The women’s basketball coach stood atop a ladder on Sunday night, carefully cutting down the last of the net after Haskell Indian Nations University won the league championship. The scene is a familiar one at this time of year in college basketball. But the celebration in Lawrence, Kan., where the man who invented the sport worked for decades, was nevertheless astonishing: Officially, Haskell’s coach, Adam Strom, was only a volunteer. He had been fired 16 days earlier, swept up in an executive order that led Haskell to oust about a quarter of its workers on a Friday in February. The only other federally run college for Native people, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute in Albuquerque, also laid off a similar share of workers that day. More than 140 years after the United States first used the grounds in Lawrence as a boarding school to assimilate Native children, Haskell students feel that the federal government, which controls the university, has once again become a malevolent force upending lives. The student government association president said three of her five instructors had been dismissed. Rumors had swirled over whether enough dining hall workers were left to serve meals. A senior had wondered whether the university, a sanctum for Native American students shaped by tradition and tragedy, would remain open long enough for him to receive his degree. As other potential policy changes loom, students, leaders and experts fear that the federal system for educating Native Americans — which serves tens of thousands of students at Haskell and beyond, and which already has some of the worst outcomes in the United States — is lurching into a new phase of crisis. In President Trump’s Washington, firings across the federal government have been billed as an “optimization” of the bureaucracy. But on Haskell’s campus, where at least 103 people are buried, the seemingly indiscriminate budget cuts represent another breach of the government’s vows to Native Americans. “We’re not necessarily repeating the history of the school; it’s just continuing in our own modern way,” said J’Den Nichols, a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana who is majoring in American Indian studies. As she spoke, less than a week before the conference championship game, a tepee stood near the student union in response to the cuts. “We only bring that up in times of ceremony, or in times like now, where we are either mourning or attacked by others,” Tyler Moore, the senior and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, said of the tepee. Haskell’s president, Francis Arpan, referred an interview request to the Bureau of Indian Education, which declined to make any federal officials available. A spokesperson for the Interior Department, which includes the bureau, said in a one-sentence statement that the department “reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the American public while practicing diligent fiscal responsibility.” Although the administration’s quest to reduce federal spending has led campus officials across the country to weigh layoffs, hiring freezes and other steps, schools like Haskell are particularly vulnerable to disruptions since they are directly run by the government. And perhaps no education system in the United States is as familiar with upheaval and shattered promises than the one that provides federal schools for Native students. Almost a century after a major federal report about conditions for Native Americans warned that “cheapness in education is expensive” because thriftiness in schools could deepen future societal problems, witnesses repeatedly told Congress in written testimony last week that the federal system for teaching Native people suffered from “chronic underfunding.”About 45,000 children are enrolled in bureau-funded schools in 23 states, their options fashioned by court cases, laws and treaties. In addition to operating Haskell and SIPI — as the small college of about 200 in Albuquerque is known — the government financially supports tribal colleges and universities that are run independently. Although some measures of student success are improving, the high school graduation rate for Bureau of Indian Education schools regularly lags the nation’s. In the 2020-21 school year, standardized tests showed that roughly one in 10 assessed students were proficient in math, and about 17 percent were proficient in language arts, according to the bureau. The system’s colleges are also troubled. The most recently reported six-year graduation rate at Haskell was 43 percent; the national rate is usually around 62 percent. Dr. Arpan, congressional aides noted before a hearing last summer, was Haskell’s eighth president in six years. And a 2023 Interior Department report, which emerged last year after the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility sued to obtain a redacted copy, depicted Haskell as “severely dysfunctional.” The report concluded, in part, that the university had been insufficiently attentive to accusations of sexual assault, housed