and more expensive, making it tougher to fund via conventional grants. Locally, examples of funding sources for translational ventures include the Maryland innovation initiative, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures and Blackbird Laboratories. Additionally, the PAVA Center for Entrepreneurship serves as the University's main source of early-stage startup funding. Such programs aim to provide mentorship, legal and logistical support and access to investors, helping promising research set out on the path to translation.

Eddie Cherok, chief business officer at Blackbird Labs, a Baltimore-based startup incubator, oversees the organization's investment ventures. When considering what makes an idea investable, Cherok highlighted that the target population remains the first priority. How could it address the currently-unmet needs of end users, such as patients? A recurring theme throughout the discussion, in fact, was this patient-first mindset. What matters is how the idea will reach patients and help them in new, substantial ways. To that end, it is imperative to work closely with clinicians in order to truly understand and address the relevant issues and concerns. Additionally, researchers must consider how their idea compares to previous technologies or approaches and how it will fit into current practices. Rather than focusing solely on discovery, researchers must think ahead to how their work will be used in practice while considering feasibility, scalability and competition.

One noteworthy story shared during the discussion is that of Haig Aghajanian, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who furthered his translational pursuits by officially founding the company Capstan Therapeutics in November 2021. Making such a substantial transition from academia to industry is unconventional but not entirely unheard of. As Aghajanian explained, he did not originally plan to walk this path. Rather, it came as the logical next step for him, driven by a desire to bring innovative technologies to patients. Aghajanian specifically focused on developing in vivo CAR T-cell therapies to treat cancers and autoimmune diseases. These therapies involve genetically programming a patient's own T-cells to recognize and attack disease, offering a highly-targeted and potentially transformative approach to cancer treatments. In Aghajanian's words, the ultimate realization was clear: advancing his ideas to the clinic required going to the private sector. Yet, at times, his vision became clouded by adversity.

Not only did the shift come with a steep learning curve, as academia and industry operate under fundamentally different expectations and cultures, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted his lab and research trajectory. Aghajanian described how the closing of his lab and difficulty in re-establishing his academic career constituted a difficult time in his life. In spite of such difficulties, however, he kept pushing and looking for opportunities, dedicating himself to the development of Capstan and embracing the role of a "reluctant entrepreneur" to continue his passion for translation. Aghajanian noted that the company's success largely stemmed from its academic culture, in which innovative ideas were constantly generated and openly shared through publication, contrasting with the self-interest often prioritized in industry.

The potential of Capstan's CAR T-cell therapy has been recognized - so much so that the biopharmaceutical company AbbVie paid a record-breaking $2.1 billion to acquire it in June 2025. Now that Capstan has been acquired, Aghajanian finds himself at another crossroads in his career. Yet, his overarching goal remains the same. Whether in academia, industry or a new venture, Aghajanian expressed a continued interest in bringing novel technologies to the clinic, suggesting that his journey in translation is far from over.

So, how does research become reality? As the discussion and Aghajanian's journey made clear, there is hardly a single answer or a single path. Translation is a complex, iterative process defined by the collaboration of many hands and minds, the persistence to get back up again and again and the courage to step beyond traditional boundaries. And what better place to strive for these ideals than at Hopkins? In the end, discoveries only matter if they reach the people who need them. Sustained efforts are needed to push discoveries out of the lab and into the world, where they can truly make a difference.

The conflict began on Feb. 28 upon U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran's territory, escalating the pre-existing hostilities between the two sides. These strikes killed Iran's leader, Ali Khamenei, in addition to several top administrative officials. The military campaign has since resulted in large amounts of civilian casualties and infrastructural damage. As of March 28, about 1,937 individuals lost their lives in Iran and 1,238 in Lebanon. Over 33,000 across the region have been significantly injured. As retaliation, Iran has since blocked the Strait of Hormuz and targeted U.S. and Israeli interests in the region. U.S. President Donald Trump publicly stated his goal to bring "freedom" to the Iranian people, but U.S. officials later expressed other aims, such as destroying Iran's military capabilities.

Throughout the conflict's development, students, including those directly affected, have expressed a wide range of perspectives on the issue and University involvement. In an email to The News-Letter, one student, who spoke under the pseudonym "Rachel," described the moral complexity behind initial U.S.-Israeli strikes, questioning the benefits of U.S. intervention.

