Duke University pilot project examining pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in college

Duke University pilot project examining pros and cons of using artificial intelligence in college

LUCAS LIN and ANANYA PINNAMENENI/The Chronicle The Chronicle

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — As generative artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT have become increasingly prevalent in academic settings, faculty and students have been forced to adapt.

The debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022 spread uncertainty across the higher education landscape. Many educators scrambled to create new guidelines to prevent academic dishonesty from becoming the norm in academia, while some emphasized the strengths of AI as a learning aid.

As part of a new pilot with OpenAI, all Duke undergraduate students, as well as staff, faculty and students across the University’s professional schools, gained free, unlimited access to ChatGPT-4o beginning June 2. The University also announced DukeGPT, a University-managed AI interface that connects users to resources for learning and research and ensures “maximum privacy and robust data protection.”

Duke launched a new Provost’s Initiative to examine the opportunities and challenges AI brings to student life on May 23. The initiative will foster campus discourse on the use of AI tools and present recommendations in a report by the end of the fall 2025 semester.

The Chronicle spoke to faculty members and students to understand how generative AI is changing the classroom.

Embraced or banned

Although some professors are embracing AI as a learning aid, others have implemented blanket bans and expressed caution regarding the implications of AI on problem solving and critical thinking.

David Carlson, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, took a “lenient” approach to AI usage in the classroom. In his machine learning course, the primary learning objective is to utilize these tools to understand and analyze data.

Carlson permits his students to use generative AI as long as they are transparent about their purpose for using the technology.

“You take credit for all of (ChatGPT’s) mistakes, and you can use it to support whatever you do,” Carlson said.

He added that although AI tools are “not flawless,” they can help provide useful secondary explanations of lectures and readings.

Matthew Engelhard, assistant professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics, said he also adopted “a pretty hands-off approach” by encouraging the use of AI tools in his classroom.

“My approach is not to say you can’t use these different tools,” Engelhard said. “It’s actually to encourage it, but to make sure that you’re working with these tools interactively, such that you understand the content.”

Engelhard emphasized that the use of these tools should not prevent students from learning the fundamental principles “from the ground up.” Engelhard noted that students, under the pressure to perform, have incentives to rely on AI as a shortcut. However, he said using such tools might be “short-circuiting the learning process for yourself.” He likened generative AI tools to calculators, highlighting that relying on a calculator hinders one from learning how addition works.

Like Engelhard, Thomas Pfau, Alice Mary Baldwin distinguished professor of English, believes that delegating learning to generative AI means students may lose the ability to evaluate the process and validity of receiving information.

“If you want to be a good athlete, you would surely not try to have someone else do the working out for you,” Pfau said.

Pfau recognized the role of generative AI in the STEM fields, but he believes that such technologies have no place in the humanities, where “questions of interpretation … are really at stake.” When students rely on AI to complete a sentence or finish an essay for them, they risk “losing (their) voice.” He added that AI use defeats the purpose of a university education, which is predicated on cultivating one’s personhood.

Henry Pickford, professor of German studies and philosophy, said that writing in the humanities serves the dual function of fostering “self-discovery” and “self-expression” for students. But with increased access to AI tools, Pickford believes students will treat writing as “discharging a duty” rather than working through intellectual challenges.

“(Students) don’t go through any kind of self-transformation in terms of what they believe or why they believe it,” Pickford said.

Additionally, the use of ChatGPT has broadened opportunities for plagiarism in his classes, leading him to adopt a stringent AI policy.

Faculty echoed similar concerns at an Aug. 4 Academic Council meeting, including Professor of History Jocelyn Olcott, who said that students who learn to use AI without personally exploring more “humanistic questions” risk being “replaced” by the technology in the future.

How faculty are adapting to generative AI

Many of the professors The Chronicle interviewed expressed difficulty in discerning whether students have used AI on standard assignments. Some are resorting to a range of alternative assessment methods to mitigate potential AI usage.

Carlson, who shared that he has trouble detecting student AI use in written or coding assignments, has introduced oral presentations to class projects, which he described as “very hard to fake.”

Pickford has also incorporated oral assignments into his class, including having students present arguments through spoken defense. He has also added in-class exams to lectures that previously relied solely on papers for grading.

“I have deemphasized the use of the kind of writing assignments that invite using ChatGPT because I don’t want to spend my time policing,” Pickford said.

However, he recognized that ChatGPT can prove useful in generating feedback throughout the writing process, such as when evaluating whether one’s outline is well-constructed.

