9

Thursday, August 11, 2016

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com NEWS

supported
it
while
working

under the Obama administration
and has since denounced. He also
accused Clinton of supporting
the North American Free Trade
Agreement — enacted under
Bill Clinton — which is believed
to have resulted in millions of
dollars of trade deficit with
Canada and Mexico and the loss
of millions of American jobs.

“A vote for Hillary Clinton is

a vote for TPP and NAFTA,” he
said. “Before NAFTA went into
effect, there were 285,000 auto
workers in Michigan. Today that
number is only 160,000. Detroit
is
still
waiting
for
Hillary

Clinton’s apology. She’s been a
disaster. I expect Detroit will
get that apology right around
the same time Hillary Clinton
turns over those 33,000 e-mails
she deleted.”

Trump promised to release a

more detailed economic plan in
the weeks to come.

Michigan
has
come
into

question as a swing state this
election season, despite voting
Democratic in every presidential
election since 1988. Both vice-
presidential
nominees
have

already visited the state, and
Clinton is scheduled to speak
Thursday in the state, where she

will also address her economic
plan.

According
to
Rusy
Hills,

University professor of public
policy, the economic appeal will
be key for the Trump campaign
in winning the state.

“This is the number one

issue: jobs, paychecks and the
economy,” he said. “He’s right
in the voter sweet spot. The fact
that he’s doing it in Michigan
shows that Michigan is in play.”

Trump’s
speech
was

interrupted by 14 protesters
— the majority of whom were
women.
Female
protestors

shouted phrases such as: “You
have to answer to women,” while
a sole male protester repeatedly
shouted “tiny hands” as he was
escorted out.

Outside
the
Cobo
Center,

approximately 100 protesters
attempted to form a human wall,
blocking Trump’s entry. Signs
held by the protesters denoted
a number of controversial issues
including
the
Khan
family

controversy, Palestine relations
and
Trump’s
proposed
wall

and conservative immigration
policies.

Debra Simmons, who was

there
protesting
Trump’s

candidacy,
said
Trump’s

offensive comments showcased
throughout his campaign make
him unrepresentative of the
public.

“Who wants a hater in the

White House? He’s not for the
people,” she said. “His issues
do not reflect what the people
want.”

U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D–

Mich.) was also in attendance
at
the
event,
despite
her

endorsement of Clinton. She said
that despite Trump’s economic
agenda, his historical actions
do not indicate that he will help
Detroit, the state of Michigan or
the working class.

“He says one thing but his

actions don’t match up,” she
said. “While I want jobs here,
he’s exporting jobs to China and
other countries. … When he talks
about autos, Hillary Clinton
voted for a package that saved
the auto industry. He opposed
it.”

18-year-old Ann Arbor residents
to purchase cigars in Ypsilanti
and smoke in his store.

Mohammad
Hassan,
store

manager of Bongz & Thongz
on East Liberty Street, said he
expects stores selling supplies
for vaporizers — whose users
are disproportionately younger
— to be significantly hurt by the
new ordnance.

“In Ann Arbor we have a

whole community of vaporizing
(vendors), and pretty much it’s
going to hurt them,” Hassan
said. “We have a huge vaporizer
shop downstairs and it’s going
to be hurt pretty bad because
a lot of our customers are from
the age of 18 to 20.”

Hassan said that, though he

is not as concerned about the
law affecting his store because
most of its business comes from
selling artisan glass pipes, he
wants to start a petition drive
with other tobacco shops to roll
back the regulation.

“(The regulation is) going

to hurt a lot of people, and I
do think it will shut down a
lot of shops here in the city
and possibly in the state of
Michigan,”
Hassan
said.
“I

think businesses should wake
up. I’m more than happy to get
together with other businesses,
but a lot of people aren’t going to
wake up until it does hit and it
does affect.”

Hassan also added he expects

the new law will be devastating
for responsible student smokers
under 21 because they must now
resort to illicit means to obtain
tobacco.

“Raising the age limit to 21

is probably going to make a lot
more kids try to find different
ways to have people purchase
the cigarettes,” Hassan said.
“From 18 now to 21, it’s a huge
jump. So if somebody’s been
smoking for two of those years
and
can’t
smoke
anymore,

what do you expect them to
do? There’s going to be people
finding different ways to scam
the system.”

Three other stores carrying

tobacco products in Ann Arbor
declined to comment for this
story when approached by Daily
reporters.

Despite
the
protests
of

individual cigar and cigarette
business owners, little evidence
could be found of a wider
backlash from the local business

community.

Andy Labarre, director of

government relations for the
Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Chamber
of Commerce, told the Daily
in a phone interview that he
doesn’t expect the regulations
to significantly affect the local
economy and that the chamber
will not take an official position
on the ordinance.

“I don’t think there’s a notion

that it’s going to have any
substantial impact on the local
economy,” Labarre said. “To be
frank, it’s more viewed as the
Ann Arbor City Council acting
outside its jurisdiction. … That
happens from time to time.”

Labarre
also
added
that

no
local
businesses
have

approached the chamber with
concerns regarding the new
restrictions.

Councilmember Grand, who

initiated the tobacco legislation,
told the Daily the profit margin
on cigarette sales and demand
for
tobacco
products
from

18-to-21-year-olds is so small
that she wasn’t concerned about
any adverse effects on the local
economy.

“The interest in having the

‘Tobacco 21’ ordinance isn’t
about the impact on businesses;
it’s the impact on the health of
young people in our community,”
Grand said. “We did think about
this impact (on local businesses)
and determined that any small
impacts that are made were
worth it on balance with health
benefit.”

Grand added that she has

only faced scattered opposition
to her legislation from business
owners; namely from Rosenthal
and an out-of-town advocacy
group representing the tobacco
industry.

Rosenthal said he has been

approached by a number of
multi-regional
law
firms,

whose names he declined to
disclose, seeking to challenge
the ordinance as a pro-bono
civil rights case on the basis of
the ordinance’s contradiction to
state law. However, he said he is
still undecided over whether to
challenge the city in what could
ultimately be lengthy litigation.

“I really do love this town.

… I’m not going anywhere,”
Rosenthal said. “If I take this to
court, it’s going to cost hundreds
of thousands of dollars in legal
fees to the city. Does Ann Arbor
have the money? Of course they
do, but it’s kind of a waste … but
I don’t know (if I will sue), it’s
going to be a moral decision.”

TOBACCO
From Page 3

veterans cope with their new
reality after coming home.

York
said
the
company

eventually hopes to create a
platform in which kids, therapists
and parents alike can create

their own augmented reality
experiences. York described her
vision as something similar to
Pinterest but using augmented
reality. She said she envisions
a platform in which kids can
discover what would happen
if they mixed two storylines
together or if they wanted to put
themselves in the story.

She added that ALTality also

plans to expand to homes and
schools and keep up with the
rapidly advancing technology,
either continuing in the direction
they are headed or expanding
further into developing an app
that is compatible with headsets
or wearables such as activity
trackers.

REALITY
From Page 2

TRUMP
From Page 1

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