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Articles by Maggie Mead
Column: “Unleashing American Energy” is a death sentence for Americans
Opinion Former President Donald Trump holds a town hall with Fox News Sean Hannity at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pa. on Sept. 4, 2024. Photo by Sean Simmers via Tribune Content Agency. Senior Writer Jan 25, 2026, 10:51 PM When Donald Trump entered the Oval Office in January 2025, he signed an executive order called “Unleashing American Energy.
Column: Slashing solar funding is a short-sighted blunder
Opinion Editorial Board Member Nov 3, 2025, 8:13 PM The Environmental Protection Agency is joining the fight against climate change — on the side of climate change — and it’s costing you money. This August, citing governmental “self-dealing and conflicts of interest,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin terminated the $7 billion “Solar for All” program, denying state environmental regulatory agencies funds that would have been used to install rooftop solar power systems in low-income communities.
Column: My love letter to Halloween at UNC
Opinion Editorial Board Member Oct 31, 2025, 8:29 PM On any night during the week leading up to Halloween at UNC, you’ll see battalions of jack-o'-lanterns guarding front porches, spot becostumed revelers traversing Franklin Street between bacchanals, hear The Rocky Horror Picture Show echoing from the Varsity Theatre, and much, much more skullduggery.
Column: Want an H-1B? That’ll be six figures
International students and workers come to the United States chasing big dreams. To study, to build, to change the world. The H-1B visa has long served as one of the key paths: it lets skilled international graduates work full-time in specialty occupations — think engineering, biotech, software — for up to six years, with renewal possibilities. Now, a proposed $100,000 surcharge threatens to convert that pathway into a fortress.
Column: American universities need international students
Last August, somewhere along the German countryside, my best friend and I were packed sardine-style into a bus. That day, we spent hours traveling by train to the stoney vestiges of a monastery in Bingen and back — in my 20 years of life, I’d never yearned so deeply for the decadent comfort of my twin-sized hotel bed back in Munich. The universe had other plans, however. Our final train home had been canceled.
Column: At UNC, our job is student. Don’t outsource it to AI.
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue In late 1811, the Luddite Movement began to sweep across England. Under the cover of darkness, workers across the country razed textile factories, destroyed mechanized looms and knitting fences, and even exchanged gunfire with company guards.
Column: The Trump administration devalues the legacy of university education
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Wednesday, April 23, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue If you asked any Harvard student in 1636 what their post-grad plans were, chances are, you’d get the same answer: become a member of the clergy. Today? Odds are they’d tell you all about an exciting opportunity to give back to their community through investment banking with Goldman Sachs.
Satire: UNC creates DERP to increase university efficiency
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, March 23, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue Following his inauguration, President Donald Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency to maximize governmental productivity. To accomplish this, DOGE has eliminated some 30,000 federal jobs and other wasteful government spending like DEI programs, USAID, the EPA and the NIH. To oversee these budget cuts, Trump hand-picked professional tech company-owner and world’s richest man Elon Musk.
Column: The federal government sets an environmental baseline. Amid cuts, where do states go?
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Thursday, March 6, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue Last week, President Donald Trump said that Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin aimed to slash the EPA’s staff, claiming that target to be at 65 percent of workers. Hours later, the White House walked this back, clarifying that it intended a mere 65 percent reduction in the EPA’s budget.
Column: Brawls between secular and spiritual leaders aren’t new –– in fact, they’re downright medieval
During President Donald Trump’s inaugural address, he credited surviving his assassination attempt on the campaign trail to divine intervention, claiming he was "saved by God to make America great again.” Hours later, inauguration service leader Bishop Mariann Budde directly challenged Trump’s statement.
Column: For UNC, institutional neutrality is complicity with Trump and ICE
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, Feb. 3, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue On the first day of his second term, President Trump signed a series of 45 executive orders. Among this flurry of legislation were two entitled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” and “Declaring a National Emergency at the Southern Border of the United States”.