A ‘tutor that’s next to you every single second’

Students noted that AI chatbots can serve as a supplemental tool to learning, but they also cautioned against over-relying on such technologies.

Junior Keshav Varadarajan said he uses ChatGPT to outline and structure his writing, as well as generate code and algorithms.

“It’s very helpful in that it can explain concepts that are filled with jargon in a way that you can understand very well,” Varadarajan said.

Varadarajan has found it difficult at times to internalize concepts when utilizing ChatGPT because “you just go straight from the problem to the answer” without paying much thought to the problem. Varadarajan acknowledged that while AI can provide shortcuts at times, students should ultimately bear the responsibility for learning and performing critical thinking tasks.

For junior Conrad Qu, ChatGPT is like a “tutor that’s next to you every single second.” He said that generative AI has improved his productivity and helped him better understand course materials.

Both Varadarajan and Qu agreed that AI chatbots come in handy during time crunches or when trying to complete tasks with little effort. However, they said they avoid using AI when it comes to content they are genuinely interested in exploring deeper.

“If it is something I care about, I will go back and really try to understand everything (and) relearn myself,” Qu said.

The future of generative AI in the classroom

As generative AI technologies continue evolving, faculty members have yet to reach consensus on AI’s role in higher education and whether its benefits for students outweigh the costs.

“To me, it’s very clear that it’s a net positive,” Carlson said. “Students are able to do more. Students are able to get support for things like debugging … It makes a lot of things like coding and writing less frustrating.”

Pfau is less optimistic about generative AI’s development, raising concerns that the next generation of high school graduates will be too accustomed to chatbots coming into the college classroom. He added that many students find themselves at a “competitive disadvantage” when the majority of their peers are utilizing such tools.

Pfau placed the responsibility on students to decide whether the use of generative AI will contribute to their intellectual growth.

“My hope remains that students will have enough self-respect and enough curiosity about discovering who they are, what their gifts are, what their aptitudes are,” Pfau said. “… something we can only discover if we apply ourselves and not some AI system to the tasks that are given to us.”

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This story was originally published by The Chronicle and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

US hiring stalls with employers reluctant to expand in an economy grown increasingly erratic

US hiring stalls with employers reluctant to expand in an economy grown increasingly erratic

By PAUL WISEMAN, ANNE D’INNOCENZIO and CORA LEWIS AP Business Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — The American job market, a pillar of U.S. economic strength since the pandemic, is crumbling under the weight of President Donald Trump’s erratic economic policies.

Uncertain about where things are headed, companies have grown increasingly reluctant to hire, leaving agonized jobseekers unable to find work and weighing on consumers who account for 70% of all U.S. economic activity. Their spending has been the engine behind the world’s biggest economy since the COVID-19 disruptions of 2020.

The Labor Department reported Friday that U.S. employers — companies, government agencies and nonprofits — added just 22,000 jobs last month, down from 79,000 in July and well below the 80,000 that economists had expected.

The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3% last month, also worse than expected and the highest since 2021.

“U.S. labor market deterioration intensified in August,” Scott Anderson, chief U.S. economist at BMO Capital Market, wrote in a commentary, noting that hiring was “slumping dangerously close to stall speed. This raises the risk of a harder landing for consumer spending and the economy in the months ahead.”

Alexa Mamoulides, 27, was laid off in the spring from a job at a research publishing company and has been hunting for work ever since. She uses a spreadsheet to track her progress and said she’s applied for 111 positions and had 14 interviews — but hasn’t landed a job yet.

“There have been a lot of ups and downs,” Mamoulides said. “At the beginning I wasn’t too stressed, but now that September is here, I’ve been wondering how much longer it will take. It’s validating that the numbers bear out my experience, but also discouraging.”

The U.S. job market has lost momentum this year, partly because of the lingering effects of 11 interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve’s inflation fighters in 2022 and 2023.

But the hiring slump also reflects Trump’s policies, including his sweeping and ever-changing tariffs on imports from almost every country on earth, a crackdown on illegal immigration and purges of the federal workforce.

Also contributing to the job market’s doldrums are an aging population and the threat that artificial intelligence poses to young, entry-level workers.

After revisions shaved 21,000 jobs off June and July payrolls, the U.S. economy is creating fewer than 75,000 jobs a month so far this year, less than half the 2024 average of 168,000 and not even a quarter of the 400,000 jobs added monthly in the hiring boom of 2021-2023.