an athletic department “in disarray” and used adjunct instructors “inappropriately" while federal employees worked beyond their job descriptions. Last December, some congressional Republicans floated a new governance structure for Haskell that has drawn mixed reviews on campus and not yet cleared Capitol Hill. Despite their university’s problems, one student after another said that Haskell was one of the few places in academia where they felt their culture was honored. Shrinking the university, they argued, was more than a violation of the government’s promises; it was an assault on their heritages and futures. Angel Ahtone Elizarraras, the student government president, talked of how the library offered spiritual medicine and every dorm had a smudge room. (“If you ask anyone on campus, English isn’t the coolest language we know,” Marina DeCora, a student who is a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, said wryly.) Students frequently used the word “family” to describe the community at Haskell, where they pay some fees but no tuition. This semester, the university reported an enrollment of 918 students representing 153 tribal nations. Shiannah Horned Eagle, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota who is a social work student, said she started out at another college, but found it “isolating.” She found solace at Haskell — and then learned of the cuts when an instructor told the class. “Basically, they just told us they got fired and that they don’t know what’s going to happen to the classes,” she said. Ms. Ahtone Elizarraras was preparing for a Valentine’s Day dance when she heard. “As a Native, as you’re at this school, you kind of read through the books, and it prepares you for moments like this,” said Ms. Ahtone Elizarraras, a citizen of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes of Oklahoma, adding, “It makes it to where you realize, ‘Hey, my ancestors stepped so that I could walk.’” But there is also fury. “How much more can you take?” Ms. DeCora fumed.Haskell’s board of regents has appealed to Washington. In letters to federal officials, the advisory board’s interim president, Dalton Henry, argued that the ousted employees should be reinstated because they were fulfilling duties that were mandatory under treaties. Last week, students protested outside the Kansas Capitol. Later in the week, Dr. Arpan told student government leaders about a reprieve that would allow ousted instructors to finish this semester as adjuncts. But that fix is, for now, only temporary. Among the university workers who have lost jobs are a photography instructor and custodians. On the morning of Feb. 14, there were rumors among some employees about coming cuts. Then Mr. Strom, who was in his fourth season as the women’s basketball coach, was summoned to the athletic director’s office. He figured he was in for a talking-to about sharing gym time with other teams. Instead, the athletic director told him he was out of a job. Mr. Strom, a member of the Yakama Nation, said he had been a contractor for his first three seasons. He was only recently hired full time as a federal employee, which meant he was still in his probationary period.“I felt safe. I really did,” he said, adding, “I thought being an educator was important in America.” Ahniwake Rose, a Cherokee Nation citizen who is the president of the American Indian Higher Education Consortium, said that the Trump administration should reverse the firings soon. Otherwise, she warned, there could be “a trickle-down effect on long-term harm to these institutions” if students decided not to enroll because they feared for the universities’ health. Tribe-controlled colleges, she said, were offering to send volunteer faculty and staff members in the meantime. Mr. Strom decided to stick around for the rest of the season and coach as a volunteer, only miles from where James Naismith, basketball’s inventor, founded the University of Kansas’ fabled men’s team. The current Kansas coach, Bill Self, is the highest-paid college basketball coach in the United States. “I really could paint that very ugly picture in that that coach is a white male, and I’m a minority, I’m a Native American,” Mr. Strom said in the gym complex, where four Native star quilts flank the American flag. He paused. “At the same time, I’d rather be better than bitter.” On Sunday, the now-volunteer coach and his team won the conference title, securing a spot in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship tournament. But instead of recruiting for next season or spending as many hours preparing for games, Mr. Strom has been searching for jobs, hoping he will find a coaching gig someplace else. Students are also worrying about the way forward for their lives and their campus, even though events like graduation remain on track. “I know there’s going to be a day where this is talked about in history books,” said Mr. Moore, who was chosen as this year’s Haskell Brave, one of the university’s highest honors, adding, “I’m just sad that I’m living through it today.”

