1. AFFORDABILITY DOMINATES THE MIDTERM CAMPAIGNS

With the 2026 midterm elections approaching, candidates in both parties are focusing heavily on affordability as voters continue to worry about the cost of everyday life. The issue extends well beyond inflation and includes housing, groceries, gasoline, child care, health insurance, and electricity. Candidates have proposed a wide range of responses, including speeding housing construction, restricting some corporate purchases of homes, changing tariffs or food taxes, offering child-care tax credits, negotiating prescription-drug prices, and modifying energy policies. The debate also illustrates an important political challenge: national economic statistics can look relatively strong even when individual households feel financially strained. Democrats have sought to make rising costs a liability for Republicans, while Republicans continue to connect present economic difficulties to policies from the Biden administration and offer their own approaches to lowering expenses. As a result, the campaigns are increasingly being fought over not simply whether life is expensive, but which policies are responsible and which solutions would actually make necessities more affordable. Recent reporting likewise identifies the cost of living as a major concern shaping the midterm campaign. Create an Affordability Policy Matrix. Choose four categories from housing, groceries, energy, health care, and child care. For each category, identify one policy solution described in the story and analyze who might benefit, who might bear additional costs, how quickly the proposal could affect prices, and one possible unintended consequence. Finish by writing a short conclusion explaining why a policy that lowers one household expense might still involve economic or political trade-offs.

2. TRUMP EMPHASIZES COMPETITION WITH CHINA IN THE A.I. SAFETY DEBATE

President Donald Trump has resisted calls for a major slowdown in artificial-intelligence development, arguing that the United States must preserve its technological advantage over China. His position contrasts with warnings from several technology leaders who say increasingly capable A.I. systems could develop faster than governments and companies can create effective safeguards. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has called for slowing development enough to strengthen safety measures, while other industry figures and lawmakers have also raised concerns about cybersecurity, job displacement, and advanced systems becoming difficult to control. Trump has acknowledged that some guardrails may be appropriate but has not proposed specific regulations, emphasizing instead the national-security and economic consequences of falling behind China. Congressional leaders in both parties have expressed interest in additional safeguards, although they differ over how quickly government should intervene and previous efforts to regulate the industry have struggled. The debate therefore involves a difficult policy question: whether slowing technological development reduces dangerous risks or instead creates another risk by allowing a geopolitical competitor to gain an advantage. Imagine you represent A.I. companies, safety researchers, workers, cybersecurity officials, Congress, or national-security advisers. Propose one policy that could reduce A.I. risks without unnecessarily sacrificing technological competitiveness and explain why it makes sense from your group’s perspective. Consider development, independent safety testing, and international competition.

3. SOME COLLEGE FRESHMEN ARE LEAVING CAMPUS JUST WEEKS AFTER ARRIVING

Videos of college freshmen leaving their campuses only weeks into the semester have sparked a wider debate about independence, mental health, and the value of the traditional college experience. Some students describe feeling unsafe, isolated, overwhelmed by coursework, or uncomfortable with campus social life and have chosen to transfer to online programs, commute from home, or leave school entirely. Critics argue that students may be making permanent decisions during a temporary period of homesickness and adjustment, while others contend that remaining in an unhealthy or financially costly situation simply to prove resilience makes little sense. The viral videos can make early departures appear more common than they are: overall college dropout rates have actually declined somewhat compared with prepandemic levels. Still, colleges report concern that some students hesitate to seek help or give themselves enough time to develop friendships and adjust. Rising tuition, uncertainty about entry-level employment, and fears about A.I. replacing some jobs further complicate students’ calculations about whether living on campus is worth the expense. The discussion ultimately raises a larger question about where persistence ends and an appropriate change of plans begins. Develop a first-semester decision guide for a college counseling office. Create a flowchart that begins with a student thinking, “I want to leave.” Include separate paths for problems involving homesickness, finances, academic difficulty, health or safety, and social isolation. At several points, require the student to consider intermediate options such as counseling, changing housing, commuting, taking fewer courses, or switching programs before reaching a final decision. Add a brief explanation of how your guide distinguishes between productive discomfort and circumstances serious enough to justify leaving.

4. UTAH’S FIGHT OVER COURTS AND REDISTRICTING

A long-running political and legal conflict in Utah has expanded from a dispute over congressional districts into a broader struggle over judicial independence, citizen initiatives, abortion policy, and the distribution of political power. The conflict began after voters approved Proposition 4 in 2018 to establish redistricting reforms, but the Republican-controlled Legislature later repealed key provisions. Mormon Women for Ethical Government and the League of Women Voters challenged that action, and Utah courts repeatedly ruled that voters possess constitutionally protected power to reform government through the initiative process. (Justia Law) More recently, state lawmakers have changed the judicial structure, including creating new procedures for certain constitutional cases, while critics argue that these changes are designed to weaken courts that have ruled against the Legislature. Supporters of the Legislature’s position maintain that elected lawmakers should retain broad authority over redistricting and other major policy questions. The dispute has also become a debate about gender and political power. Female judges and women-led civic groups have played prominent roles in challenging legislative actions, while critics point to campaigns against female justices and other developments as evidence that women exercising institutional power have received unusually harsh treatment. Republican officials reject that interpretation and maintain that disagreements with the judiciary concern constitutional authority rather than gender. Build a constitutional power diagram showing four centers of authority in the dispute: Utah voters, the Legislature and governor, the judiciary, and civic organizations bringing lawsuits. Draw arrows showing how each can influence or constrain another and label those arrows with specific mechanisms such as elections, ballot initiatives, legislation, judicial review, appointments, and lawsuits. Then identify two points where checks and balances appear to be functioning as intended and one point where critics could reasonably argue that the balance of power is under strain. Support each judgment with evidence rather than partisan labels.

5. NEW DOCUMENTARY TESTS THE BOUNDARIES OF NONFICTION FILMMAKING

A new three-hour documentary, You Can See Everything, offers an unusual examination of Elizabeth Holmes, the Theranos founder serving an 11-year federal prison sentence for defrauding investors. Shortly before entering prison, Holmes invited filmmakers Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim into her home as part of an effort to tell her version of events. Unlike earlier documentaries and dramatizations about Theranos, the project includes Holmes’s direct participation and lengthy conversations filmed at extremely close range. Fielder eventually became part of the story himself after interactions with Holmes and her partner became so unusual that the filmmakers struggled to determine how they should interpret what they were witnessing. The documentary also uses recreations for events that could not be filmed and reportedly shows Holmes and her partner discussing plans for another venture related to Theranos. Because Holmes is simultaneously the documentary’s subject and someone attempting to reshape her public image, the project raises questions about whether extraordinary access helps viewers discover the truth or simply gives a skilled subject another opportunity to influence the story. Act as the editorial standards board for a documentary studio deciding how the film should be presented to audiences. Write five standards the filmmakers should follow when using interviews, recreations, disputed claims, archival reporting, and scenes involving the subject’s family or private life. For each standard, explain what ethical problem it is designed to prevent. End by deciding whether a documentary filmmaker’s responsibility is primarily to remain neutral, reveal verifiable truth, let subjects tell their own stories, or some combination of those goals—and explain how those responsibilities can conflict.