When the Labor Department put out a disappointing jobs report a month ago, an enraged Trump responded by firing the economist in charge of compiling the numbers and nominating a loyalist to replace her.

“The warning bell that rang in the labor market a month ago just got louder,’ Olu Sonola, head of U.S economic research at Fitch Rates, wrote in a commentary. “It’s hard to argue that tariff uncertainty isn’t a key driver of this weakness.”

Trump’s protectionist policies are meant to help American manufacturers. But factories shed 12,000 workers last month and 38,000 so far this year. Many manufacturers are hurt, not helped, by Trump’s tariffs on steel, aluminum and other imported raw materials and components.

Construction companies, which rely on immigrant workers vulnerable to stepped-up ICE raids under Trump, cut 7,000 jobs in August, the third straight drop. The sweeping tax-and-spending bill that Trump signed into law July 4 delivered more money for immigration officers, making threats of a massive deportations more plausible.

The federal government, its workforce targeted by Trump and by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, cut 15,000 jobs last month. Diane Swonk, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm KPMG, said the job market “will hit a cliff in October, when 151,000 federal workers who took buyouts will come off the payrolls.”

And any job gains made last month were remarkably narrow: Healthcare and social assistance companies – a category that spans hospital to daycare centers – added nearly 47,000 jobs in August and now account for 87% of the private-sector jobs created in 2025.

Democrats were quick to pounce on the report as evidence that Trump’s policies were damaging the economy and hurting ordinary Americans.

“Americans cannot afford any more of Trump’s disastrous economy. Hiring is frozen, jobless claims are rising, and the unemployment rate is now higher than it has been in years,” said Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee. “The president is squeezing every wallet as he chases an illegal tariff agenda that is hiking costs, spooking investment, and stunting domestic manufacturing.″

Trump’s sweeping import taxes — tariffs — are taking a toll on businesses that rely on foreign suppliers.

Trick or Treat Studios in Santa Cruz, California, for instance, gets 50% of its supplies from Mexico, 40% from China and the rest from Thailand, The company, which makes ghoulish masks that are replicas of such horror icons like Chucky the doll from the “Child’s Play” movies as well as costumes, props, action figures and games, has seen its tariff bill rise to $389,000 this year, said co-founder Christopher Zephro. He was forced to raise prices across the board by 15%.

In May, Zephro had to cut 15 employees, or 25% of his workforce. That marked the first time he’s had to lay off staff since he started the company in 2009. ″That’s a lot money that could have been used to hire more people, bring in more product, develop more products,” he said. “We had to do layoffs because of tariffs. It was one of the worst days of my life.”

Josh Hirt, senior economist at the financial services firm Vanguard, said that the tumbling payroll numbers also reflect a reduced supply of workers – the consequence of an aging U.S. population and a reduction in immigration. “We should get more comfortable seeing numbers below 75,000 and below 50,000’’ new jobs a month, he said. “The likelihood of seeing negative (jobs) numbers is higher,’’ he said.

Economists are also beginning to worry that artificial intelligence is taking jobs that would otherwise have gone young or entry-level workers. In a report last month, researchers at Stanford University found “substantial declines in employment for early-career workers” — ages 22-25 — in fields most exposed to AI. The unemployment rate for those ages 16 to 24 rose last month to 10.5%, the Labor Department reported Friday, the highest since April 2021.

Jobseeker Mamoulides is sure that competition from AI is one of the reasons she’s having trouble finding work. “I know at my previous company, they were really embracing AI and trying to integrate it as much as they could into people’s workflow,” she said. “They were getting lots of (Microsoft) ‘Copilot’ licenses for people to use. From that experience, I do think companies may be relying on AI more for entry-level roles.”

Some relief may be coming.

The weak August numbers make it all but certain that Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate at its next meeting, Sept. 16-17. Under chair Jerome Powell, the Fed has been reluctant to cut rates until it sees what impact Trump’s import taxes have on inflation. Lower borrowing costs could — eventually anyway — encourage consumers and businesses to spend and invest.

Vanguard’s Hirt expects the Fed to reduce its benchmark rate – now a range of 4.25% to 4.5% – by a full percentage point over the next year and says it might cut rates at each of its next three meetings.

Trump has repeatedly pressured Powell to lower rates, and has sought to fire one Fed governor, Lisa Cook, over allegations of mortgage fraud in what Cook claims is a pretext to gain control over the central bank. The president blamed Powell again for slowing jobs numbers Friday in a social media post, saying “Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell should have lowered rates long ago. As usual, he’s ‘Too Late!’”

