ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, January 24, 2019
Ann Arbor, Michigan
michigandaily.com
the business b-side
BUSINESS
Businesses offer gifts of marijuana to customers ALEC COHEN/Daily
Smoke’s Chocolate finds loophole in regulations using medical cannabis
Vice President for Government Relations Cynthia Wilbanks discusses getting acquainted with new members of congress in an interview with The Daily Monday.
VP of Government Relations talks strategy, forming relationships
The Daily sits down with Cynthia Wilbanks to discuss lobbying efforts LEAH GRAHAM Daily News Editor
ALYSSA MCMURTRY Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Daily sat down with Cynthia Wilbanks, vice president of the Office of Government Relations, to discuss the University of Michi-
gan’s efforts to work with officeholders and agencies at the local, state and federal level. Wilbanks and her office manage interactions with government officials in regard to legislative and regulatory policy that affects the University and its programs. Organization including corporations, political action committees and nonprofits hire lobbyists to influence
government officials and agencies by advocating for or against certain policies. Wilbanks said the University’s strategy for working with lawmakers and government agencies takes a personal approach. “In this office, it’s relationships that are really the foundation of our work,” Wilbanks said. “We use opportunities that are both formal
and informal to establish those relationships and they come in lots of different settings, so it’s not always going up to the state capital, it’s not always visiting with offices in Washington. It’s a variety of ways that we work on those relationships and the same is true for the community relations work. See GOVERNMENT, Page 3A
ATTICUS RAASCH Daily Staff Reporter
Though marijuana is now legal in Michigan, the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs does not yet provide commercial licenses for recreational marijuana dispensaries. Following the Dec. 6 legalization, local and out-of-state businesses have identified a gray area in the law, allowing them to gift marijuana with the sale of other products such as sweets, snacks and even art. Smoke’s Chocolate, an Ann Arbor-based business created by Marc Bernard, has capitalized on the period between legalization of
marijuana and the opening of recreational dispensaries in Michigan, according to Jack Groom, Business senior and head of development at Smoke’s Chocolate. “On the day after legalization (Bernard) put his website up, just taking advantage of the way the law is written and how it exists, relying on precedent out of several different states where people have employed a similar business model,” Groom said. According to the Michigan Taxation and Regulation of Marihuana Act, gifting of marijuana is permissible in a restricted amount and manner.
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HopCat renames its signature side, Whitmer’s BLI poetry directives celebrates over a decade of operation workshop GOVERNMENT
target bias on the job New orders to protect members of LGBTQ community, women BEN ROSENFELD Daily Staff Reporter
Since her inauguration on Jan. 1, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has taken action to reform and increase access to institutions of government for minorities and women, particularly through the use of executive directives. In the last several weeks, two directives in particular have generated conversation over their potential impact on the economy and people of Michigan. The first directive, signed Jan. 7, prohibits any discrimination or withholding of opportunities from government employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. The second, signed Jan. 8, intends to limit wage inequality by prohibiting state agencies and employers from asking about applicants’ previous salaries until a job and salary offer has been made. These orders are among ten signed by Gov. Whitmer in her first several weeks in office, aimed towards demonstrating her administration’s intent to resolve social disparities in income and employment. See WHITMER, Page 3A
CAMPUS LIFE
Local restaurant gives out promotional fries, goes from ‘Crack’ to ‘Cosmik’ CLAIRE HAO
Daily Staff Reporter
Just in time for its 11th anniversary, Michigan-based craft beer bar HopCat rolled out a new name for its awardwinning Crack Fries on Jan. 14. The newly deemed “Cosmik Fries” were the center of anniversary celebrations Saturday, during which free fries and a fries eating contest were offered at each HopCat location. According to Joe Sonheim, director of marketing for BarFly Ventures, the decision to change the name was made in early December by executives at BarFly Ventures, the parent company of HopCat. Although
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the name Crack Fries was originally meant to be clever, executives realized it could be insensitive towards the crack epidemic and drug addiction, Sonheim explained. “When we started the company, ‘crack fries’ was certainly meant to be a tongue-in-cheek reference,” Sonheim said. “But as the company grew and expanded into different markets, such as Detroit, we’ve had to figure out who we are in the community. We’ve gotten good feedback from the community … based on that feedback, we decided it was the right thing to do to change the name.” Despite the name change, a December statement by HopCat assures customers the
ingredients and recipe of the fries, named one of the ten best French fries in America, will remain the same. The new name for the signature side — Cosmik Fries — is inspired by the song “Cosmik Debris” by Frank Zappa, one of founder Mark Sellers’s favorite musicians. Featuring lyrics about a mystery man selling a magical substance made “with the oil of Aphrodite” and “the dust of the Grand Wazoo,” he says the song, and thus the new name, is more reflective of HopCat’s image. “A big part of HopCat is our relationship to music,” Sonheim said. “(The song “Cosmik Debris”) is a little weird, a little out there, definitely fun
EMMA RICHTER/Daily
HopCat, located on Maynard Street, enters its 11th year of business in Ann Arbor.
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and we thought it was a pretty good tie-in to who we are. It speaks to the culture and vibe of our HopCat restaurant.” The name change has received much attention, even receiving coverage by national platforms like Fox News. Online reactions to the new name have been mixed. Some customers expressed the move conforms to a trend of political correctness. In one tweet which has been liked by 500 people and retweeted 48 times at the time of publication, Liv Brosofske, a student at Western Michigan University, claimed the name change is another example of oversensitivity. See HOPCAT, Page 3A
INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 50 ©2018 The Michigan Daily
examines creativity
Acclaimed author, poet Zilka Joseph oversees mindfulness discussions NESMA DAOUD
Daily Staff Reporter
On Wednesday, the University of Michigan’s Barger Leadership Institute invited Zilka Joseph, internationally acclaimed poet, author and teacher, to lead a poetry workshop in Weiser Hall for advanced fellows in a BLI cohort called the Mindful Leader Program. Joseph’s seminar focused on channeling creativity to engage with our lives and work. The Mindful Leader program is a contemplative practices program composed of a 10-person cohort. The cohort engages in mindfulness-related discussions, workshops and other immersive and experiential learning opportunities. It provides participants with diverse approaches to cultivating mindfulness, along with the language and skills to practice habits of mindful leadership. BLI Director Ramaswami Mahalingam introduced Joseph to the cohort and praised not only her poetry, but also her ability to immediately connect to students and explain nuanced poetic concepts efficiently. See POETRY, Page 3A
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 SPORTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............5 ARTS...................1B- 6B