The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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Thursday, November 7, 2019 — 3
“So, we kind of do everything
in house.”
Businesses with recreational
marijuana licenses will be able
to tap into a whole new market
of users. Jarrous explained the
potential impact recreational
licensing could have on the
accessibility of the drug.
“One of the biggest criticisms
of the industry is that it’s been
inaccessible to people for a
really long time, and it’s easier
to get clean tested marijuana
if you’re wealthy, or if you’re
better connected, or if you’re
living in certain areas, and
for a long time it’s been really
unfair,” Jarrous said.
Laurence
Horowitz,
a
senior kinesiology student and
president of Green Wolverine
— an organization for students
interested in business and
dedicated
to
educating
people about cannabis and
the marijuana industry —
discussed the potential effects
of licensing on recreational
usage.
“I don’t think usage of the
drug will increase or decrease
with regards to the opening
of
these
dispensaries
for
recreational use. It’s just going
to be a matter of where the
people who do use it go to get
it,” Horowitz said.
Horowitz said he believes
the
availability
of
legal
recreational marijuana will
affect product quality and
consumer reception.
“I think with regards to
price, accessibility and stigma
that’s going to be very good
for the consumer. People are
going to be very happy about
that,” Horowitz said. “With
regards to quality, I don’t know
how happy you’re going to see
consumers, just because you’ve
seen the quality of cannabis
really dip in states that have
recreational versus medical.”
Jarrous
also
explained
the process of working with
local and state government to
abide by regulations, and the
expectations of the city, as
well as the impact local culture
has had on their business
development.
“We work with the local
government to make sure that
everything we’re doing has
the most minimal impact on
the residents of Ann Arbor, on
the people surrounding us,”
Jarrous said. “I think having
such
an
open
community
and people who have been so
accepting of it really catapulted
us — really helped us out a lot.”
Jarrous
explained
that
since the original applications
were cleared by the Marijuana
Regulatory Agency within 24
hours of submission, they are
waiting to begin the facility
inspection
phase
of
the
licensing process.
“We’re just eagerly waiting
for them to come out and do
their inspection, and then,
theoretically,
we
can
be
awarded our license right after
that, and, if everything goes
smoothly,
we’re
supposed
to be able to start selling on
January 1,” Jarrous said.
“He knew the devil of
violence that slithers through
all of us, and that is why
we need law,” Al Hussein
said.
“And
yet
there
is
another factor in play today.
Because human rights law
is being trapped in the fault
line separating competing
ideologies … a liberal order,
grounded in positive and
natural law, and a more
conservative one, rejecting
the former’s more recent
advances.”
Al Hussein concluded his
talk with a call to action for
students. Young people, he
said, must vote and be leaders
in fighting for human rights.
“We
don’t
need
bright
people,” said Al Hussein.
“We’re in need of smart
people
with
a
deep
conscience.
Smart
people
who are brave, and smart
people who are willing to
self-sacrifice
…We
need
people with a deep reservoir
of ethical thinking and a
conscience that will make a
difference.”
LSA junior Lana Charara
told
The
Daily
she
was
inspired by the speaker’s
work and message.
“I just really admire the
work (the speaker) has done
in the past for human rights
and his passion for these
(kinds) of issues,” Charara
said.
“I
was
just
really
excited when I saw that he
was speaking here.”
RIGHTS
From Page 1
U-M Engineering professors
create robot food delivery service
REV-1 vehicle designed to operate in car, bike lanes to transport items to customers
ANGELINA BREDE
Daily Staff Reporter
Two
University
of
Michigan
Engineering
professors have developed
a robotic food delivery
service
that
transports
food
from
local
restaurants to customers’
homes.
Engineering
professors
Matthew
Johnson-Roberson
and
Ram Vasudevan founded
Refraction
AI
in
May
2018,
the
company
which designed the new
autonomous
delivery
vehicle, named REV-1.
The REV-1 is a compact
and
lightweight
vehicle
designed
to
operate
in
both car and bike lanes,
maximizing safety due to
its small size. The vehicle
uses
12
cameras,
radar
and
ultrasound
sensors
to navigate and look out
for possible obstructions
while
on
the
road
—
including potholes, trees,
buildings and poor weather
conditions.