The Trump administration said Wednesday it would use a law typically meant to investigate racist practices within police departments to examine whether the University of California system had engaged in a pattern or practice of antisemitic discrimination. The move by the Justice Department comes two days after other federal agencies announced a review of Columbia University’s federal contracts to determine if such funding should be taken away over an alleged failure to protect Jewish students and faculty on campus. President Trump has long railed against American colleges and universities for their policies toward on-campus protests against Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip. Some Jewish faculty and staff have complained that such protests, some of which featured antisemitic rhetoric, have made them feel harassed, and that the encampments impeded their ability to freely go to and from classes. “This Department of Justice will always defend Jewish Americans, protect civil rights, and leverage our resources to eradicate institutional antisemitism in our nation’s universities,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. The University of California system said in a statement that it was “unwavering in its commitment to combating antisemitism and protecting everyone’s civil rights. We continue to take specific steps to foster an environment free of harassment and discrimination for everyone in the university community.” Pattern or practice inquiries by the Justice Department are not criminal investigations but rather study broad conduct by institutions to see if they allow or encourage mistreatment of certain groups. For decades, the pattern or practice law has been used primarily to investigate local and state police departments for unfair treatment of people of color. Settlements in such cases typically involve a department agreeing to make specific changes to training and policies in order to root out problematic behavior or practices. Republican administrations generally take a less aggressive approach to such investigations than Democrats, and the Trump administration paused such work in late January. By using the law to investigate a university system rather than a police department, the Trump administration is pressing arguments Mr. Trump first made during the campaign, that Democrats have fostered racist treatment of white people. The Department of Education announced investigations last month into “widespread antisemitism” at five universities: Columbia; Northwestern; Portland State; the University of California, Berkeley; and the University of Minnesota. At a confirmation hearing last month for Linda McMahon as education secretary, Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana and chairman of the Senate education committee, pressed her to focus on what he said was a backlog of antisemitism cases in the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. “I’d look forward to doing that,” Ms McMahon said. She was confirmed to the post on Monday. Writing on his social media site on Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump underscored what he considered appropriate penalties regarding pro-Palestinian demonstrations. “All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests,” Trump wrote, adding that the protesters would be “imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came,” and that American students would be permanently expelled or even arrested. The Justice Department investigation will seek to determine whether the U.C. system violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and religion. That law authorizes the Justice Department to launch investigations of state and local government employers where it has reason to believe that a “pattern or practice” of discrimination exists. The Trump administration created a multiagency task force to combat antisemitism, and both actions this week were billed as the first major moves of that work. Last month, Trump administration officials announced that members of the task force would visit 10 schools around the country to discuss concerns about antisemitism on campus toward staff and students. On Monday, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education identified some $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia and the federal government that could be cut off as a result of what the Trump administration said was the school’s “ongoing inaction in the face of relentless harassment of Jewish students.” Columbia said in a statement on Monday evening that it was reviewing the announcement and that it looked forward “to ongoing work with the new federal administration to fight antisemitism.” More than a quarter of Columbia’s $6.6 billion in annual operating revenue comes from federal sources, according to its 2024 financial statements. Much of that comes from federal research grants.

The police in Baton Rouge, La., are investigating whether a hazing episode at a fraternity may have played a role in the recent death of a 20-year-old Southern University student, university officials said Wednesday. The student, Caleb Wilson, of New Orleans, died at 12:27 a.m. on Feb. 27, the East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office said. A university investigation into his death started after rumors of “unsanctioned off-campus activities” began to swell, the university, whose full name is Southern University and Agricultural & Mechanical College, announced on social media. The activities are believed to have been organized by the Beta Sigma chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the university said. “We have been informed that the local authorities have launched an investigation into this tragic incident,” the fraternity said in a statement on its website on Feb. 28. “We have extended ourselves to them and are ready to assist in any way possible during this difficult time.” The coroner’s office said that “the cause and manner” of Mr. Wilson’s death were still under investigation. The Baton Rouge Police Department, which is investigating Mr. Wilson’s death, did not immediately respond on Wednesday to an email or phone call seeking additional information. Advertisement SKIP ADVERTISEMENT “An off-campus incident is believed to have contributed to Caleb’s death,” John K. Pierre, the chancellor for the school, said on Feb. 27 in a Facebook message. “Southern University is cooperating fully with the Baton Rouge Police Department.” It is unclear whether Mr. Wilson was a fraternity member. Mr. Wilson was a junior at Southern University, a historically Black institution, majoring in mechanical engineering. He was also a member of the “Human Jukebox” Marching Band, the school’s prestigious collegiate musical group that incorporates dance and music and has performed at Super Bowls and presidential inaugurations. “This tragic loss leaves a void in our Jaguar family,” the school said, referring to the university’s mascot. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Caleb’s family, friends, classmates, and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.” Southern University also said that it had begun a “student judiciary process” in the aftermath of Mr. Wilson’s death. “Caleb was a bright and talented young man with a promising future ahead of him,” his family said in a statement provided to WAFB, a local television station. “We are committed to seeking the truth about the circumstances surrounding Caleb’s passing and ensuring that no other family has to endure such a tragedy.” A candlelight vigil honoring his life was held on campus on Friday evening. In recent years, there has been a crackdown on fraternity hazing at schools across the country, and several states have passed legislation to address the problem. Earlier this year, four fraternity members at San Diego State University were charged with felony counts after a pledge was set on fire during a skit at a party last year. In October, two men who were charged in the 2017 hazing death of a Pennsylvania State University sophomore were sentenced to two to four months in prison.