"While I agree the supreme leader was unjust in his ruling and he used his power to allow the killing of tens of thousands of citizens, the U.S. should never get involved in Middle Eastern politics. Democracy is never born from bloodshed," Rachel stated.

Rachel continued, reflecting on the mixed reactions observed from Iranians directly.

"On the other hand, I see many Iranians and Iranian Americans celebrating, which I understand with the death of such an unjust leader, but at the same time, many Iranians died at the hands of the U.S. and Israel. We should not celebrate the U.S. getting involved in the Middle East ever," Rachel remarked.

Another student, commenting under the pseudonym "Jordan" shared the importance of the conflict in ushering in regime change. Referring to the government-sanctioned violence towards protestors rallying for a new government (in response to financial crises and worsening living conditions), Jordan highlighted how many Iranians have been stuck with the republic's authority - until now.

"Many Iranians have long called for change. But the regime has made it clear that it won't step down in response to internal pressure alone. It has responded to protestors with violence, and to many Iranians, there is little reason to believe that a subsequent uprising like the one in January would end any differently." Jordan continued, "War is not an ideal solution to an internal conflict, but we need to view Iran's case differently. If the U.S. and Israel are to step down now and allow the regime to remain, they wouldn't be promoting or keeping peace, they would just be allowing the continued suppression of human rights."

For other students, the conflict is deeply personal due to cultural and familial ties to Iran and neighboring regions. In an email to The News-Letter, a student choosing to comment under the pseudonym "Jesse" described the conflict's emotional toll of having family and memories in the region.

"I'm very sad and depressed about [the conflict]. I haven't been sleeping much at all. I'm sick worried about family, friends, and the places I love in Iran. While the regime in Iran is certainly not good, there is no justification for already thousands of civilians being killed by USA/Israeli military, including over 160 [elementary school] girls, certainly no justification for civilian homes, schools, famous stadiums, UNESCO cultural heritage sites like the Golestan Palace and more being blown up as well."

Jesse continued to explain the conflict's effect on their family, describing anxiety around verifying their safety amidst power outages and time zone differences.

"[Dealing with the conflict] has been very hard for me, I'm sick worried about my family in Iran and with the power being cut from Iran, I can only speak to my family for about 1-2 minutes a day where they call me at really late hours in the night given the timezone difference to tell me they are alive; no one should have to live through this worry and stress," Jesse stated.

In response to the escalating tensions, the University sent out a community-wide email on March 4, describing University-affiliated resources and highlighting the U.S. government's travel advisory, which discourages any travel to affected countries in the Middle East (including but not limited to Iran, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates). The Office of International Services provides further information for students navigating travel restrictions.

The University recommends all individuals to register University-sponsored international travel with the University's travel requirements to allow for institutional support during emergencies. While the University has prohibited undergraduates from traveling to affected areas for academic reasons, administration recommends all faculty, staff and graduate students to use Healix, a specific Hopkins security program, which provides real-time alerts and safety resources for international travel. A University spokesperson emphasized that outreach efforts thus far have prioritized communication and support for affected community members in an email to The News-Letter.

"Earlier this month, the university communicated with students, faculty, and staff regarding the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and reached out directly to individuals from the affected areas to ensure that members of our community were aware of State Department guidance for those who may be traveling to countries in the region and to share resources for members of our community who may be impacted. The focus of our communications is on ensuring that our community has access to accurate information, travel guidance, and support resources," a University spokesperson wrote.

Despite these measures, some students believe the University should expand its support networks. Rachel, for example, highlighted the limited University response in addressing the conflict's emotional toll.

"I know people who have family members killed during the protests or are unable to reach out to family members during this time. I know the university held an event recently discussing what's happening, but that can only provide so much comfort in such a difficult time," Rachel wrote.

In addition to the support session offered on March 2, the University promoted mental health resources for students through Student Health and Wellbeing, TimelyCare and the Behavioral Health 24/7 Crisis Support Line (410-516-9355). Faculty and staff may access confidential 24/7 support through the Hopkins Employee Assistance Program at 888‑978‑1262. However, Jesse noted that, in their experience, University resources have been less productive relative to faculty support.

"I don't believe the university has made a great public effort to support students in this such tragic time, but my teachers have all been incredibly supporting and accommodating after I told them the situation so I really give credit to the faculty (or at least my teachers) for being so supporting and thoughtful in their responses to my needs as it's hard to focus on school when you don't know whether your family is alive," Jesse wrote.