Johnson-Roberson said
because
of
challenging
road
conditions
in
Michigan, Ann Arbor was
a good place to launch
an adaptable and safely-
operating robot.
“Ann Arbor is a really
great location for a couple
of
reasons,”
Johnson-
Roberson
said.
“A
lot
of
autonomous
vehicle
deployment is happening
in Arizona and California
where the weather is the
same every day and the
roads
are
really
wide
and very flat and have no
potholes, so it’s not terribly
representative for the rest
of the United States. Most
of the United States is not
like Arizona, and so in that
way I think this is a great
place
to
deploy
robots
because you have to deal
with a lot of the things that
other people are just sort
of avoiding, and I think it’s
really forcing us to make a
better robot.”
Johnson-Roberson
said
Ann Arbor was also an
ideal location to launch
the new autonomous food
delivery service due to its
high restaurant density.
“These robots are really
designed to go between
a half a mile and two and
a
half
miles—
maybe
three miles at max and
so there’s a ton of density
of
restaurants
(in
this
range),” Johnson-Roberson
said. “If you think about
how many restaurants are
downtown, we can pick up
from probably 40 places
before we even have to go
more than three or four
blocks.”
Johnson-Roberson
said
he
hopes
to
eventually
expand the service into
cities outside of Ann Arbor,
particularly
Boston
and
other college towns like
Madison, Wisconsin.
During
the
pilot
program,
Refraction
AI
partnered
with
local
restaurants including Miss
Kim and Belly Deli. In the
future, they hope to expand
to work with restaurants
all
across
campus,
as
well as collaborate with
MDining to open up a
delivery service on North
Campus
and
execute
delivery from their dining
service Fireside Café.
Eric
Joh,
co-owner
and operational manager
of Belly Deli, said the
restaurant was excited to
partner
with
Refraction
AI
and
believes
the
partnership will generate
public attention for the
restaurant.
“We thought it was a neat
idea, and I think probably
the future of deliveries will
be automated,” Joh said.
“We thought it was pretty
exciting what they were
doing at Refraction AI, so
we wanted to be a part of it.
I think it’s going to increase
business by generating a
lot of publicity; I think it
generates a lot of public
interest and it’s something
very exciting.”
Joh said the cost was one
of the advantages of this
service over the traditional
delivery
services
they
use like Postmates and
Grubhub.
“If
cost
is
an
issue,
people wouldn’t have to tip
as much for an automated
service — it would already
be included in pricing.”
Joh said. “As of now it is
a little bit cheaper than
the other services. The
commission rate is slightly
lower
than
the
other
delivery services we use. If
they have enough vehicles
on the road then I think
most of the companies will
use it because it’s more
cost effective, but I think
that’s way further down
the road.”
Johnson-Roberson
has
spent his career working
on self-driving cars and
other robots and said he
wanted to create a robot
that regularly interacted
with humans and improved
their lives.
“I was disappointed that
there’s still not a robot that
touches your life everyday.”
he said. “You go to school,
you go home — you don’t
see a robot. Maybe you
occasionally see a Waymo
car
but
it’s
not
doing
anything for your life. It’s
been my career building
robots, and I want to build
a robot that you get to see
and for my neighbors and
my friends… it makes their
lives better and it helps to
improve their day to day
and interact with them
regularly.”
LSA
junior
Blaine
Thompson is a frequent
user
of
food
delivery
services and says he thinks
the
new
autonomous
delivery service would be
useful for Ann Arbor traffic
and speed of delivery.
“Most of the time I look
for the closest restaurants
to avoid a big delivery fee,
unless I want something
from a restaurant on North
Campus
or
something,”
Thompson said. “I would
use
a
robotic
service
like that mostly as just
another delivery service,
but having less cars on the
road is always good for
the environment and Ann
Arbor driving. Likewise,
it seems that it might be
quicker than traditional
food delivery services.”
The
service
had
five
robots during their pilot
program, and the founders
of Refraction AI anticipate
to expand the fleet to
between 15 and 30 robots
into the winter and spring.
Johnson-Roberson listed
three major factors that
separate
this
compact
autonomous
delivery
service from a traditional
vehicle and delivery driver:
safety, environment and
reliability.
He
said
the
REV-1 is less dangerous
than a traditional larger
vehicle and in the event
of an accident, customers
can only expect your food
to get damaged — not a
human driver.