Fired federal workers. Medicaid recipients who could lose their health care under proposed budget cuts. A small business owner who may be affected by new tariffs. These are some of the people who will attend President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday night, brought as guests by Democratic lawmakers seeking to highlight the human cost of the administration’s sweeping policy changes. For decades, lawmakers have used invited guests to put a human face on policy debates, underscoring the real-world consequences of decisions made in Washington. This year, as Trump touts what he calls a “historic transformation” of the federal government, Democrats are countering with stories of disruption and hardship—stories they hope will resonate beyond the chamber’s walls. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D, N.Y.) and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have urged Democrats to invite fired federal employees and average Americans who have been negatively affected by DOGE’s cuts, according to a source familiar with the matter. Since taking office, Trump has moved aggressively to reshape the federal bureaucracy, slashing jobs, consolidating agencies, and asserting unprecedented executive control. With Republicans in control of both chambers of Congress, Democrats have few legislative tools at their disposal. But by elevating the voices of those affected, they are aiming to use Trump’s speech to focus on the impacts of his second-term policies. Republicans will also utilize guests to send a message about their priorities. First Lady Melania Trump announced she would bring January Littlejohn, a Florida mother and parents’ right advocate who sued her school board after her child socially transitioned to a different gender identity. The First Lady also invited recently released prisoner Marc Fogel, an American history teacher who was held hostage by Russia and whose release came thanks to President Trump. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) shared a partial list of his invitees, including ‘border czar’ Tom Homan and natural gas executive Ben Dell. Fired federal workers Alissa Ellman, a disabled veteran who was recently fired from her position at the Buffalo Veterans Affairs Office, and Tiffany Ramos, who was fired from her position at the Department of Agriculture, will be attending as guests of Schumer. Michael Missal, the former Inspector General for the Department of Veterans Affairs who was dismissed by Trump (along with 16 other inspectors generals), will be attending as a guest of Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D, Conn.), the ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Jason King, a disabled veteran recently fired from the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety division, will be a guest of Sen. Tim Kaine (D, Va.). Andrew Lennox, a Marine veteran and former administrator officer at a VA hospital in Ann Arbor who was fired as part of the Trump Administration’s cuts, was invited by Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D, Mich.), who will be delivering the Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s speech. Medicaid recipients Jessica Martinez and Ana Medina Garcia, cancer survivors and recipients of Medicaid, and Emma Larson, who received a lifesaving treatment for her spinal muscular atrophy due to a reimbursement from the National Institutes of Health, were also invited by Schumer. Cheri Byer, a Medicaid recipient who previously battled addiction and was able to access residential addiction treatment in part because she was eligible for Medicaid, will be a guest of Sen. Maggie Hassan (D, N.H.). Firefighters and other first responders Frank Lima, a Los Angeles City fire captain and firefighter union leader who was on the front lines and helped defend the Pacific Palisades wildfire in January, will be a guest of Sen. Alex Padilla (D, Calif.). Vincent Culliver, the captain of the Vandenberg Fire Department who was also on the front lines and helped fight the January wildfires, will be a guest of Sen. Adam Schiff (D, Calif.). Dave Williams, the fire chief of Chino Valley Fire District, will be a guest of Rep. Norma Torres (D, Calif.), to highlight planned cuts to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Small business owners impacted by Trump’s tariffs Allison Hope, the executive director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, will be a guest of Sen. Peter Welch (D, Vt.). Hope says that Vermont’s maple industry is bracing for the economic fallout of