View this email online March 8, 2026 LA Johnson/NPR Lee Gaines here. I’m a freelance reporter for NPR, and I’m taking over the newsletter this week to talk about AI on college campuses. It's no secret that college students are using AI for schoolwork. But there’s a striking lack of consensus over what role the technology should play in higher education. So more than three years into the generative AI revolution, professors and students are making their own rules.  Take Dan Cryer, an English professor at Johnson County Community College outside Kansas City, Kan., who believes educators and students should use these tools as little as possible. He told me that using AI to write a college essay is like bringing a forklift to a gym. If all we needed was for the weights to move, that would be great. But we need the muscles developed. Cryer says students who use AI to do the writing for them are cheating themselves out of the opportunity to develop the skills to become better communicators and thinkers. Leslie Clement has a different philosophy. She teaches humanities at the historically Black Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., and describes AI as a powerful collaborator. She encourages her students to use AI for brainstorming, outlining and research. But she also wants them to interrogate the tool, including its effects on people of African descent worldwide.  The students I spoke with are also divided. A pre-med sophomore at Duke University says she uses Google's Gemini as an on-demand tutor, helping her understand complex biology concepts.  A pre-law junior at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill told me she uses AI sparingly and worries that students who lean on it too heavily will lose the ability to think for themselves. Her solution: weave AI literacy into course curricula so students can find the line between helpful and harmful use. But that’s easier said than done given the range of views on campuses.  Thanks for reading, —Lee Gaines, NPR contributor Read More Newsletter continues after sponsor message LA Johnson/NPR In other news... 1.  A Biden-era rule sought to stabilize child care. Here’s why Trump wants it gone. In 2024, the Biden administration finalized a rule aimed at giving childcare providers more predictability. The rule requires states to pay child care subsidies the way most American families pay tuition — in advance and based on enrollment, not on who shows up. But now, the Trump administration has proposed getting rid of the rule altogether, citing concerns about fraud. Read the story.  — Andrea Hsu, Labor and Workplace Correspondent, NPR 2. A U.S. scholarship thrilled a teacher in India. Then came the soul-crushing questions. Joyeeta Banerjee was going to America for four months to study how language learning could become more equitable. But almost instantly the joy was clouded by two questions from those around her: "Who will look after your children?” and, "What about your husband's conjugal life?" There were no questions about her research or how she hoped to use it to improve classrooms. Just these two questions — plain, practical and soaked in the belief that a woman's dreams must not stray beyond her kitchen walls. Read the story.  —  Joyeeta Banerjee, Freelance Writer  3. Pregnant migrant girls are being sent to a Texas shelter flagged as medically risky. The Trump administration is sending all pregnant unaccompanied minors apprehended by immigration enforcement to a single group shelter in South Texas. The decision was made over urgent objections from some of the administration's own health and child welfare officials, who say both the facility and the region lack the specialized care the girls need. Read the story.  — Mark Betancourt, All Things Considered, NPR 4. Teen sleep is getting wrecked by more than just phones. Teens aren't getting enough sleep! And a two-decade study suggests it's getting worse. Scientists found that the number of high schoolers getting insufficient sleep — less than seven hours a night — has increased from 69% to 77%. The throughline? There wasn't one. Listen to the podcast.  — NPR’s Short Wave podcast The news doesn’t stop, and neither will we. We’re here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, delivering the trusted news that millions of people rely upon.  You can help ensure that NPR remains available to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, by donating now.   Donate Today ➔ LA Johnson/NPR Big news from the College Podcast Challenge team! After months of listening and agonizing over nearly 200 podcasts, we announced the 10 best student-produced podcasts from 2025, selected by NPR. We listened to some special entries this year: a student's personal narrative of what it's like to earn a college degree while raising a child; a look back at the rich sounds and music of a New York City neighborhood, captured by a recording artist in the 1950s; the story of what happened after a Georgia town became a popular vacation hot spot, and what the local community lost.  All our finalists will be receiving a $500 cash prize, and we will be announcing the grand prize winner in the coming weeks.  Congratulations everyone! — Janet Lee, Assistant Producer, NPR Ed And here's something to make you smile... A young environmental activist becomes a beaver and integrates into a forest community in Pixar's Hoppers.Disney/Pixar 'Hoppers' is delightfully unhinged and a dam good time.  We're long past the days when the Pixar brand was a reliable indicator of quality, when every other year or so would bring a new masterwork on the level of The Incredibles, Ratatouille and WALL-E. So it's a relief as well as a pleasure to recommend Pixar's wildly entertaining new movie, Hoppers