“We have the idea that
if you go slower and make
something
that’s
lighter
it’s a lot safer… and you
can do it without having
to have the same safety
requirements you would
have for a bigger vehicle,”
Johnson-Roberson said. “If
you don’t have a person in
it the safety requirements
are so different because
if it’s a burrito inside, you
don’t really care if the
burrito gets damaged if the
vehicle gets hit.”
Each robot costs about
$4,000
to
build
and
travels at a steady speed
of between 10 and 12 miles
per hour, putting the robot
at less risk of damage if an
accident occurs.
Johnson-Roberson
said
another
benefit
of
the
robot is that it is more
environmentally conscious
than a traditional vehicle
because it is electric and
does not rely on fossil
fuels.
“There’s
really
a
lot
of
issues
around
sustainability
for
using
cars to do food delivery,
and so we thought one of
the big ways that we can
have a long-term impact is
moving us away from using
big fossil fuel-burning cars
to do delivery when we
can do it with an electric
vehicle that’s as light as a
bike,”
Johnson-Roberson
said.
Johnson-Roberson
also mentioned the robot
is more reliable than a
traditional delivery driver,
due to lack of concerns
about an employee getting
sick or having to miss work.
Additionally, he said the
robots are serving a market
need, rather than taking
away
jobs
from
human
delivery drivers who do
not have sustainable jobs.
“We don’t think about
that lightly and I think
it is important to realize
what the delivery market
is like,” Johnson-Roberson
said. “Deliverers don’t get
health
insurance,
they
don’t have any job stability,
they’re dependent mostly
on tips so it’s not a very
sustainable
job.
We
hope that we’re building
something that’s a more
sustainable industry that
treats its workers more
fairly and that hopefully
that humans at the end
of the day are going to be
the ones that benefit from
this.”
He said the tele-operator
employees
working
for
Refraction AI will receive
benefits
food
delivery
drivers
typically
don’t
have.
“We’re
not
trying
to
exploit people to make this
kind of business work,”
Johnson-Roberson
said.
‘We think that there is a
way to pay people a fair
wage to do things like
remote operation, and we
can do that in a way where
they are stable employees —
they get health insurance;
they get all the benefits
that are important. We
think that this technology,
and not just this, but many
of this autonomous driver
technology
is
going
to
make big changes in our
economy, and we would
like to make sure we do
that in the most ethical and
most conscientious way.”
MARIJUANA
From Page 1
Erwin presented his book “Lead
Yourself First,” and explained the
importance of solitude in a world
oversaturated with distractions.
He said avoiding distractions is a
crucial step in becoming a better
leader. According to Erwin, the
constant use of technology renders
the average person perpetually
stimulated and vulnerable to
distractions.
“When you look at the data
the amount of information that
the average mind processes today
versus just 30 years ago, it is six
times more,” Erwin said.
Erwin described social media
applications as a proponent of the
“fear of missing out” phenomena,
which drive people to fill time
with more hollow technology
based interactions and an over-
involved social calendar.
“Especially this is relevant for
undergraduates
and
graduate
students. When you start thinking
about the role that social media
has played,” Erwin said. “It is very
easy to create this anxiety around
not being there. It is having a great
impact on how we feel about our
relationships and how we feel in
our daily lives.”
Erwin described how email
inboxes
overflowing
with
academic and work-related tasks
push the brain to multitask. Erwin
explains how multi-tasking, a
traditionally valued ability in a
leader, has been proven to decrease
overall quality of performance by
50 percent.
“When
you
have
to
do
two things that require your
conscious effort at the same time,
your
performance
struggles
significantly,” Erwin said.
According to Erwin, modern
day leaders face the pressure
to stay activated in a state of
productivity
and
respond
to
every stimulus. Erwin posits the
modern dilemma for leaders is not
the inability to find opportunities
to lead, but to seek moments of
reflection and to seek solitude.
“Most
people
think
that
solitude as a place where you need
to go out on your own,” Erwin said.
“What we really did was say that it
is a psychological state where your
mind focuses on its own thoughts,
free of distraction.”
LSA senior Lexi Funk attended
the event, and agreed with Erwin
on the importance of solitude,
telling The Daily it could be
beneficial in working with other
people.