The conflict has also affected the campus' political climate, with some Rachel and Jesse describing hesitancy in voicing their perspectives in fear of widespread polarization.

"With my friends, yes I do feel safe [expressing my opinions] but because of the polarizing and different opinions that everyone has, I don't feel safe [otherwise] because it's so emotionally charged," Rachel stated.

"​​I do not feel safe at all expressing my opinions in the public which is really sad because [innocent people] are dying, school girls are dying, places of great culture and beauty are being blown up, and it doesn't seem like it's getting the attention it needs," Jesse corroborated.

Student voices have also risen through public demonstrations. About ten University affiliates in masks hosted a protest on North Charles and 33rd Street on March 6, calling for the end to US involvement in the Middle East and criticizing the University's military research in the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). Protestors chanted slogans including "Ron Daniels take a stand, stop making missiles we demand," "say it proud, say it loud, we want peace, we want it now" and "APL you can't hide, you commit war crimes."

One participant, who noted feeling intimidated by nearby administrative and security presence (including Public Safety, the Johns Hopkins Police and Baltimore Police), framed the protest as a spark to an anti-war movement.

"We're calling for an end to the forever wars in the Middle East that are enabled by the University." The participant continued, "We're calling for the University to end its complicity in war crimes in the Middle East and across the world and also on Johns Hopkins students to use their voices to call for an end to the violence."

University officials responded to the demonstration upon request from The News-Letter, affirming their support for student expression.

"The university strongly values free expression and fully supports our community members' right to peaceful protest as long as individuals and groups comply with our rules, policies and guidelines," a University spokesperson said.

Criticism from demonstrators centers on the APL, a federally funded research and technology development center. According to a University spokesperson, the APL provides technical expertise for "national security challenges" to the U.S. government. Some of these wider projects include developing spacecraft hardware, aircraft precision capabilities, missile tracking technologies and other research focused on enhancing military capacity.

Critics have pointed out the APL's contribution to the wider development of the Tomahawk Missile in 2002, as APL researchers inputted redirection and messaging software, alongside map-matching guidance systems, for over 1,000-mile travel distances in well-defended airspaces. The U.S. military has been using Tomahawk missiles frequently, due to their long-distance travel abilities, in the war against Iran, including in the vicinity of an elementary school in Minab (killing 175 people); critics question the direct role of the APL for these wartime deaths due to their contributions to Tomahawk technology. The University has not commented on the direct connection between the missiles used in the US-Israel war with Iran and APL's contributions.

While Jordan noted and understood why many Hopkins students oppose intervention, Jordan also expressed frustration with the lives lost in the student protests of the 1980s, the Green Movement in 2009, the Bloody Aban protests of 2019, the Zan, Zendegi, Azadi movement of 2022, and the protests just this past January amidst government repression. Moreover, Jordan's experience in a pro-intervention rally pushes him to believe in the new opportunities U.S. intervention can bring to Iran.

"I attended a rally on March 29th in DC, where tens of thousands of Iranians protested in support of this intervention, and I think that one thing became very clear. To many, this looks like one of the last opportunities that Iranians will have for this regime to be removed. If the external pressure is removed now, there is no guarantee that another chance will come for Iranians to have the basic freedoms we get to practice in the West," Jordan remarked.

Editor's Note: The News-Letter has edited the section regarding APL's involvement with developing the Tomahawk missile for clarity, confirming that the University has commented only on APL's general function as a research laboratory.

The primary is the election before the election, in which voters choose which candidates their party should nominate. Most have heard about our presidential primaries, but there are also primaries for Congress and statewide offices as well. Across the country, they are held anywhere from March all the way to September, with each state setting its own timeline.

Primary elections were first widely introduced during the Progressive Era with the intent of strengthening popular democracy. At their best, primaries are used by voters to make a statement or throw an unpopular incumbent out of office. At their worst, however, primaries can be exploited by bad actors to maximize chaos. For instance, it has become increasingly common in recent years for a party to run ads to boost controversial or divisive candidates of the opposite party in the primaries, since a more extreme candidate is much easier for their own candidate to campaign against.

However, the problems with our primaries today run far deeper than just dirty politics. Chronic low turnout and widespread disengagement with primaries by an apathetic electorate have allowed primaries to be controlled by a slice of voters who are politically and demographically unrepresentative of our nation as a whole.

