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WEATHER 
TOMORROW

Starting 2016 
off right with 
the stars at 
SnowGlobe

State NAACP 

stresses diversity’s 

importance in 

politcal landscape

By EMILY DAVIES

For the Daily

Two hours before the sixth 

Republican 
primary 
debate 

Wednesday, about 60 students 

gathered in Hatcher Graduate 
Library to explore the role of 
race in elections.

The panel came as part of the 

annual U-M Reverend Dr. Mar-
tin Luther King Jr. Symposium 
— a platform for students to cel-
ebrate Martin Luther King Jr., 
and through his legacy converse 
about the state of racial justice 
on campus and nationwide.

A panel of five, including Ann 

Arbor mayor Christopher Tay-
lor and Matthew Countryman, 

associate professor of history 
and American culture, led a con-
versation on increasing minor-
ity influence in the political 
arena. The panelists identified 
systematic aspects of America’s 
political system that disadvan-
tage people of color, including 
voter suppression tactics and 
current political rhetoric.

Panelist Wendy Cortes, a 

social work student, touched on 
low voting rates in response to 
a question surrounding a study 

that revealed 75 million mem-
bers of the American electorate 
did not vote in 2014.

“I think the reason that some 

of these peoples are not voting 
is because of voting suppression 
tactics that have historically 
silenced the minority commu-
nity,” Cortes said. “Too many 
candidates are out there speak-
ing to garner votes, to get their 
quotas, to get their numbers 
from minority communities or 

State Street 
location is 

currently under 

construction

By EMILY ROBERTS

Daily Staff Reporter

Amer’s, a Mediterranean 

deli located on State Street, is 
currently under construction, 
and though the store owner 
assures students the deli’s 
quality will stay the same, 
students might have to get 
cozy to enjoy it.

The deli’s downtown loca-

tion is undergoing construc-
tion which will cut the seating 
area in half. This, according 
to owner Amer Bathish is due 
to “outrageous” rises in rent. 
The restaurant will now only 
occupy half of its former space 
to save on rental costs.

“I have been in this area for 

28 years and the rent has gone 
up every year … from 4,000 

dollars a month to 18,000 dol-
lars a month,” Bathish said. 
“Imagine rent that is 600 dol-
lars a day; that’s why you see 
businesses coming and going 
all the time.”

Amer’s Mediterranean Deli 

is described as “the marriage 
of a coffee house and a qual-
ity delicatessen,” according to 
their website. It was founded 
near the University of Michi-
gan-Flint campus, but moved 
to the University of Michigan-
Ann Arbor campus in 1989.

LSA senior Leslie Schuman, 

who was studying in Amer’s 
Wednesday, said she didn’t 
feel impacted by the change.

“I used to sit in booths. It’s 

a bit more crowded here than 
it used to be but I don’t really 
mind it.”

Schuman said she usually 

just stops in to get food and as 
long the food stays good the 
renovation won’t affect her 
future visits to Amer’s.

“The people here are cool; 

it sucks that they’ve been here 

MATT VAILLIENCOURT/Daily

Social work student Maria Cortes discusses race and its impact on political elections at Hatcher Graduate Library on Thursday.

They drop the ball 
in Times Square, 
but in Tahoe they 

drop the bass

By ARIANA ASSAF

Daily Arts Writer

During the week leading up 

to winter break, a crazy thing 
happened: it was warmer in Ann 
Arbor than in my hometown 
of Los Angeles. Angelinos and 
Michiganders alike were awed by 
this odd pattern, eliciting reac-
tions that only something as mun-
dane yet influential as weather 
can. Students wore shorts and 
flip-flops to class while my mom 
pulled out her down jacket — it 
was madness. By the time I got 
back home, things had leveled 
out again. Ann Arbor’s weather 
returned to a standard December 
chill and LA’s weather started to 
feel like itself again. So why did I 
choose to sacrifice part of my sun-
filled winter break for three days 
braving the single digit tempera-
tures of Lake Tahoe?