“If you try to apply solitude and
to find it in your life, it can really
benefit you so you are in a place
where you can help others,” Funk
said.
Erwin urged the audience to
view integrating solitude into
one’s life as a process rather than
an immediate habit for both the
introverted
and
extroverted.
Erwin cited mindful meditation,
physical exercise or simply a
15-minute
interaction
cleanse
during the day as steps toward
training the mind in solitude and
focus.
“If you are someone that
struggles with this, you cannot
start with a grandiose goal,”
Erwin said. “You have to be able
to train your brain to focus. You
incrementally grow. It’s going to
feel uncomfortable.”
Engineering
junior
Alan
Gorbev told The Daily she believes
these methods are worthwhile,
especially with the busy schedules
University students tend to have.
“With the demanding schedule
that (University of Michigan
students) have, we want to spend
our free time with those we care
about,” Gorbev said.
DISTRACTIONS
From Page 1
Ri was born in Pyongsong,
North
Korea,
where
he
developed a passion for math.
After earning first place in
a math competition and a
spot in the North Korean
International
Mathematical
Olympiad Team, Ri made his
first trip abroad to Colombia
for a math competition.
Through
a
translator,
Ri shared how this trip to
Colombia was his first taste
of freedom. After travelling
to South Africa and Thailand
for more math competitions,
Ri was able to experience the
fullness of life outside of the
North Korean regime.
After
being
offered
a
job from the North Korean
government, Ri decided he
did not want to work for
the regime. At his last math
competition in Hong Kong, Ri
realized this trip was his last
opportunity to defect while
abroad. As a result, Ri snuck
out at night and sought asylum
at the South Korean consulate.
“I was so nervous, I felt like
my heart would burst,” Ri said.
Ri said his story has given
him a greater purpose to
spread awareness of the North
Korean people.
“I am here because I want
to work towards the day when
no other North Korean has to
give up their family and home
in order to gain freedom,” Ri
said.
Next, Kim opened up about
his own path to freedom.
In 1995, Kim was born in
Saetbyeol at a time when a
devasting famine that affected
around 2 million people had
just begun. He explained how
families who lived on a farm
were required to give their
food to the government for
distribution to the military
before allocating to the North
Korean people. As a result,
Kim’s
father
resorted
to
stealing grain in order to avoid
starvation.
Kim’s father was caught by
the government and sent to a
re-education center — what
many have dubbed as hard
labor camps — for four years.
“If
a
family
member
commits a crime against the
regime,
the
entire
family,
including children who are not
even born yet, can be punished
and ostracized for life,” Kim
said.
After
Kim’s
father
was
released from the hard labor
camp, Kim and his family were
constantly being watched by
not only the secret police, but
also their neighbors, friends
and community. Eventually,
Kim and his family made the
move to escape by wading
through the river between
North Korea and China.
“North
Korean
children
can’t even freely express their
dreams and spend so much
energy struggling to survive
that they don’t even have hope
for their futures,” Kim said.
“For me, freedom is when I can
decide whether I want to do
something or not. But I had to
risk my life for that freedom.
I dream of a day when every
NK child has the opportunity
to pursue a life they think is
worthy of living.”
LSA senior Danielle Kim,
president of the University’s
LiNK,
explained
as
a
three-year
member
of
the
organization, she has worked
to
support
North
Korean
refugees and hopes to share
their humanizing stories with
the University of Michigan
community.
“I
honestly
think
this
event went above and beyond
whatever
expectations
I
had,” Kim said. “I am just so
overwhelmed and so thankful
for all the people who came
out to support, and also the
questions that were asked,
and thoughtfulness, and also
the stories … Hearing their
stories first-hand and live was
amazing to me.”
Ri and Kim’s stories showed
a tremendous impact on not
only Danielle Kim, but also
the
audience.
Throughout
the event, audience members
had
the
opportunity
to
ask
questions
and
share
comments, and one comment,
in particular, truly moved
Danielle Kim.
“I really do think that
after sharing their stories,
they were able to change a
lot of people’s opinions and
perspectives,” Kim said. “At
the end, someone made a
comment that said something
along the lines of ‘We have the
utmost respect for you, and
thank you so much,’ and I was
just so overwhelmed. I think
that’s what makes it worth it.”
NORTH KOREA
From Page 1
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