3
NEWS
Thursday, May 31, 2018
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
New dispensary in AA
Licensing changes
allow for new
marijuana facility
By RACHEL CUNNINGHAM
Summer Daily News Editor
Amid a new Michigan licens-
ing act and an updated Ann
Arbor ordinance, a new mari-
juana dispensary has opened
near the University of Michi-
gan’s campus. Green Planet
dispenses medical marijuana
to registered patients and is
located at 700 Tappan Ave.,
across from the Ross School of
Business and the Law Quad-
rangle.
Green Planet is one of many
new dispensaries opening in
the Ann Arbor area after the
legal changes put into effect
earlier this year.
According to its website, the
dispensary is part of a non-
profit group aiming to assist
medical
marijuana
patients
and share information about
marijuana’s medical benefits.
Medical
marijuana
usage
has
garnered
recent
con-
troversy
regarding
addic-
tion potential and regulation
among government officials
and the media in recent years.
However, some sources state
medicinal marijuana can help
treat different forms of cancer,
mental illness and more. The
drug has not yet been approved
for use by the Food and Drug
Administration.
City
Planning
Manager
Brett Lenart told The Michi-
gan Daily the dispensary met
the requirements for approval.
“The
Planning
Commis-
sion did find that 700 Tappan
Ave met the requirements set
forth by City Ordinance, and
recommended approval of a
Special Exception Use Per-
mit,” Lenart wrote in an email
interview. “As part of the con-
ditions of approval, the appli-
cant will need to close the
vehicular curb cut, which will
reduce one instance of poten-
tial pedestrian/vehicular con-
flicts.The applicant still has to
demonstrate compliance with
building codes, and needs to
apply for and receive operating
permit and license from the
City Clerk and State of Michi-
gan.”
Green Planet Director Mike
McLeod felt Ann Arbor was
the obvious choice to open
the dispensary because of the
city’s leadership in science,
knowledge, medicine and can-
nabis. Many of Green Planet’s
workers are U-M alumni.
“Green Planet is passion-
ate about medical cannabis,”
McLeod wrote in an email
interview. “We provide our
patients with the best ser-
vice and quality of medicine
available. Green Planet has
the most knowledgeable and
experienced staff in our indus-
try, many of whom are U of
M grads including graduate
degrees from the School of
Public Health and Pharmacol-
ogy.”
City Councilmember Chuck
Warpehoski,
D-Ward
5,
explained dispensaries in the
city have certain regulations
they must follow in order to
operate, such as designated
locations and proximity to
other dispensaries. He also
said the city has a history of
supporting marijuana usage.
“Ann Arbor has long been
a town that has been tolerant
and supportive of marijuana
use,” Warpehoski said. “With
the state putting forward reg-
ulations that allow for a clear
pathway for opening dispen-
saries, there has been a huge
uptick of interest.”
According to Warpehoski,
the city has not received any
recent complaints regarding
dispensaries.
A ballot proposal to be voted
on in November could legal-
ize marijuana usage across
the state of Michigan, which
Warpehoski
believes
could
assist
law
enforcement.
If
passed, the law would make
possession and sale of marijua-
na up to 2.5 ounces legal and
impose a 10-percent excise and
6-percent sales tax on retail
purchases.
“I believe there would be a
huge relief on our criminal jus-
tice system,” Warpehoski said.
“It would be a significantly
positive thing to address the
problem of mass incarcera-
tion.”
U-M, Shanghai ‘U’ renew partnership
By ROB DALKA
For The Daily
The University of Michigan
and Shanghai Jiao Tong Univer-
sity have renewed their support
of the Joint Institute, signing
another 10-year agreement and
dedicating a new building to the
institute.
The UM-SJTU Joint Insti-
tute, located in Shanghai, began
in 2006 with the goal to build
a
world-class
teaching
and
research institute in China and
to nurture innovative leaders
with a global perspective. It was
born out of faculty exchanges
and
research
collaborations
between the University and
SJTU led by Professor Jun Ni, an
alum of SJTU and current U-M
professor of engineering and
Shien-Ming (Sam) Wu professor
of manufacturing science.