The July 4 budget bill also “included a big wallop of front-loaded spending on defense and border security, as well as tax cuts that will quickly flow through to household and business after-tax incomes,” Bill Adams, chief economist at Comerica Bank, wrote in a commentary.

But the damage that has already occurred may be difficult to repair.

James Knightley, an economist at ING, noted that the University of Michigan’s consumer surveys show that 62% of Americans expect unemployment to rise over the next year. Only 13% expect it to fall. Only four times in the last 50 years has their employment outlook been so bleak

“People see and feel changes in the jobs market before they show up in the official data – they know if their company has a hiring freeze or the odd person here or there is being laid off,” Knightley wrote. “This suggests the real threat of outright falls in employment later this year.”

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AP Writer Josh Boak contributed to this story.

Joseph McNeil, who helped spark a protest movement at a North Carolina lunch counter, dies at 83

Joseph McNeil, who helped spark a protest movement at a North Carolina lunch counter, dies at 83

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Joseph McNeil, one of four North Carolina college students whose occupation of a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter 65 years ago helped spark nonviolent civil rights sit-in protests across the South, died Thursday, his university said. He was 83.

McNeil, who later became a two-star general, was one of four freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro who sat down at the local “whites only” counter on Feb. 1, 1960. The young Black men were refused service and declined to give up their seats even as the store manager and police urged them to move on.

Statements from North Carolina A&T and the family did not give his cause of death or where he died. McNeil had been living in New York.

The historically Black university said that McNeil had recent health challenges but still managed to attend the sit-in’s 65th anniversary observance this year in Greensboro.

McNeil’s death means Jibreel Khazan — formerly Ezell Blair Jr. — is now the only surviving member of the four. Franklin McCain died in 2014 and David Richmond in 1990.

“We were quite serious, and the issue that we rallied behind was a very serious issue because it represented years of suffering and disrespect and humiliation,” McNeil said in a 2010 Associated Press story on the 50th anniversary of the sit-in and the opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum on the site of the old Woolworth’s store. “Segregation was an evil kind of thing that needed attention.”

On the sit-in’s first day, the four young men stayed until the store closed. More protesters joined the next day and days following, leading to at least 1,000 by the fifth day. Within weeks, sit-ins were launched in more than 50 cities in nine states. The Woolworth’s counter in Greensboro — about 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Raleigh — was desegregated within six months.

McNeil and his classmates “inspired a nation with their courageous, peaceful protest, powerfully embodying the idea that young people could change the world. His leadership and the example of the A&T Four continue to inspire our students today,” school Chancellor James Martin said in a news release. A monument to the four men sits on the A&T campus.

The Greensboro sit-in also led to the formation in Raleigh of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which became a key part of the student direct-action civil rights movement. Demonstrations between 1960 and 1965 helped pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

McNeil and the sit-in participants leave a legacy of non-violent protests that “promote equity and social justice and social change in America and throughout the world,” museum co-founder Earl Jones said Thursday.

The students decided to act when McNeil returned to school on a bus from New York — and the racial atmosphere became more and more oppressive the further south he went, according to the AP’s story in 2010.

The first-day effort was meticulously planned, including the purchase of school supplies and toiletries and keeping the receipts to show the lunch counter was the only portion of the store where racial segregation still prevailed.

Joseph A. McNeil grew up in coastal Wilmington and was an ROTC member at A&T. He retired as a two-star major general from the Air Force Reserves in 2001 and also worked as an investment banker. McNeil is honored in Wilmington with an historical marker on a street segment named for him. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris sat at a section of the lunch counter that remains intact within the museum in 2021. Another portion is at the Smithsonian.

McNeil’s family said a tribute to honor his life will be announced separately.

McNeil’s “legacy is a testament to the power of courage and conviction,” his son, Joseph McNeil Jr., said in the family’s statement. “His impact on the civil rights movement and his service to the nation will never be forgotten.”

Furry Friday: Meet Delilah!

Furry Friday: Meet Delilah!

Delilah is very much a puppy with a lot of energy! She is still learning manners & can be rough when playing with other dogs. Delilah is crate & potty trained, & can be a bit scared in new situations. Delilah is heartworm positive & not a good fit for young kids or small animals.

Although she is heartworm positive, it is treatable and not contagious. Friends of Wake County Animal Center has provided a $600 sponsorship to help cover the cost of treatment.

