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Monday, February 16, 2015

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ADMINISTRATION

‘Food Love’ theme 
encourages produce 
awareness, nods to 

Valentine’s Day

By SAMANTHA WINTNER 

and SAMIHA MATIN

For the Daily

University students, together 

with food lovers, entrepreneurs 
and farmers, filled Rackham 

Auditorium on Sunday for the 
seventh annual Local Food Sum-
mit.

Billed as a sustainable food 

conference, the event promot-
ed stronger relationships with 
local food businesses, as well 
as encouraged local entrepre-
neurs to adopt environmentally 
responsible business plans.

“The intent is to bring people 

around local food so that they 
can experience learning from 
multiple different angles,” said 
Ann Arbor resident Jason Fren-

zel, one of the event’s organiz-
ers. “So we have participants 
here who are very new to the 
Local Food Summit and we 
want to allow them an opportu-
nity to meet people who are very 
involved in the system and learn 
a few basics. We also want to 
create opportunities for people 
who are currently involved in 
the system so that they can get a 
chance to increase networking.”

Slow Food Huron Valley led 

the Food Summit, which was 

Community 

members stage 
protest for Global 
Divestment Day

By JING JING MA

Daily Staff Reporter

Dozens of students and com-

munity members in matching 
bright-orange shirts emblazoned 
with the phrase “Global Divest-
ment Day” rallied on the Diag on 
Friday afternoon in support of 
fossil fuel divestment.

Global Divestment Day was 

sponsored by the Divest and 
Invest campaign, a coalition of 
students, faculty, staff and com-
munity members. The protest 
aimed to urge University officials 
to divest the school’s interests 
from fossil fuel companies.

LSA 
junior 
Nicholas 
Jan-

sen, the event’s director, said 
he hoped the rally on the Diag 
would raise awareness of the 
fossil fuel divestment movement 
and mobilize students in support 
of the cause. He said he believed 

Grand Rapids-

based chain opens 
new location on 
Maynard Street 

By LAURA SCHINAGLE

For the Daily

About 300 people lined up 

outside 311 Maynard St. on 
Saturday 
morning, 
braving 

frigid temperatures and bit-
ing winds, as workers inside 
finished up preparations for 
the grand opening of Hopcat, a 
Grand Rapids-based craft beer 
bar.

The chain, which focuses on 

specialty craft beer and sells 
food as well, announced in 
July that it would open its fifth 
location in the 8,600-square-
foot 
space 
that 
formerly 

housed part of the Borders 
flagship store.

Leading up to the event, 

HopCat advertised that it 

would offer free “crack fries,” 
a signature dish of beer-bat-
tered French fries, during the 
grand opening. It also said the 
first 200 people waiting in line 
would receive free crack fries 
every week for a year.

Though the heat of July may 

have seemed distant on Satur-
day, patrons waiting outside 
— several of whom camped 
out overnight — said they were 
especially looking forward to 
both the free fries and the beer 
selection.

Public 
Health 
graduate 

student John Lee, along with 
friends Megan Hayes, physical 
therapy doctoral student at the 
University of Michigan—Flint, 
and Public Health graduate 
student 
William 
Weichsel, 

scored a spot in line at 5 a.m. 
Weichsel said the beer selec-
tion was the main reason he 
tagged along.

“Two of the beers they have 

are super rare, by Founders — 
Canadian Breakfast Stout and 

Students volunteer 
at Franklin-Wright 

Settlements on 
city’s East Side

By CAROLYN GEARIG

Daily Staff Reporter

On Valentine’s Day, 40 Uni-

versity students showed their 
love for the city of Detroit.

For the third and final event 

of Detroit Week, students spent 
Saturday painting walls and 
building a cardboard school 
bus at Franklin-Wright Settle-
ments, a human services orga-
nization in the city.

Detroit Week was a series of 

three Detroit-focused events 
organized by the Detroit Part-
nership, the Black Student 
Union, Semester in Detroit, 
LSA Student Government and 
the Black Volunteer Network. 

The other two events included 
a dinner called The Soup and a 
panel on race and food justice.

The events aimed to raise 

awareness of challenges fac-
ing Detroit, and promote action 
among the University commu-
nity.

LSA senior Arnold Reed, 

BSU speaker, and Public Policy 
junior Blair Sucher, educa-
tion director for the Detroit 
Partnership, began planning 
Detroit Week at the end of fall 

semester.

“We had the same vision,” 

Reed said. “When we came 
together, we were like, let’s do 
it. We said, ‘What if we could 
bring other organizations into 
the fold? There’s a lot of com-
munity service organizations 
on campus and a lot of orgs that 
would love to do this type of 
work.’ ”

Franklin-Wright 
Settle-

ments is a neighborhood ser-

ENVIRONMENT
BUSINESS

Current and 

former employee 
make claims on 

three counts 

By ANASTASSIOS 
ADAMOPOULOUS

Daily Staff Reporter

One former and one current 

University employee are suing 
the University and the Univer-
sity’s Board of Regents in fed-
eral court over three alleged civil 
rights violations.

The two plaintiffs are Lorie 

Biggs, who began work in Novem-
ber in 2010, and Jamie Mercurio, 
who joined in April 2012. Both 
worked as patient service associ-
ates. The two women claim they 
were sexually harassed by co-
workers, and Biggs also claims 
a documented disability was not 
properly accommodated.

The lawsuit was filed on Jan. 

13, 2015. It includes one count 
of sexual harassment under fed-

eral law, one count of failure to 
accommodate in violation of the 
American with Disabilities Act 
of 1990 and one count of violation 
of the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights 
Act, a state statute.

Sexual harassment
The lawsuit alleges that the two 

women were initially harassed by 
the same person, fellow employee 
Richard Page, who took photos of 
Biggs during work that she “con-
sidered to be inappropriate and 
of sexual nature,” asked Biggs for 
sex, and sent “sexually explicit” 
messages about Biggs and Mer-
curio through his work computer.

Page is listed as a patient reg-

istration and insurance specialist 
in the University’s directory.

Biggs complained to her then-

supervisor Jenny Wilson who, 
according to the lawsuit, told her 
“there had been previous sexual 
harassment complaints against 
Page, but nothing was going to be 
done about his behavior.”

After Wilson left the Univer-

sity in 2013, Biggs and Mercrio 

ROBERT DUNNE/Daily

Jason Frenzei, Huron River Watershed Council member, shows off the local food hero cape at the closing ceremony of the 
Sustainable Food Conference at the Michigan League Ballroom Sunday.

CONNOR BADE/Daily

Andrea Semiglia and LSA senior Talia Gerstle, Executive Director of the Detroit Partnership, prepare cardboard to be made into theater props at the Franklin 
Wright Settlement in Detroit Saturday.

See DETROIT, Page 2A

See LOCAL FOOD, Page 2A
See DIVESTMENT, Page 3A
See HOPCAT, Page 3A

See LAWSUIT, Page 3A

Regents, ‘U’ 
face lawsuit 
 
 
 
 

for violating 
civil rights

Third Detroit Week event 
focuses on direct service

HopCat grand 
opening draws 
hundreds with 
local craft beer

Seventh Local Food Summit 
addresses food sustainability

Students 
rally for 
fossil fuel 
divestment

INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 67
©2015 The Michigan Daily
michigandaily.com

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SPORTS MONDAY.........1B

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