Column: Carrboro vs. Duke Energy sets an important precedent for the climate change battle
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 Newsletters Latest print issue On Dec. 4, the Town of Carrboro filed a lawsuit against Duke Energy, alleging that the energy utility has participated in an ongoing “campaign of deception” to conceal the dangerous effects of fossil fuel use on the environment from the public. This has resulted in the acceleration of anthropogenic climate change and long-lasting economic damages to Carrboro and its residents.
Column: Preserving students' generational knowledge is key to building a better community
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue I recently overheard one of my peers mention that they felt no obligation to provide any sort of mentorship or advice to underclassmen at UNC. This individualist sentiment isn't unpopular — at the end of the day, we're just here for our own degree, right?
Column: The climate crisis is a worldwide issue, but fixing it starts with our local communities
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, Nov. 11, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Skip the straw. Thrift your clothes. Compost your food scraps. These sustainable practices are thrown out in rapid fire during conversations about climate crisis remediation. They’re by no means bad suggestions — composting is a great way to prevent food waste and create extra fertilizer to resurrect the basil plant wilting on your windowsill.
Column: The climate crisis is more than a partisan talking point
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue In October 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden said climate change is “the number one issue facing humanity. And it’s the number one issue for me.” However, as America trudges through the final days before the 2024 election, it’s increasingly apparent that neither presidential candidate regards climate change as humanity's number one issue.
Column: Hurricane Helene reveals the importance of mutual aid
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Across western North Carolina, residents are reeling after entire towns were swallowed by one of the deadliest hurricanes to make landfall in the United States since the 1950s. On Sept. 25, Hurricane Helene hovered around Florida as a Category 4 hurricane, where it would begin its destructive march across the country and ultimately arrive in western North Carolina on Sept. 27.
Column: Institutional neutrality isn’t the solution to centuries of bias
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, Sept. 16, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue On May 23, the UNC System Board of Governors voted to repeal the System’s "Policy on Diversity and Inclusion Within the University," which had established UNC-CH’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.
Column: The UNC System must not undervalue the humanities
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue On June 13, UNC-Asheville released its 2024 Academic Portfolio Review. In the review, UNCA Chancellor Kimberly van Noort proposes to phase out four degree programs and academic departments: Drama, Philosophy, Ancient Mediterranean Studies and Religious Studies. The proposal also looks to cut UNCA’s Languages program by eliminating concentrations in French and German.
Column: UNC students must continue to engage with differing ideologies
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, April 29, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Hard conversations used to scare me. That is until I realized, how else do you debate who should win the upcoming U.S. presidential election? How do you discuss international conflicts in an empathetic and nuanced way? How can you respectfully learn about the intricacies of a different culture? Conversations about race, religion and politics have an almost taboo status in society.
Column: Pauli Murray deserves to be part of UNC’s legacy
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Sunday, April 7, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue It’s more than a little morbid to think about how I want people to remember me when I die, but I can’t avoid thinking about my legacy. Legacies are a manifestation of every person, place, and thing that has ever entered and exited your life; I’m shaped by the people around me, and in turn, they’re shaped by me.
Satire: 'Hey, quick question!'
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Thursday, March 21, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue You expel the remnants of sleep through a big yawn. Your eyes drift open. You feel strange… almost like you’re… well-rested? Wait, that’s not right — It’s 8:53 a.m. You have class in exactly 12 minutes. In a feat of unprecedented athletic prowess, you bolt out of bed and jam your feet into shoes, grab your backpack and race to Gardner Hall — are you the next RJ Davis? Or is he the next you?
Column: Hey, are you listening?
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Monday, Feb. 26, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue Every year, during the last week of November, the world waits. The last autumn-dappled leaves threaten to drop off trees, schools fill with anticipatory holiday cheer and millions of people begin the countdown to the most important event of the season — Spotify Wrapped Day.
Satire: Rushing Franklin Street showed me the real reason people go to UNC
Printing news. Raising hell. Since 1893. Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024 Newsletters Latest print issue I’ve spent every day of my life not caring about basketball. I came to UNC to foster my intellectual curiosity through rigorous classes, to grow by exposing myself to new perspectives and to get a free New York Times Games subscription to play Connections daily.
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