About Delilah:

Breed: Boxer

Sex: Female

Age: 2 years 8 months

Weight: 43 pounds

Spayed/Neutered: Yes

Location: In Foster Care

Date In Shelter: 9/26/2023

If you’re interested in learning more about Delilah, please reach out to Wake County Animal Shelter’s volunteer matchmakers at [email protected] with the subject line “Delilah 229071.”

Powered by The Aluminum Company of North Carolina!

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September 5th 2025

September 5th 2025

Thought of the Day

September 5th 2024
Photo by Getty Images

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr

A Democrat governor, a Republican legislature: How Josh Stein is navigating North Carolina politics

A Democrat governor, a Republican legislature: How Josh Stein is navigating North Carolina politics

By GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press

FLETCHER, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein has taken an unusual approach with Republican political opponents in his first eight months leading a highly competitive state where divided government has become the norm.

He’s trying to get along with them.

Stein, who succeeded fellow Democrat Roy Cooper in January, has made an effort to work with the GOP-controlled General Assembly on things like storm recovery — still a top priority nearly a year since Hurricane Helene’s historic flooding — and on other issues broadly popular with North Carolinians.

He’s kept communication lines open with legislative leaders, even as they back President Donald Trump and oppose many Stein policy prescriptions.

The public, Stein said in an interview with The Associated Press, doesn’t “care whether I’m a Democrat or Republican, or that the legislature is a Democrat- or Republican-led body.”

“What they want is for whoever are in these positions to get things done that make their lives better, and that’s my job,” he added. “So I will work with whoever I need to in order to make progress for the people of North Carolina.”

His results have been mixed so far. The General Assembly passed storm-relief packages but gave Stein roughly a little over half the money he requested. It overrode several of his vetoes on bills that build up immigration enforcement, weaken transgender rights and assert other GOP priorities — results that Stein laments.

But Republicans, including some who gathered with Stein at a barbecue in the mountains recently to honor local government workers’ hurricane recovery efforts, have taken notice of the efforts he’s made.

“We appreciate everything that he’s done for us,” said Larry Chapman, a Transylvania County commissioner and Trump supporter. “I’m encouraged with Stein — he seems to be a lot more interested in getting out with the people and listening to people more.”

Stein’s approach comes as Democratic governors nationwide struggle to navigate Republican gains and Trump’s sprawling agenda. While some chief executives have taken more combative stances against Trump and the GOP, others have opted for diplomacy.

Stein told those gathered in Fletcher that he was their ally on Helene, which caused more than 100 deaths in North Carolina and generated $60 billion in damages and needs. He did not mention political affiliation.

“You and your constituents have been busting your tails to come back, and come back stronger than ever,” Stein said to hundreds at a park submerged during Helene. “I want you to know that I am in your corner.”

More communication, less confrontation

Stein, the former attorney general, shares many views with Cooper, who early on clashed with Republicans over the ‘bathroom bill” lawmakers enacted and sued them over laws that eroded his powers. Those clashes set a tone of distrust that wasn’t eliminated during his eight years at the job. Cooper is now running for the U.S. Senate.

While Stein also has sued over GOP power grabs, he’s needed good relations with Republicans on storm relief and other topics. He’s speaking regularly with new Republican House Speaker Destin Hall, longtime Senate leader Phil Berger and other legislators.

“We have differences with him on certain policies and certain processes,” Berger said recently. But, he added, “I would say that there’s still what I would consider to be a very good relationship on a personal basis with Gov. Stein.”

Stein, himself a lawmaker until 2016, has shared credit with Republicans, inviting them to signings of bipartisan bills. Last week, Stein named a GOP legislator to co-chair an energy affordability task force.

There “was a lot of fatigue from the last eight years, of everything was a battle,” said state Rep. Jake Johnson, another Republican. “It felt like you were just having to fight to get anything done.”

Partisan divisions remain

By North Carolina standards, Stein still has used his veto stamp frequently — 15 times so far.

He rejected measures that would expand gun access and eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

“Because you respect the people you deal with, because you’re civil with the people you deal with, doesn’t mean you don’t have real disagreements,” Stein said. “When they pass legislation that makes the state less safe or less strong, I’ll veto them.”

Berger said the vetoes prove Stein is more left-leaning than he’s portrayed himself to be.

Democrats hold the minimum number of seats necessary to uphold Stein’s vetoes if they remain united. But Stein was unable to hold them together on eight vetoes — as one to three House Democrats joined Republicans in voting to override them.