The data shows that around two-thirds of Americans will turn out for high-profile elections like presidential elections, but a large chunk of the electorate disappears when midterms roll around and the presidency is not on the ballot - around half of registered voters cast a ballot in the most recent midterms. Turnout for primary elections is lower still, with nearly 80% of eligible voters skipping the primaries in 2022.

There are many reasons why voters tend to underestimate the stakes of primaries. Some might not realize that they are even eligible to vote in primaries. In fact, in most states, you are not required to be registered with a political party in order to cast a ballot in its primary. Many simply don't see how the stakes of primary elections are high enough to be worth the effort and cost of showing up to vote. However, primaries play a significant role in determining who ultimately gets elected to office, and disengagement has already created real problems for our democracy.

When most of the population chooses to skip voting in primaries, those who do end up casting a ballot tend to be more motivated and politically engaged than the average voter and naturally the most ideologically polarized. As a result, instead of appealing to all of their constituents as they should, aspiring officeholders trying to get past the hurdle of the primary must tailor their message and platforms toward the highly engaged party base. Come November, we are often left with candidates from each party who were handpicked by voters far more progressive or more conservative than the median.

Consequently, primaries have also become a tool of the most ideologically hardline elements of each party to bend officeholders to their will. In the Trump era, the threat of a tough primary challenge has proved to be an effective way to hold Republican legislators in line, silencing open dissent. Similarly, progressive Democrats apply purity tests to legislators with moderate voting records, even in more conservative districts or states where progressive positions would be deeply unpopular in a general election. This has troubling implications for the independence of officeholders, whose job should be to represent their constituents, not their party base.

In districts or states with heavy partisan leanings, there's an even simpler reason why primaries are so important. Since general elections are rarely competitive, winning the primary is usually tantamount to victory in November, making the primaries where the ultimate winner ends up being decided. Due to partisan gerrymandering, safe seats for one party are only becoming more and more common across the country. In fact, the vast majority of districts across the country are not considered competitive at all in the general election due to their heavy partisan lean. Primaries are increasingly the place where the critical political battles are being fought.

Primary elections are often where the real choices are made, and right now, our elected officials are being chosen and pressured by a small slice of the electorate, unrepresentative of the political values and priorities of the average voter. Voting in a primary is essential to our democracy, and it is not difficult. Don't cede this power to others. Show up and make your voice heard.

Conner Feng is a sophomore from San Diego, Calif. majoring in Public Health and Moral and Political Economy.

"How much longerrrr?" my sister asked, dragging out the word like she had been waiting forever.

"A few more minutes, kanna," my mother replied.

My sister was visibly hangry, kicking the back of the driver's seat every few minutes to release her frustration. We had just landed after a week in Hawaii and were heading straight from the airport to my aunt's home in India. My stomach was still thinking about the food from the trip. Creamy coconut sauces. Sweet glazed chicken. Everything rich and familiar. With those flavors still lingering, my mother's words echoed in my head: "It's Holi. Food always tastes better when everyone's together."

Fueled by hunger and the promise of breakfast, I found myself joining my sister, lightly kicking the seat as the rickshaw finally pulled into my aunt's driveway.

I ran inside and found an open seat at the table just as my Nani began serving food to the rest of my family.

"Ready for tiffin, kanna?" my aunt asked.

I nodded quickly and flipped up my plate, already picturing crispy rava dosa or soft idli. Something golden and warm. Something I actually wanted.

But the smell hit me first.

Warm semolina. Plain. Heavy. Not the crisp, buttery scent I had been hoping for. I looked down at my plate and froze. A mound of upma sat in the center, dotted with curry leaves that I already knew I was not excited about.

I looked up at my mother. She glared back.

I gulped.

Slowly, I scooped up the first bite and pushed it into my mouth, swallowing almost immediately. Bland. Not terrible, but definitely not what I had imagined during that long rickshaw ride.

I knew better than to complain.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my sister getting ready to say something. Before she could open her mouth, I kicked her under the table.

"Quiet," I muttered.

We sat there, silently forcing bite after bite, chewing slowly while everyone else ate casually, chatting and laughing like this was the best meal of the day. Around us, plates clinked and conversations overlapped, while my sister and I worked our way through what felt like an endless pile of upma.

