ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM
Thursday, January 31, 2019
Ann Arbor, Michigan
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ANN ARBOR
Low temps put homeless population at risk DESIGN BY NOLAN FELICIDARIO
Experts, business owners speculate on small business closures in 2018 Local institutions including restaurants and bakeries close their doors ZAYNA SYED
Daily Staff Reporter
In November 2018, Ann Arbor’s beloved MD Bagel Fragel was forced to close shop. A family-owned business of 25 years that attracted customers through its local vibe and “fragel,” a shop staple consisting of deep fried raisin dough covered in cinnamon sugar, its owners were given two days to move out of their location on Broadway Square after the building was purchased by a company from Toledo. Community outrage ensued, with supporters starting a GoFundMe that accrued more than $11,000 and Underground Printing creating T-shirts printed with the phrase “#SaveBagelFragel”. The new
owners of the building gave the business an extension, allowing them to move out by the end of the year before turning the space into a marijuana dispensary. MD Bagel Fragel is one of 18 Ann Arbor businesses that closed in 2018. For many Ann Arbor residents, the closure of small businesses comes with a community cost. Of the 18 businesses that closed in 2018, nine of them were open for more than 25 years, with only two businesses being open for two years or less. In an email interview with The Daily, MD Bagel Fragel shop owner Patricia Rockette offered some advice to City Council. “Stop letting the big corporations like Starbucks go in which
forces the small businesses out of business,” Rockette wrote. “They cannot compete. Landlords raise the rent so much, that only big, unfeeling companies can survive.” City Councilmember Jeff Hayner, D-Ward 1, used to hold coffee hours at Electric Eye Café, a business that also closed in 2018. According to Hayner, the loss of businesses such as Electric Eye Café and MD Bagel Fragel are often unquantifiable. “Businesses come and go, and especially these small businesses, but there were some that has really been sad with the community, especially my constituents,” Hayner said. “A lot of these small businesses like that, they actually play a role in the community in a small way,
where they offer their room up for meetings, or they host different events or creative things. When these small businesses go away, sometimes you lose those things that aren’t quantifiable.” While records tracking the number of businesses that have closed in Ann Arbor over the past few years do not exist, some estimate this is a relatively large amount to close in one year, particularly since 2018 proved strong for the overall economy. Six of the businesses that closed in 2018 belonged to the dining industry, such as MD Bagel Fragel and Pieology Pizzeria. However, the majority of closures — 10 — were retail businesses.
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People facing housing instability turn to shelters, warming centers CATHERINE NOUHAN Daily Staff Reporter
LEAH GRAHAM Daily News Editor
With record-breaking low temperatures sweeping the state of Michigan and wind chill temperatures of approximately negative 40 deg rees Fahrenheit, Michigander have been warned of frostbite on exposed skin within 10 minutes of standing outside. In Washtenaw Count y, there are about 300 homeless persons at any g iven time each year. Students organizations, shelters and cong regations are working to aid the homeless population of Ann Arbor. Lit Kurtz, a vendor at Groundcover News, a nonprof it that sells newspapers to help low income people, praised the shelters for opening warming centers to help people get out of the cold, but said more still needed
to be done. “I don’t think we go far enough and these sort of conversations shouldn’t have to take place because it should be a g iven that everyone has a warm place to be by now,” Kurtz said. “It’s far from an ideal situation. I believe that it shouldn’t be an emergency to make the shelter and the warming centers extend their hours. It should just be normal practice.” Kurtz, who previously dealt with housing instabilit y herself, noted the challenges those in v ulnerable situations face year-round. “It’s not just times like this that people have to deal with the cold weather,” Kurtz said. “This of course is extreme and it brings attention and a little more focus to what people without adequate housing have to encounter, but it’s a challenge throughout the year to stay warm... I think See AT RISK, Page 3A
Students come together to ban Wendy’s 2019 to see Adaptable resolution from renting spot in renovated Union additions to ADMINISTRATION
introduced to SSMP Solution offers options for sexual misconduct cases at the University CLAIRE HAO
Daily Staff Reporter
The University of Michigan’s new interim student sexual misconduct policy expands the use of additional options and support for students who may not want to pursue a hearing and investigation. The pathway, called adaptable resolution, was outlined in the December 2018 revisions, which took effect Jan. 9. The new Interim Policy and Procedures on Student Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct and Other Forms of Interpersonal Violence was also updated to include an in-person hearing. During the investigation process both the accused and the accuser will be able to cross-examine each other and the witnesses. This revision was implemented in accordance with the September U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruling that public universities must give the accused student or their adviser the opportunity to cross-examine the accuser and witnesses. The University petitioned for a rehearing in late September. The circuit court denied the petition in October of 2018.