Trump’s 25% tariff on Canada, which goes into effect on Tuesday. Rebecca Hamilton, a small business owner who runs a manufacturer of natural personal care products and can’t afford to budget for Trump’s tariffs, will be a guest of Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D, N.H.). Israel-Hamas war victims Orna Neutra and Ruby Chen, the parents of two Israeli-American hostages from New York who were murdered by Hamas, will be guests of Schumer. Omer Neutra, 22, and Itay Chen, 19, were both taken hostage during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack. Victims of illegal immigration Olivia Hayes, a young widow from Louisiana whose husband Wesley was killed by an undocumented immigrant in a drunk driving accident, will also be a guest of Speaker Johnson. Scott Root, the father of Sarah Root, who was killed the night of her college graduation by an undocumented immigrant in a drunk driving accident, will be a guest of Sen. Joni Ernst (R, Iowa). Allyson and Lauren Phillips, the mother and sister of Laken Riley. Riley, 22, was murdered by an undocumented immigrant. Her name is on the first immigration bill Trump signed this year. They will be guests of the First Lady. Alexis Nungaray, a Texas mother whose 12-year-old daughter was killed by two undocumented immigrants who were released from Border Patrol custody before their attack. She will be a guest of the First Lady. Roberto Ortiz, a Border Patrol worker who has been shot by cartel members in Texas. Ortiz will also be a guest of the First Lady. Conservative personalities Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh, conservative political commentators with the Daily Wire, are expected to attend as guests of Speaker Johnson. Riley Gaines, a conservative activist and former swimmer who has advocated against allowing transgender women to compete in women’s sports, will be a guest of Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R, Iowa). Trump recently signed an executive order banning transgender women from participating in women’s sports. Ross Ulbricht, who operated Silk Road, the dark web marketplace where illegal drugs were sold, was invited by Rep. Thomas Massie (R, Ky.), according to Semafor. Ulbricht was pardoned by Trump last month after he was sentenced in 2015 to life in prison. Victims of violence The Comperatore Family, the family of the firefighter who was fatally shot by the gunman during the assassination attempt against President Trump in July 2024. Corey Comperatore is survived by his wife and two daughters, who will be a guest of the First Lady. Stephanie Diller, the widow of NYPD Officer Jonathan Diller, who was killed at a traffic stop in Queens, will be a guest of the First Lady. Students Haley Ferguson, a senior at Middle Tennessee State University who was the recipient of the Fostering the Future scholarship. The educational funds come from the First Lady’s Be Best initiative. Ferguson will be a guest of the First Lady. Elliston Berry, a 15-year-old victim of deepfakes from Texas. She will be a guest of the First Lady, who on Monday called on the House to pass the Take it Down Act—which aims to protect against non-consensual intimate images. Payton McNabb, a high school athlete who suffered from a brain injury due to an accident during a volleyball match. The blow that caused McNabb’s injury came from a transgender athlete. McNabb is a guest of the First Lady. Skipping the address While there does not appear to be a widespread push among Democrats to boycott Trump’s address, a few Democratic members are planning to skip it. Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, and Patty Murray of Washington will not be in attendance. Wyden will instead host an online town hall for his constituents to ask questions, share their ideas and offer their views. Murray said in a statement that she will be “meeting with constituents who have been harmed by this administration’s reckless firings and its illegal and ongoing funding freeze across government.” A handful of House Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Don Beyer and Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Becca Balint of Vermont, Kweisi Mfume of Maryland and Diana DeGette of Colorado, announced that they would skip the address. Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Brian Schatz of Hawaii, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland are planning to join other Democratic officials and progressive media figures for a “prebuttal” and live watch-along hosted by Democratic advocacy group MoveOn.