Because music.
SnowGlobe Music Festival has 

been ringing in Tahoe’s new year 
since 2011 with consistent suc-
cess. Though electronic-heavy — 
think Dillon Francis, Shiba San, 
Alison Wonderland — the lineup 
also included hip hop artists like 
Lil Dicky and SuperDuperKyle; 

organizers 
even 
threw 
Chet 

Faker on the main stage, giving 
day two attendees the chance to 
snuggle their friends and sway to 
his down-tempo tunes. I think it’s 
safe to say both the snuggles and 
the variety were much appreciat-
ed by all. But of course, before day 
two came day one, and before day 
one came an eight-hour car ride 
I was so graciously included in 
thanks to some lovely folks I met 
when The Chainsmokers played 
The Shrine over Thanksgiv-
ing break. Seriously guys, make 
friends with your fellow ravers — 
they are very, very cool.

We arrived in South Lake 

Tahoe a few hours after the gates 
had opened. Apparently, every-
one else was on the same sched-
ule, because the box office line 
to pick up wristbands looked 
long enough to reach the top 
of the nearest ski slope. I even-
tually passed the last secu-
rity checkpoint just as Galantis 
announced the beginning of their 
set with an echoing “I wanna run 
awaaaaaay,” just in case everyone 
still waiting outside didn’t know 
what they were missing. It was 
almost as if SnowGlobe was say-
ing, “Hello Ariana, welcome to 
your best New Year’s ever.”

Stage lights danced along the 

façade of pine trees that created 
a natural boundary for the main 
area, the sight as iconic to this 
environment as Coachella’s ferris 

FESTIVAL REPORT

Dr. Alexander 

Alexis advocates 
for individualized 
dermatological care 

By CHETALI JAIN

Daily Staff Reporter

As part of the U-M Rev-

erend 
Dr. 
Martin 
Luther 

King 
Jr. 
Symposium, 
the 

Dermatology 
Department 

at the University of Michi-
gan Health System hosted 
Dr. Alexander Alexis, who 
discussed the importance of 

recognizing how dermatolog-
ical conditions affect various 
skin colors in different ways, 
Thursday.

Alexis, director of the Skin 

of Color Center at Mount 
Sinai Health Center, spoke to 
doctors and students about 
the United States’ diverse 
population and each patient’s 
unique dermatological needs. 
In his lecture, Alexis dis-
cussed the need to develop 
treatment 
for 
individual 

patients rather than general-
izing the techniques used to 
treat certain skin conditions.

The lecture enumerated 

the various terms that are 
used to differentiate between 
skin colors, including words 
often used like ethnic skin, 
skin of color, melano compe-
tent vs. melano compromised. 
However, Alexis said there 
isn’t one good term for differ-
entiations.

“We don’t have a good 

name because skin of color 
is a misnomer — all skin has 
color,” he said.

Dr. Charles Boyd, a facial 

plastic surgeon who attended 
the event, said because of the 
growing numbers of people 

Developers submit 

two competing 

proposals for city’s 

consideration

By MARLEE BREAKSTONE

Daily Staff Reporter

After 
several 
months 
of 

reviewing proposals and debat-
ing the topic, Ann Arbor city 
staff are urging City Council 
members to vote to begin nego-
tiations for one of two propos-
als over the development of the 
site above the Library Lane 
Parking Structure at their next 
meeting.

The lot in question is rough-

ly 0.8 acres and is located on 
Fifth Avenue in downtown 
Ann Arbor, above the Library 
Lane parking garage. The land, 
which formerly served as a 
parking lot for library visitors, 
currently houses both green-
scaping and 52 parking spaces.

This property has been an 

ongoing question for the city of 
Ann Arbor for several years. In 
2010, the idea of converting the 
empty lot to a hotel was debated 
but ultimately discarded.

Stephen Rapundalo, a former 

Ann Arbor city councilmember 
who served as the chairman of 
the committee pushing for hotel 
construction six years ago, said 
at the time the primary focus 
for their group would be build-
ing proposals that wouldn’t pull 
from city funds.

“We don’t want to see a city 

See PANEL, Page 3
See AMER’S, Page 3

See LIBRARY, Page 2
See SKIN, Page 3
See SNOWGLOBE, Page 6

ROBERT DUNNE/Daily

Engineering junior Dupeng Xu talks with University alum Eric Krawczyk of CampDoc at the MPowered Start Up 
Career Fair at the Duderstadt Center on Thursday. 

ON THE LOOKOUT FOR A CARE E R

Increase in 
rent forces 
Amer’s deli 
to downsize

Panelists highlight minority 
voice at #WhoWillBeNext

Event discusses how skin 
color impacts treatment

Council to 
debate plans 
for library 
lot project

BUSINESS

ANN ARBOR

CAMPUS LIFE

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