Pamela Byrnes, U.S. director
of the UM-SJTU Joint Institute,
feels Ni strived greatly to make
the Institute a success.
“Professor
Jun
Ni
went
out to recruit faculty and stu-
dents,” Byrnes said. “He worked
between both institutions, the
SJTU and the University of
Michigan, to help make this a
realization.”
In 2014, the institute was
awarded the Andrew Heiskell
Award for Innovation in Higher
Education from the Institute of
International Education, one of
the most prestigious awards in
international education.
Currently, students from 17
countries attend the Joint Insti-
tute for full-time degree pro-
grams and short-term exchange
programs. The curriculum is
modeled on curriculum at the
University of Michigan and
many U-M students elect to
attend the Joint Institute as a
part of a study abroad program.
In collaboration with the Uni-
versity of Michigan, the Joint
Institute offers a dual-degree
program. Through this pro-
gram, students spend their first
two years at the Joint Institute
in Shanghai. The final two years
are spent at the University of
Michigan, where the students
earn their bachelor’s degree in
one of 15 majors through the
College of Engineering, or in
math or physics through LSA.
After the completion of a U-M
bachelor’s degree, the students
then return to SJTU to complete
the
remaining
requirements,
ultimately earning two degrees,
one each from U-M and SJTU.
“The Joint Institute is a great
way for people from very differ-
ent cultures to get to know each
other, understand the cultures
and be able to work globally
on global issues,” Byrnes said.
“There are all sorts of different
avenues of connections for these
students.”
A new program, the Global
Degree Pathway, became for-
malized with the new 10-year
agreement. This program gives
all students who complete a
bachelor’s degree at the Joint
Institute a chance to pursue a
master’s degree in a variety of
disciplines at the University of
Michigan and other internation-
al institutions.
Amy Conger, assistant vice
provost of global and engaged
education, said the Institute is
striving to make the program
better each year.
“We learned very much from
the success of the dual-degree
program, and going into the
Joint Institute’s second decade,
we are trying to envision what
JI graduates need at this time,”
Conger said. “More and more
we are seeing deep value in the
combination of an undergradu-
ate degree in an engineering
discipline plus a graduate degree
from an international institution
in either engineering or a com-
plementary field.”
There are currently multiple
graduate programs at the Uni-
versity of Michigan that will be
offered through the GDP, includ-
ing programs in the College
of Engineering, the School of
Information and the Ross School
of Business.
“Undergraduate
students
now can take advantage of some
of the pathways, and we are
working very quickly to build
additional degree options with
different international institu-
tions,” Conger said.
Along
with
the
renewed
agreement, a new building has
been dedicated to the Joint
Institute. The Long Bin Building
in Shanghai is named after the
parents of John Wu, a U-M alum
who in 2015 donated $10 million
to support the Joint Institute.
This building is home to all of
the operations of the Joint Insti-
tute and is another step in its
evolution.
“The building has many dif-
ferent discussion areas, lounges
and laboratories for research,”
Byrnes said. “It will be a huge
center for student activity.”
University President Mark
Schlissel expressed his support
for the renewed agreement in an
article published by the Univer-
sity Record.
“The Shanghai Jiao Tong Uni-
versity collaboration is U-M’s
largest and most comprehensive
partnership in China,” Schlissel
said. “It has given hundreds of
students from both our nations
the opportunity to pursue excel-
lent academic programs and
conduct research. We have also
fostered more than a decade of
research interactions among fac-
ulty. I am further excited by the
possibilities as we extend and
enhance our partnership.”
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
“The Joint
Institute is a great
way for people
from very different
cultures to get
to know each
other, understand
the cultures and
be able to work
globally on global
issues.”
University signs
10-year agreement
for Joint Institute