obert F. Kennedy Jr., the new head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has long cast doubt on the safety of vaccines—particularly the one for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR). But in his opinion piece about the ongoing measles outbreak, published March 2 in Fox News Digital, Kennedy wrote that vaccines “not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.” Advertisement Kennedy's acknowledgement of the value of the measles vaccine comes as the outbreak that began in Texas continues to grow. So far, nearly 150 cases and one death—the first U.S. fatality from the disease in more than 10 years—have been confirmed. It's the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. in decades. When Kennedy previously discussed the outbreak at a cabinet meeting last week, he did not mention vaccination. However, in the Fox piece, Kennedy also wrote about the importance of a good diet in protecting people from measles—a factor that experts say may not be very relevant for Americans. “Good nutrition remains a best defense against most chronic and infectious diseases,” he wrote. He also touted vitamin A for people with measles. On Feb. 27, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which HHS oversees, updated their guidance to say that while there is no antiviral treatment for measles, “supportive care, including vitamin A administration under the direction of a physician, may be appropriate.” Advertisement Restoring a city’s charm Branded Content Restoring a city’s charm By China Daily Here's what experts think about Kennedy's first major public communication in his new role at the helm of the top U.S. health agency. A (qualified) endorsement of vaccination Kennedy acknowledges what public-health experts have long maintained: that the best way to control measles is to vaccinate the public and give them immunity to the virus. Of the 146 cases reported so far, state health officials say 79 people were not vaccinated against MMR. But while he concedes the importance of population-level vaccination in order to achieve community-wide protection, he also maintains that “all parents should consult with their healthcare providers to understand their options to get the MMR vaccine. The decision to vaccinate is a personal one.” Read More: A Study Retracted 15 Years Ago Continues to Threaten Childhood Vaccines Unfortunately, herd immunity doesn't work that way, public-health experts say. Community-level protection—otherwise known as herd immunity—isn’t possible unless upwards of 90% of people are immunized. Experts agree that balancing personal choice and the scientific reality of herd immunity is critical for keeping outbreaks under control.

It’s like watching a rerun while you’re sleeping: Once again, you show up for a class not knowing there’s a test, or lose control of your car while driving, or get chased by a shadowy figure. Recurring dreams have a way of popping up again and again. “The dreams contain the same content, emotions, or narrative structure,” explains Antonio Zadra, a professor of psychology and senior researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine at the University of Montreal. Common themes include falling into space, losing teeth, feeling paralyzed in a threatening situation, enduring a natural disaster, or being ripped off or cheated on. But “a significant chunk of recurrent dreams are idiosyncratic,” says Zadra, who co-wrote the book When Brains Dream: Exploring the Science and Mystery of Sleep. “And some people have more than one recurrent dream.” Advertisement Here’s what to know about why they keep happening. How common are recurring dreams? The vast majority of adults have recurring dreams at some point in their lives, experts say. For several reasons, women tend to be most afflicted. “Overall, women recall their dreams more often than men, and women are also more likely to have disturbing dreams,” says Michael R. Nadorff, a professor of psychology at Mississippi State University and former president of the Society of Behavioral Sleep Medicine. The strange makeup of recurring dreams Research has found that most recurring dreams have a negative tone with themes often related to helplessness, failure, or being chased. But sometimes they can have positive themes, such as discovering a new room in your home or excelling at an activity like skiing. Sometimes these recurring dream themes may feel random. Other times they may relate to an experience from your past or to something that’s currently worrying you. Research has found that people who feel ineffective in their lives and disconnected from others are more likely to experience negative recurring dreams.

Elissa Slotkin had the eyes of the nation on her as she gave the Democratic response to President Donald Trump’s first joint congressional address of his second presidential term on Tuesday night. “It’s late, so I promise to be a lot shorter than what you just watched,” the first-term Michigan senator said after Trump spoke for about 100 minutes, the longest annual presidential address in modern history. Slotkin was announced for the role by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries last Thursday. Schumer described Slotkin as a “rising star” who will “offer a bold vision of hope, unity, and a brighter future for everyone, not just the wealthy few at the top.” Slotkin promised she would take the opportunity “to level with” the public “on what’s actually happening in our country.” Her rebuttal comes at a time when Democrats are struggling to present a unified opposition strategy to Trump. Slotkin began her 10-minute rebuttal by explaining her own path to politics before addressing Americans’ economic concerns, admitting that changes are necessary after a “fraught election season.” She said: “Americans made it clear that prices are too high and that the government needs to be more