Just when I thought it was over, my aunt walked back into the room carrying another dish. Karakaya. Bitter gourd curry. Even the name sounded suspicious. I watched as it landed on my plate, dark and glossy, clearly not meant for picky eaters.

I took a cautious bite and immediately reached for my water. My uncle laughed. "Ah, spice is too much?"

I nodded quickly, letting him believe that was the problem. It was easier than explaining that the bitterness itself was what caught me off guard.

Everyone else kept eating like this was completely normal. Meanwhile, I sat there taking small bites and chasing each one with water, counting down until the plate was finally empty.

When I finished, I excused myself and walked quickly toward the bathroom. "Too much water?" someone joked behind me. I didn't answer. I just stood there for a moment, staring at my reflection and waiting for the taste to fade.

When I returned, the plates were already being cleared, and the conversation had moved on like nothing unusual had happened. Outside, Holi colors still clung stubbornly to the street, smeared across walls and sidewalks in bright streaks.

At the time, that meal felt like survival.

But now, when I think about that morning, I remember more than just the food. I remember the crowded table. My uncle moving quickly between plates. My sister kicking the seat in the rickshaw. The noise from outside drifting into the house as people celebrated in the streets.

The food I once dreaded became part of the memory anyway.

These days, Holi looks a little different. Instead of crowded streets in India, it shows up in smaller ways here. This year, the Hindu Student Council is hosting a Holi celebration on April 5 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Beach. There will be music, colors and probably the same kind of chaos that filled those streets years ago.

And honestly, that feels familiar.

Maybe there will be food too. Maybe not upma, maybe not bitter gourd. But if there is, I think I would handle it differently now. Not with panic, not with dread, but with the quiet understanding that food is rarely just about taste.

Sometimes it is about where you are sitting, who is around you and the noise filling the room while you eat. Even the meals you once disliked have a way of staying with you. And every time Holi comes around, the colors feel alive again.

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On April 1, 2026 a personnel working at the Office of Student Affairs, who wishes to remain anonymous, submitted a tip to The News-Letter. The email stated that the University hired DJs who, when they are not playing music, will tour campus, collect the devices of any students studying and take them to a soon-to-be-built fire temple for their annihilation.

The tip explained the decision as the University's latest attempt to prevent students from studying at the Bloomberg Student Center (BSC) as the previous DJs and their The Weeknd tunes were unsuccessful in convincing the students to give up on their assignments and socialize.

The BSC, a building that aims to "bring together the whole university" to create "meaningful interactions, belonging, and growth," has immediately become one of the most popular study spaces on campus since it opened. The space owes this success to its minuscule tables barely large enough to fit a MacBook, seating areas that so far helped 85 students successfully develop scoliosis and incredible white noise features (people who never touched a piano before playing their first "Do-Re-Mi"s on the grand piano).

Although the students enjoy sipping their third $4.40 matcha latte of the day while memorizing the essential graphs of microeconomics (and even multitasking by strengthening their chronic neck pain with bad posture) at the BSC, the Hopkins administration is concerned about the new preferences of the student body.

The Milton S. Eisenhower Library (MSE), the former star of the show when it comes to study spaces, is currently closed for renovations and set to open in 2032. The project is expected to cost $130 million - according to The News-Letter finance team's complex calculations, with this much money, one can buy more than 9 million Maryland Crab Cake Sandwiches from Mo's Place, which is a very large number of Maryland Crab Cake Sandwiches from Mo's Place.

When spending this much money on a space that is designated as a study place, the University is confused and upset with the students' choice of using the Bloomberg Study - sorry, Student Center as one, concerned that the trend will continue when the MSE also opens and all the money spent on its construction goes to waste.

"Me no likey," the Office of Student Affairs stated in a recent email.

Students noticing an influx of DJs on dating apps have strengthened the claim further. Sophomore Tindara Bamble discussed an interaction she had with a DJ on Hinge.

"He came to my dorm, set up his DJ equipment and started blasting really awful house music without even saying a word to me," she said. "I had to lock myself in my room and wait until he was gone."

Although the news concerned some of the students, it also received widespread support from the Hopkins alumni. In fact, it is speculated that Michael Bloomberg is planning to donate $1 million specifically to fund the DJs, and the fire temple will be named the Bloomberg Fire Temple to honor his donation.

