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CAMPUS LIFE
RUBY WALLAU/Daily
LEFT: Ann Arbor residents Keith Orr and Martin Contreras toast during a celebration for their anniversary and the anniversaries of 300 same-sex couples who
married one-year ago before the ban was upheld. The gathering took place at the couple’s bar, Aut Bar, on Tuesday. TOP RIGHT: Some of the same-sex couples
who married last year raise their hands. BOTTOM LEFT: Ann Arbor residents Alexi and Jennifer Chapin-Smith toast during the celebration.
MUSIC Matters
to host Oscar,
Grammy-winning
hip-hop artist
By MICHAEL SUGERMAN
Daily News Editor
One could say that this year’s
MUSIC Matters headlining act
has a certain amount of “glory.”
He’s known for his philanthropy
and his meaningful lyrics. He’s
“faithful,” he’s “funky for you”
— and at the end of the day, sign-
ing him just seems like common
sense.
Common will take the Hill
Auditorium stage April 17 to
close SpringFest. He follows in
the footsteps of 2 Chainz in 2014,
Ben Folds in 2013 and J. Cole in
2012.
Though Common has been a
mainstay in the hip-hop com-
munity for years, he has recently
received acclaim for his collabo-
ration with John Legend on
“Glory,” a song from the film
“Selma” that won both a Golden
Globe and an Academy Award
this year. He also won a Gram-
my in 2003 for Best R&B Song,
“Love of My Life (An Ode to
Hip-Hop).”
Business senior Darren Appel,
MUSIC Matters president, said
the organization signed Com-
mon to close SpringFest because
his
background
aligns
with
MUSIC Matters’ philanthropic
goals.
In addition to funding an
endowed “Big Thinkers” schol-
arship that is set to support
its first recipient in Fall 2016,
MUSIC Matters is in the process
of funding and designing a sum-
mer leadership camp through
the University for underrepre-
sented youth from the Metro
Detroit area that will launch in
summer 2016.
Student tickets for the event
will cost $15 for balcony seats,
$30 for mezzanine, $40 for
main floor and $70 for front row.
Non-student tickets will cost
Former fraternity
brothers charged
with destruction
of property, MIPs
By ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter
Several members of the Sigma
Alpha Mu fraternity will face
criminal charges for vandalizing a
Gaylord, Mich. ski resort in Janu-
ary, the Otsego County prosecutor
said Friday.
In a press release, Otsego
County Prosecutor Michael Rola
said several members of the fra-
ternity will be charged, including
the SAM president, treasurer and
another member.
The president and treasurer
have been charged for minors in
possession of alcohol and drugs
and the other member will face
a felony charge of Malicious
Destruction of Building over
$1,000, but under $20,000.
The fraternity has already said
it will pay the restitutions in full.
The prosecutor said charges
will likely be brought against
additional members, as more iden-
tification information becomes
available. The release said the
Treetops Resort does not have
security cameras in their common
areas at the time of the ski trip.
“Due to the significant number
of students attending at the time
of the event in question deter-
mining the identities and spe-
cific actions of other individuals
believed to be involved has been
hampered, however additional
steps are currently being taken to
hold them accountable, and also
to see to it that persons who were
not involved in any of the alleged
criminal activity are not falsely
accused,” the release stated.
According to the Michigan
State Police post in Gaylord, the
state police has closed its investi-
gation, which had been in process
over the last few months.
In
January,
the
fraternity
caused an estimated $250,000
worth of property damage to the
Treetops Resort. Resort officials
also reported $200,000 in dam-
age to the resort’s brand, lost
revenue and legal fees.
‘U’ organizers
narrow project
proposals to 70
before final round
By BRANDON
SUMMERS-MILLER
For the Daily
Three months after receiving
almost 500 startup pitches from
high school students, Startup
High School has narrowed its pool
to 70 semifinalists, all of whom
gathered for an “Entrepreneur-
ship Field Day” in Ann Arbor on
Saturday.
Innovatrium, a local consulting
firm, hosted the event in its down-
town Ann Arbor office.
Startup High School, now in
its third year, is run under the
umbrella of MPowered, one of the
University’s
flagship
entrepre-
neurship-focused student organi-
zations. Startup High School will
help winning applicants prepare
to launch their own project pitch-
es.
Business
sophomore
Ovijit
Annual conference
draws 1,200
participants for
lineup of 14 speakers
By EMMA KINERY
Daily Staff Reporter
“Constructive Interference”
was the theme at play during the
sixth annual TEDxUofM event
Friday at the Power Center. The
event drew 1,200 people and
featured 14 keynote speakers,
all whom are affiliated with the
University.
Constructive
interference,
in physical application, refers
to waves meeting when travel-
ing along the same medium in
opposite directions. The TEDx
conference transformed this
concept to discuss how the con-
fluence of conflicting ideas can
shape each of the originals for
the better.
Broken into four sessions of
three to four speakers each, the
day-long event included perfor-
mances by students and local
acts and lunch provided by local
venues. Those who purchased
tickets beforehand were able to
attend a dinner after the event
supplied by Zingerman’s, which
allowed the audience to meet
the speakers.
Throughout the day, organiz-
ers promoted communicating
with its participants through
social
media.
People
were
encouraged to send any ques-
tions they had for the speakers
via Twitter with the hashtag
One year ago, 300
married in Mich.
before judge granted
emergency stay
By ALLANA AKHTAR
Daily Staff Reporter
Outside a small Ann Arbor
pub Sunday evening, dozens of
couple drank champagne, chat-
ted excitedly and blew bubbles in
celebration of their wedding anni-
versaries. However, in the minds
of many, Sunday was no ordinary
anniversary celebration.
Same-sex couples from the
Washtenaw County area gathered
at Aut Bar on Sunday to commem-
orate the anniversary of their first
year of marriage — unions granted
during a one-day period last year
when same-sex marriage was
legal in Michigan.
On March 22, 2014 — the day
after U.S. District Judge Ber-
nard Friedman struck down the
state’s same-sex marriage ban —
Washtenaw County recognized
74 same-sex marriages. The state
issued 300 marriage licenses and
married more than 100 couples
directly within a five-hour period.
However, Michigan Attorney
General Bill Schuette (R) request-
ed an emergency stay on the deci-
sion, which the Court of Appeals
granted the day after Friedman’s
ruling. Once the emergency stay
went into effect, same-sex mar-
riage was no longer permitted.
Even so, the district court
decided to recognize the 300 mar-
riages preformed prior to the stay.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Sixth Circuit upheld the Mich-
igan’s same-sex marriage ban last
November. The case is now before
the U.S. Supreme Court, which
will hear oral arguments on April
28.
Keith Orr, co-owner of Aut Bar,
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
GREEK LIFE
See STARTUP, Page 3A
See TEDX, Page 3A
See CHARGES, Page 3A
See COMMON, Page 2A
See ANNIVERSARY, Page 3A
GRANT HARDY/Daily
Workers demolish North Hall, the building that housed ROTC departments, to make way for the new Biological Sciences
building on Friday.
NORTH HALL FALL
Common
to perform
at Hill Aud.
this April
Same-sex couples celebrate
first wedding anniversaries
Startup High
School hosts
field day for
semi-finalists
Sigma Alpha Mu
executives face
criminal charges
Sixth TEDxUM explores
‘constructive interference’
INDEX
Vol. CXXIV, No. 86
©2015 The Michigan Daily
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