responsive to their needs. America wants change, but there’s a responsible way to make change and a reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy.” On the economy, Slotkin said prices of “groceries, housing, health care” need to be brought down, manufacturing needs to be brought back to America, businesses need certainty to invest, and Americans who aren’t billionaires need a fair tax system. “Look, the President talked a big game on the economy, but it's always important to read the fine print,” she said. “Do his plans actually help Americans get ahead? Not even close,” she added, arguing that Trump is trying to deliver “an unprecedented giveaway” to the wealthy. “And to do that he’s going to make you pay in every part of your life.” Slotkin said Trump has no credible plan to lower grocery and home prices and that his tariffs are likely to raise the price of energy and trigger a trade war that could hurt U.S. manufacturing and agriculture. She also claimed that Trump would raise the costs of premiums and prescriptions “because the math on his proposals doesn’t work without going after your health care” and that “in order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement,” referencing social security and Veterans Affairs benefits at risk. “If he’s not careful, he could walk us right into a recession,” Slotkin said of Trump. Slotkin also raised concerns about billionaire Elon Musk’s status as an advisor to Trump, pointing to his attacks on social security, Medicare, and VA benefits as well as the Department of Government Efficiency’s mass terminations of federal employees and programs that have upended Washington and the world. “Change doesn’t need to be chaotic or make us less safe, the mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing, and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer only to rehire them two days later,” she said. “No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired.” Addressing border security, Slotkin said that “every country deserves to know who and what is coming across its border” but that “securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with the symptom and not the disease.” She said that the U.S. needs “a functional system” that allows vetted immigrants to come legally and contribute to the economy, before seemingly facetiously adding: “I look forward to the President’s plan on that.” Slotkin offered a sharp contrast to Trump’s more isolationist America First approach to foreign policy, declaring: “Today’s world is deeply interconnected—migration, cyber threats, AI, environmental destruction, terrorism—one nation cannot face these issues alone. We need friends in all corners, and our safety depends on it.” She argued that Trump quotes former President Ronald Reagan when he calls for “peace through strength” but that Reagan “must be rolling in his grave” after Trump’s clash in the Oval Office last week with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Reagan understood that true strength required America to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity.” The Oval Office episode with Zelensky, Slotkin said, “summed up Trump’s whole approach to the world: He believes in cozying up to dictators like Vladimir Putin and kicking our friends like the Canadians in the teeth.” Slotkin said Trump doesn’t believe the U.S. is “exceptional” and that he “would have lost us the Cold War.” Slotkin ended on a word of warning and a call to action. “Our democracy, our very system of government, has been the aspiration of the world, and right now it’s at risk. It’s at risk when the President decides you can pick and choose what rules you want to follow, when he ignores court orders and the Constitution itself, or when elected leaders stand by and just let it happen,” she said. “But it’s also at risk when the President pits Americans against each other, when he demonizes those who are different and tells certain people they shouldn’t be included.” But, she added, “as much as we need to make our government more responsive to our lives today, don't for one moment, fool yourself that democracy isn't precious and worth saving.” She told viewers not to tune out, to go to town halls and hold elected officials accountable, and to organize. “Pick just one issue you’re passionate about, and engage—and doomscrolling doesn’t count.” The post-presidential-address rebuttal is widely seen as an opportunity for emerging party leaders to take the spotlight, and even conservatives praised Slotkin’s performance. Commentary editor John Podhoretz called it “starmaking,” and Jewish Insider editor-in-chief Josh Kraushaar called it the “kind of focus that Dems have lacked since Trump took office,” adding “her worldview is what can lead the Dems back out of the wilderness.” Here’s what to know about Slotkin. From CIA analyst to congresswoman After graduating with a masters degree in international affairs from Columbia University, Slotkin was recruited to be a Middle East analyst for the CIA. Fluent in Arabic and Swahili, she served three tours in Iraq with the U.S. military. She then served in national security roles at the White House during both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. During the latter, her work ranged from combatting ISIS to U.S.