In early spring, advertisements for dating apps start appearing everywhere. They promise efficiency. Compatibility percentages. Personality models. They reassure you that somewhere inside a black-box algorithm, someone has already calculated who could love you best.

The language is strangely mathematical. People become variables, including preferences, hobbies, locations and physical appearance. The system processes these inputs and produces a result: a person who best statistically fits you.

Love, apparently, can now be optimized?

I don't mean this cynically. In many ways, the idea could be comforting. The world has billions of people, and the possibilities can feel overwhelming. It makes sense that we turn to machines to narrow the search, the same way we ask navigation apps like Google Maps to guide us through unfamiliar cities.

Instead of relying on coincidence, we can rely on calculation. Most of us are busy with our own lives, worsening the current loneliness epidemic. Yet we crave connection. If an algorithm can help us find someone compatible, what could be the harm?

Yet something about this approach fascinates me because it reveals how much we want life to behave predictably.

Optimization can be a comforting concept. We optimize our routes to class, our morning habits and sometimes even our sleep schedules (which many of us still need to work on). We search for the most efficient ways to accomplish tasks. When a system promises to optimize love, which is probably one of the most complex parts of life, it suggests that the uncertainties surrounding relationships might finally be reduced.

That the messy, stressful parts can be organized into neat probabilities. But, when I think about the relationships that matter most to people, I wonder if they always follow that kind of logic. Many begin in situations that appear almost random: a conversation that lasts longer than expected, a shared moment grows into familiarity, a chance encounter slowly becomes something more meaningful. Even the strongest relationships don't emerge fully formed. They need time, circumstance and countless small interactions.

I'm not sure an algorithm can fully anticipate that process.

In the coming weeks, winter will loosen its grip. The trees will start to produce small buds that weren't visible only days before. It happens quietly, not even noticeable at first, until suddenly entire branches seem alive with new growth. It's a process that doesn't follow a precise schedule. A few warm days can accelerate it. A later frost can delay it. The timing varies every year. And yet, trees and flowers bloom with the return of insects and croaking of frogs anyway. I even saw a cockroach roaming around Maryland Hall a few days ago in the first week of March.

Watching this unfold reminds me that meaningful processes don't always follow optimized timelines. Instead, they respond to their environment. Conditions change, and living things adjust accordingly.

Relationships often seem to work the same way.

Two people might appear perfectly compatible according to a list of traits, but they might still struggle to connect. Others may share very little on paper and still build something long-lasting together. The success of a relationship depends on more than just initial alignment. I think it depends on how two people grow alongside one another over time.

I believe that kind of development cannot be calculated in advance. But that doesn't mean technology has no place in modern relationships. Dating apps can introduce two people who might never have crossed paths otherwise.

Maybe the algorithm is only another beginning to this complex process, where two people meeting through an AI matchmaking app is the coincidence itself.

What happens after these two people meet still belongs to the unpredictable rhythms of human life: those conversations that drift late into the night, small disagreements, ordinary moments like running errands together. None of that can be optimized.

If anything, those moments exist precisely because life refuses to behave like a perfectly tuned system. Even physics reminds us of this: The second law of thermodynamics tells us, in simple terms, that the universe tends towards disorder. Chaos is not an error in the system but rather a part of how the system works.

As winter fades and the first signs of spring begin, it becomes clear that growth doesn't need to follow the neat paths we design. It can develop in ways that are uneven and occasionally surprising.

Love and relationships may follow a similar pattern. An algorithm can help two people cross paths, but the meaning of that encounter emerges from everything that happens afterward, the shared time, the small choices and the ways the two lives begin to intertwine.

In the end, love probably isn't something meant to be solved.

Kathryn Jung is a freshman from Silver Spring, MD, majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Her column reflects the process of creating and how the small things we make, notice and hold close bring meaning to everyday life.

On Monday, March 31 the University announced that American actress Sydney Sweeney would be delivering the Class of 2026 commencement speech.

Sweeney has starred in a variety of prominent films, first gaining recognition for her work in Everything Sucks!, The Handmaid's Tale and Sharp Objects, and then breaking out in 2019 for her role as Cassie Howard in the hit HBO Drama series Euphoria. She has also acted in films like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Madame Webb and Immaculate and has garnered acclaim for her roles in Christy, The Housemaid and Anyone But You. In addition to her career in acting, Sweeney has also featured in advertising campaigns of several fashion brands, including American Eagle.