Another major veto decision looms if there’s a final state budget, now two months overdue.

“Stein has lost some big-time issues” this year, Meredith College political science professor David McLennan said. “But it doesn’t mean that he’s not a successful governor in his first year.”

Visiting Helene-damaged areas

Stein’s latest trip to western North Carolina marked his 34th separate day spent in the region as governor, reflecting a promise to rebuild “a more resilient region for the long haul.”

“A lot of the job is showing up,” said Chuck McGrady, a former Republican legislator from the mountains. “He is meeting with a wide range of people, and I think he’s gotten very high grades from folks, regardless of their politics.”

Helene’s recovery began during presidential and gubernatorial campaigns and prompted accusations by Trump and allied Republicans that the response from Democratic administrations was weak.

Stein included Johnson and McGrady, now an unaffiliated voter, on a recovery committee. And he created a recovery agency separate from a Cooper-era office criticized for housing repair delays after hurricanes Matthew and Florence. Stein met Trump when the president visited the hard-hit region during his first days in office.

Stein said this week he’s seeking an additional $11.5 billion in aid from Congress. His administration says financial assistance received so far from the federal government as a percentage of total damages and needs is small compared with what was provided after other recent U.S. hurricanes.

A White House spokesperson responded, saying the “request is evidence that he is unfit to run a state.” Other Republicans previously said Stein’s administration hasn’t converted what money it’s received to repairs fast enough.

Stein still thinks he can get his messages across without trying to show anybody up.

“I think you can disagree with folks and still be civil, and so when I have concerns about what the administration is doing, I have no hesitation to say what I believe when it hurts North Carolina,” he said.

Kennedy tries to defend COVID-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearing

Kennedy tries to defend COVID-19 vaccine stance in raucous Senate hearing

By MATT BROWN and MIKE STOBBE Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., facing pointed bipartisan questioning at a rancorous three-hour Senate committee hearing on Thursday, tried to defend his efforts to pull back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and explain the turmoil he has created at federal health agencies.

Kennedy said the fired CDC director was untrustworthy, stood by his past anti-vaccine rhetoric, and disputed reports of people saying they have had difficulty getting COVID-19 shots.

A longtime leader in the anti-vaccine movement, Kennedy has made sweeping changes to agencies tasked with public health policy and scientific research by laying off thousands of workers, firing science advisers and remaking vaccine guidelines. The moves — some of which contradict assurances he made during his confirmation hearings — have rattled medical groups and officials in several Democratic-led states, which have responded with their own vaccine advice.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., facing pointed bipartisan questioning at a rancorous three-hour Senate committee hearing lobs insults as he defends efforts to pull back COVID-19 vaccine recommendations and explain federal health agency turmoil. (AP Video)

Medical groups and several Democrats in Congress have called for Kennedy to be fired, and his exchanges with Democratic senators on the panel repeatedly devolved into shouting, from both sides.

But some Republican senators also expressed unease with his changes to COVID-19 policies.

The GOP senators noted that Kennedy said President Donald Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for the 2020 Operation Warp Speed initiative to quickly develop mRNA COVID-19 vaccines — and that he also had attacked the safety and continued use of those very shots.

“I can’t tell where you are on Operation Warp Speed,” said Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis.

Tillis and others asked him why the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was fired last week, less than a month into her tenure.

Kennedy said she was dishonest, and that CDC leaders who left the agency last week in support of her deserved to be fired.

He also criticized CDC recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic tied to lockdowns and masking policies, and claimed — wrongly — that they “failed to do anything about the disease itself.”

“The people at CDC who oversaw that process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving,” Kennedy said. He later said they deserved to be fired for not doing enough to control chronic disease.

Democrats express hostility from the start

The Senate Finance Committee had called Kennedy to a hearing about his plans to “Make America Healthy Again,” but Democratic senators pressed Kennedy on his actions around vaccines.

At the start of the hearing, Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon tried to have Kennedy formally sworn in as a witness, saying the HHS secretary has a history of lying to the committee. The committee’s chair, Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho, denied the Democrat’s request, saying “the bottom line is we will let the secretary make his own case.”

Wyden went on to attack Kennedy, saying he had “stacked the deck” of a vaccines advisory committee by replacing scientists with “skeptics and conspiracy theorists.”

Last week, the Trump administration fired the CDC’s director — a Trump appointee who was confirmed by the Senate — less than a month into her tenure. Several top CDC leaders resigned in protest, leaving the agency in turmoil.