ANN ARBOR
The restaurant fails to comply with labor partnership Fair Foods Program REMY FARKAS Daily News Editor
With the renovation of the Michigan Union underway, students and faculty will decide on which three vendors will move into the space when it reopens in the winter of 2020. Members of the University of Michigan community expressed concern regarding the potential of Wendy’s moving back into the building due to employee labor conditions. Washtenaw Solidarity with Farmworkers, a community and student-based group, has been lobbying the administration and the Central Student Government to ban Wendy’s from coming back to campus
until the fast-food establishment has signed the Fair Food Program. The Fair Food Program is a partnership between farmworkers and food distribution companies to ensure agricultural workers have access to adequate working conditions and fair wages. Fourteen companies have signed on, including large grocery distributors such as Walmart and Whole Foods Market and fast food chains such as Burger King, McDonald’s and Subway. Rackham student Kimberly Daley has led the on-campus effort to ensure Wendy’s will not be put in the basement of the Union. Daley believes it’s likely Wendy’s submitted a bid
for the Union based on their widespread representation on college campuses. She emphasized Wendy’s lack of transparency regarding the Fair Food Program. “Wendy’s hasn’t signed on (to the agreement) and they have been avoiding the sign on process,” Daley said. “They moved all of their purchases of tomatoes to Mexico to avoid it, and then they moved it all back to greenhouses in the U.S. and none of those have actually good working conditions.” Two Wendy’s restaurants previously resided in the Union and in the Michigan League before their contracts expired. She began the process by meeting with Susan Pile, the Union
administrator at the time, and the Office of Procurement, but quickly became frustrated with their lack of response. “Since 2015-2016, I’ve been in contact with administration and University to either cut the contract with Wendy’s or make sure that they couldn’t come back to campus after the contract expired,” Daley said. “Both of them told me there was nothing they could do and they couldn’t cut the contract with Wendy’s because they needed the money. And for procurement, said they can’t legally make rules, supposedly, about who can or cannot submit bid to be vendors at the University.” See WENDY’S, Page 3A
off-campus apartments
Variety of developments planned for the coming months throughout the city ANGELINA BREDE Daily Staff Reporter
As the University of Michigan continues to increase enrollment, multiple new student housing developments in Ann Arbor have been proposed for the coming year. Triad Real Estate Partners reported that off-campus housing occupancy for students last fall sat at 98.3 percent, compared to a national average of 95.2 percent. This demand for student housing continues to grow, according to the report from Triad Real Estate Partners. According to Triad, rent for off-campus housing has also grown, having risen by 4.64 percent since last year. Recent luxury-based student housing developments contribute to this rise in cost. Limited affordable housing has sparked a conversation around campus, especially within Central Student Government. Ann Arbor approved plans in November for a new 28-bed student apartment building on Hill Street, estimated to cost $1 million to build.
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INDEX
Vol. CXXVII, No. 64 ©2019 The Michigan Daily
NEWS.........................2 OPINION.....................4 SPORTS......................6
SUDOKU.....................2 CLASSIFIEDS...............5 ARTS...................6