When interviewed by the Hopkins Hub, President Ronald J. Daniels was emphatic on why Sweeney was chosen, emphasizing her extensive knowledge of biology, acting and political science.

"Sydney Sweeney really knows so much about jeans - I mean, genes. Considering this institution's extensive legacy of medical advancement, having such a knowledgeable speaker truly will help our graduating students. Her acting background will also keep both the graduates and parents enthralled during the speech," remarked Daniels.

Sweeney's selection garnered mixed reactions among the students. One student, an anonymous senior accompanied by an entourage of flies, was very excited upon finding out about the selection.

"She's got such a large… personality, and I'm a big fan of the Dr. Squatch soap infused with her bathwater. It's the only thing that can get me to do my yearly shower."

Other students were not so excited. In a yellowed scroll delivered by carrier pigeon right to the doorstep of The News-Letter, another student wrote about their deep dissatisfaction with the selection.

"As a pre-med who sacrificed my GPA, social life and will to live for the past four years, I find it deeply troubling that our commencement speaker's most notable scientific contribution is a collagen-infused bubble bath. I have dissected cadavers. I have memorized the Krebs cycle at 3 a.m. while crying into a Celsius. The least Hopkins could do is get me Gregory House," they said.

The News-Letter reached out to Sweeney for a comment, but her publicist replied: "Her jeans are blue, just like the Hopkins Jays." The News-Letter also received a 25%-off coupon for her bathwater.

Sweeney will be receiving an honorary Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Sciences degree at the commencement address, which will take place on May 21, 2026.

A groundbreaking longitudinal study recently published in Nature's Journal of Misaligned Aesthetics has confirmed what local residents, visiting sports teams and the entire single population under the age of 25 has long suspected: Hopkins students are considered to have facial features considered less attractive than the national college average, landing stolidly in the 20th percentile. Comparable peer institutions have ranked considerably higher, with the Mediocre Institute of Temptation (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts ranking in the 60th percentile and Bland University (BU) in the 90th percentile.

The study methodology involved interdisciplinary research by evolutionary biologists, psychologists specialized in adolescent psychology and anthropologists, with help from computer science researchers at the University to analyze the data. Dr. Anna Lysis, specialist in machine learning and facial recognition, spearheaded the efforts.

To ensure objective results, Lysis and her team utilized a custom-built neural network dubbed "SIGHT-SORE." The AI was trained on a dataset of 500,000 images of the facial features of college students across the country who had submitted their images consensually, each of which was given scores of both objective and perceived attractiveness based on the interdisciplinary team described above.

The model identified 67 unique landmark points on each student's face that were key differentiators between attraction levels. Hopkins undergraduates in particular exhibited two key features.

The first, identified by Lysis in an email to The News-Letter, is the "Organically Receding Hairline." The distance between the eyebrows and the hairline was approximately 12% larger in upperclassmen compared to underclassmen. Results were further correlated to pre-medical upperclassmen and underclassmen at the University, and it was identified that this feature was especially prominent in Computer Science majors and students who had taken pre-medical prerequisite courses such as Organic Chemistry I, Organic Chemistry II and Biochemistry.

The second feature was all the more interesting because, according to Lysis, it originated from an error in the model. During initial verification, the model was also trained to ensure that it was accurately identifying human faces under the age of 25, so extraneous data points of individuals at older ages (ranging from 30-60 years old) were provided to ensure the model understood age-related differences. However, these images revealed a new phenomenon where premature aging in Hopkins students resulted in certain students being initially misclassified by the model as between the ages of 40 and 50. Students were also seen to carry a grayish tinge to their skin previously only observed in older individuals. Affectionately called "Library grey," Lysis hypothesizes that this phenomenon is not a literal pigmentation of the hair or skin, but a unique spectral frequency emitted by students who have spent more than 72 consecutive hours in the basement levels of Brody Learning Commons.

These groundbreaking results have sent shockwaves through the University and even have helped neighborhoods. Local bars, long baffled by their own low occupancy on Friday nights, finally have a scientific scapegoat. However, Dr. Lysis insists that there is cause for hope, arguing that most adolescents care more about "what's on the inside."

"It's really all about your potential - to make money, to glow up… we have to remember that beauty is subjective. Sure, [they] may have a receding hairline or concrete skin, but [their] CVs have never looked better. In the darkness of a lab, everyone's a 10."