The ousted director, Susan Monarez, wrote in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday that Kennedy was trying to weaken public health protections.

“I was told to preapprove the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed antivaccine rhetoric,” Monarez wrote. “It is imperative that the panel’s recommendations aren’t rubber-stamped but instead are rigorously and scientifically reviewed before being accepted or rejected.”

Kennedy told senators he didn’t make such an ultimatum, though he did concede that he had ordered Monarez to fire career CDC scientists. Monarez’s attorneys later responded that she stood by the op-ed and “would repeat it all under oath.”

Kennedy pushed back on concerns raised by multiple Republican senators, including Tillis and Sens. John Barrasso of Wyoming and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Both Barrasso and Cassidy are physicians.

Shouting matches and hot comebacks

The health secretary had animated comebacks as Democratic senators pressed him on the effects of his words and actions.

When Sen. Raphael Warnock, of Georgia, questioned Kennedy about his disparaging rhetoric about CDC employees before a deadly shooting at the agency this summer, Kennedy shot back: “Are you complicit in the assassination attempts on President Trump?”

Kennedy called Sen. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico “ridiculous,” said he was “talking gibberish” and accused him of “not understanding how the world works” when Lujan asked Kennedy to pledge to share protocols of any research Kennedy was commissioning into autism and vaccines.

He also engaged in a heated, loud exchanges with Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Tina Smith of Minnesota.

“I didn’t even hear your question,” Kennedy replied to Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto as the Nevada Democrat repeatedly asked what the agency was doing to lower drug costs for seniors.

He also told Sen. Bernie Sanders that the Vermont independent was not “making any sense.”

Some senators had their own choice words.

“You’re interrupting me, and sir, you’re a charlatan. That’s what you are, ” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, a Washington Democrat. “The history on vaccines is very clear.”

As the hearing neared its end, Kennedy pulled his cellphone from his pocket and then tapped and scrolled as Wyden asked about mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortion.

Kennedy disputes COVID-19 data

In May, Kennedy announced COVID-19 vaccines would no longer be recommended for healthy children and pregnant women, a move opposed by medical and public health groups.

In June, he abruptly fired a panel of experts that had been advising the government on vaccine policy. He replaced them with a handpicked group that included several vaccine skeptics, and then shut the door to several doctors groups that had long helped form the committee’s recommendations.

Kennedy has voiced distrust of research that showed the COVID-19 vaccines saved lives, and at Thursday’s hearing even cast doubt on statistics about how people died during the pandemic and on estimates about how many deaths were averted — statistics produced by the agencies he oversees.

He said federal health policy would be based on gold standard science, but confessed that he wouldn’t necessarily wait for studies to be completed before taking action against, for example, potential causes of chronic illness.

“We are not waiting for everything to come in. We are starting now,” he said.

A number of medical groups say Kennedy can’t be counted on to make decisions based on robust medical evidence. In a statement Wednesday, the Infectious Diseases Society of America and 20 other medical and public health organizations issued a joint statement calling on him to resign.

“Our country needs leadership that will promote open, honest dialogue, not disregard decades of lifesaving science, spread misinformation, reverse medical progress and decimate programs that keep us safe,” the statement said.

Many of the nation’s leading public health and medical societies, including the American Medical Association, American Public Health Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have decried Kennedy’s policies and warn they will drive up rates of vaccine-preventable diseases.

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Stobbe reported from New York. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.

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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Panthers and Jaguars expect improvements from revamped defenses in season opener

Panthers and Jaguars expect improvements from revamped defenses in season opener

By MARK LONG AP Pro Football Writer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Although much of the focus remains on quarterbacks and former No. 1 overall draft picks Bryce Young and Trevor Lawrence, the Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars have an equally important question heading into their season opener Sunday:

Which team has improved the most on the other side of the ball?

The Panthers and Jaguars ranked 32nd and 31st, respectively, in total defense in 2024. Carolina couldn’t stop the run, especially with Pro Bowl defensive lineman Derrick Brown (knee) sidelined 16 games. Jacksonville, meanwhile, bulked up in the weight room and then did little to affect opposing passers, managing 34 sacks and six interceptions.

Dismal defenses contributed to abysmal seasons — and led to offseason overhauls for both teams.

Carolina (5-12 last year) fired two defensive assistants and committed nearly $150 million to some key free agents, most notably adding defensive end Tershawn Wharton, safety Tre’von Moehrig and linebacker Patrick Jones. The Panthers then added linebackers Princely Umanmielen and Nic Scourton during the second night of the NFL draft.