-Russia relations. Part of the Democrats’ hope in Slotkin may be due to her ability to win over more conservative voters. Slotkin ran for Congress in 2018, flipping a Republican-held seat and helping Democrats regain a House majority. Her campaign, she said, was inspired by watching her mother die from ovarian cancer in 2011, after her family struggled to afford life-saving care against insurance price gouging. Slotkin drew nationwide attention—including both protests and support—when she announced at a town hall in 2019 that she backed Trump’s impeachment. She nevertheless went on to win reelection in 2020 and again in 2022. In February, 2023, Slotkin threw her hat in the ring to succeed Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D, Mich.). Her campaign targeted split-ticket voters, emphasizing affordable healthcare, costs of living, and jobs for working and middle class Americans, while taking a moderate stance on gun laws. She narrowly beat Republican Mike Rogers, becoming the youngest Democratic woman elected to the Senate. She was one of four Democrats to win Senate races in states won by Trump. “I personally think that identity politics needs to go the way of the dodo,” the 48-year-old, who describes herself as a third-generation Michigander, told NBC News after the 2024 election. “People need to be looked at as independent Americans, whatever group they’re from, whatever party they may be from.” Slotkin has broken from her party’s positions on several issues, and was scored as one of the most bipartisan House members. She has opposed abolishing the death penalty, reserving its use for rare cases; was one of 12 Senate Democrats to vote for the Laken Riley Act that mandates harsher detention rules for undocumented immigrants suspected of theft or violent crimes; and drew criticism after voting for an amendment in 2023 preventing Department of Defense facilities from displaying non-official flags, including Pride flags. (Slotkin said she wished to ban “hateful flags” like the Confederate flag and would “rather support a no-flag policy than allow hateful imagery above U.S. military bases”; she has been endorsed by the LGBTQ+ rights group Human Rights Campaign and voted in favor of gender-affirming care for military families.) “We’ve gone through periods of political instability before, and ultimately, we’ve chosen to keep changing this country for the better,” Slotkin said Tuesday night. “But every single time, we’ve only gotten through those moments because of two things: engaged citizens and principled leaders—engaged citizens who do a little bit more than they’re used to doing to fight for the things that they care about, and principled leaders who are ready to receive the ball and do something about it.”

Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is President Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has traditionally been the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. On March 5, the Stanford University professor of health policy will face questions from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee as he attempts to get confirmed to lead one of the country’s most powerful health agencies. Here’s what to know about Bhattacharya. Advertisement He's the son of immigrants Bhattacharya was born in Kolkata, India and said in a podcast interview that his mother came from a slum, while his father, an electrical engineer, was part of the country’s middle class. In the 1970s, his family immigrated to the U.S., settling first in Massachusetts and then in California, outside of Los Angeles. When he was 18, Bhattacharya converted from Hinduism to become a Presbyterian. He's interested in health economics Bhattacharya earned four degrees at Stanford: a bachelor's degree, master's, MD, and PhD. He worked as an economist at the RAND Corporation before returning to Stanford to join the faculty. Bhattacharya has researched health economics and studied the the U.S.'s vulnerable populations, analyzing how the country's health care system and government policies affect the health of these groups.

Even though it’s a natural part of a woman’s reproductive lifespan, menopause can be a lightning rod for emotional reactions. Some women are thrilled to have their periods come to an end, along with the risk of having an unplanned pregnancy. Others dread the prospect of hot flashes, night sweats, mood changes, and other unpleasant symptoms related to menopause. Meanwhile, still others worry about increased health risks—for conditions such as osteoporosis, heart disease, and dementia—that can come with the loss of ovarian function and the dramatic decline in estrogen levels that occur after menopause. That’s partly why some scientists and cultural influencers believe that delaying menopause may be a key to longevity. Advertisement “The ovary ages faster than many other organs, and often even faster than the woman herself,” says Dr. Zev Williams, director of the Columbia University Fertility Center and chief of the division of reproductive endocrinology and fertility at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. “Today, as women enjoy longer lives, extending the functional lifespan of the ovary could have a meaningful impact on long-term health and quality of life.” It’s a controversial proposition for various reasons. “The idea of delaying menopause doesn’t make a lot of sense, because we’re not talking about fertility and women’s periods,” says neuroscientist Jennifer Garrison, co-director for the Center for Healthy Aging in Women at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, Calif. “The real conversation should be about preserving the part of ovarian function that’s related to health. The benefit of giving women options for preserving the endocrine function of ovaries will be to maintain a consistent quality of life for a number of years.”

This year, for the first time, TIME will debut a ranking of the World's Top HealthTech Companies, in partnership with Statista, a leading international provider of market and consumer data and rankings. The ranking aims to highlight health tech companies that drive innovation, enhance accessibility, and contribute to a more effective and sustainable health care system. Because many companies in this space are young, TIME and Statista are accepting applications as part of the research phase. An application guarantees consideration for the list, but does not guarantee a spot on the list, nor is the final list limited to applicants.