Jacksonville (4-13), with a new regime led by coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone, brought in cornerback Jourdan Lewis, safety Eric Murray, linebacker Dennis Gardeck and defensive ends Emmanuel Ogbah and Dawuane Smoot in free agency before trading up to grab cornerback/receiver Travis Hunter second overall in the draft.

The newcomers are expected to get a chance to make a difference in the opener.

“I’m excited. I think all those new guys are excited,” Jaguars defensive end Josh Hines-Allen said. “We’ve got a grasp of how we’re going to play this year, what we’re expecting up front and just letting it go.”

Jacksonville continues to revamp its defense, too. After struggling to stop the run in training camp, the Jags signed nose tackle Austin Johnson and traded for fellow veteran Khalen Saunders.

The middle of Carolina’s defense is expected to get a boost from the return of Brown, who notched a whopping 103 tackles in 2023. Without him, the Panthers allowed a franchise-record and NFL-high 534 points.

“As a competitor you are supposed to have a chip on your shoulder whenever you lay an egg like that,” Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn said. “You never want to be on the wrong side of history. So everybody on the defense should be coming into this year with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove.”

Coen makes his coaching debut

Coen, who like Carolina’s Dave Canales is a former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator, will make his regular-season debut as a head coach. He has several concerns: How will the Jaguars run the ball? How will they defend on the perimeter? And how will they handle adversity?

“How are we going to respond?” he said. “You don’t truly, truly know.”

QBs under the microscope

Young enters a pivotal Year 3. The top draft pick in 2023 is just 6-22 as a starter and was benched two games into last season. He finished strong, though, accounting for 10 touchdowns and no turnovers over the final three games.

“I’m not a big look-in-the-rearview kind of guy,” Young said. “I’m excited for this year. I’m excited for this group this year, and I feel great.”

Lawrence, meanwhile, is working in his third offense in five seasons. His NFL career has been filled with offensive dysfunction. But he believes the Jaguars will be a tough, physical team that’s situationally smart under Coen.

“There’s always uncertainty in football, especially playing quarterback,” said Lawrence, who missed seven of the final eight games last season. “You want every play to go the way you have it planned, but it never does. It’s about playing in that gray and making smart decisions and just playing fast, trusting what you see.

“It’s been a long time. I’m excited to get out there.”

Hunter will be all over the field again

All eyes will be on the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner from Colorado. Hunter will play on offense and defense as he tries to become the NFL’s first full-time, two-way player in the Super Bowl era.

Hunter is expected to serve as Jacksonville’s slot receiver in three-receiver sets, playing alongside Brian Thomas Jr. and Dyami Brown. And he will be an outside cornerback in nickel defense, with Jourdan Lewis moving into the slot.

“I don’t know what they’re going to do with him,” Canales said. “Is he going to return punts for them?”

Bragging rights at stake for Etienne brothers

Travis and Trevor Etienne, brothers born five years apart in Jennings, Louisiana, will be on opposite sidelines for the opener. Travis is Jacksonville’s starting running back and the Atlantic Coast Conference’s all-time leading rusher. Trevor, who played at Florida and Georgia, is a rookie running back for Carolina who will serve as the team’s primary returner.

“I want him to have the best game ever,” Trevor said. “They just can’t win. That’s it.”

Banana Pancakes

Banana Pancakes

This breakfast recipe is short and sweet–and makes for a great start to your day.

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (can be substituted for whole wheat, oat or almond flour)
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • (optional) splash of milk
  • ~1 tbsp. butter or cooking oil
  • (optional) 1 tbsp. maple syrup, 1/2 tsp brown sugar or any other toppings

Instructions

1. Start the batter
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mash the bananas until mostly smooth. Then, whisk in the eggs until they are fully incorporated into the bananas.

2. Add remaining ingredients
Incorporate the flour, vanilla extract and cinnamon into the batter and stir until combined. If desired, add a splash of milk or milk substitute for less dense pancakes.

3. Cook the pancakes
Heat a skillet on medium-low heat and lightly coat with butter or oil. Then, scoop about 1/4 cup of batter onto the prepped skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes or until bubbles form. Next, flip the pancake and cook on the other side for another 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Repeat the process for each pancake.

4. Toppings time
(Optional) Top your pancakes with butter, maple syrup, brown sugar, more sliced bananas, or anything else you’d like.

5. Serve them up
Serve immediately and enjoy this delicious and filling breakfast!

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