The
Washtenaw
Housing
Alliance and Shelter Association
of Washtenaw County hosted
the
second-ever
Voices
of
Homelessness
event
Friday
evening in Ypsilanti, inviting
community
members
to
share their experiences with
homelessness through art and
storytelling.
A
Washtenaw
Housing
Alliance 2018 report found 256
people in the county live in
shelters or transitional housing,
while 28 people are completely
unsheltered.
The
speak-out,
which marked the beginning
of National Homelessness and
Hunger Awareness Week, was
intended to spread awareness
about homelessness and connect
displaced people to resources.
Representatives from several
housing
and
public
health
organizations, including Ozone
House and Michigan Movement,
attended
Friday
evening,
distributing information about
their efforts to support the
local homeless population to a
crowd of around 60. According
to Eastern Michigan University
student Olivia Harris, who works
for the Shelter Association, the
audience was composed of locals
interested in the event as well as
people currently experiencing
homelessness.
“A lot of the agency members,
we tried to put them out of the
shelters, so there’s a homeless

population here as well to get
directed to resources, and there’s
just a bunch of people from the
community,” Harris said.
Following
about
half
an
hour
of
unstructured
time
during which attendees were
encouraged to browse the art
collection,
Amanda
Carlisle,
executive
director
of
the
Washtenaw Housing Alliance,
kicked
off
the
evening
by
commending the work of the
organizations contributing to
Voices of Homelessness.

After Carlisle’s introduction,
12 speakers, who were only
identified by their first names,
told their own stories about
homelessness, explaining their
backgrounds and sharing lessons
and knowledge drawn from their
experiences. Many of the stories
included
themes
of
mental
illness and self-discovery. Other
common
sentiments
among
the speakers were frustration
with the systemic issues that
contribute to homelessness and
a desire to combat the stigma

surrounding homelessness.
The first speaker, Robin,
explained how she moved to
Michigan as a 12 year old after
losing her family’s farm in
Alabama. Though Robin’s aunt
in Michigan promised them
housing, they were forced to live
in an unheated, bed bug-ridden
van in the aunt’s backyard.

Members of the University of
Michigan chapter of J Street, an
American advocacy group that
promotes the efforts of “pro-
Israel, pro-peace Americans,” have
published a petition to incorporate
Palestinian
perspectives
into
Birthright trips with University of
Michigan Hillel.
Hillel is a global Jewish campus
organization. As part of its mission
to advocate for Jewish students, it
runs Birthright trips during which
young Jews can travel to Israel on a
sponsored trip and learn about the
state’s history and culture.
Jewish students made headlines
this summer by walking off of
birthright tour buses due to
agendas and framing on the trip
they saw as one-sided.
LSA junior Meghann Norden-
Bright, the co-president of the
University’s chapter of J Street,
along with other leaders of the
organization, gathered signatures
after they heard feedback from
Jewish
community
members.

michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Monday, November 12, 2018

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM

Legalization
of marijuana
puts ‘U’ regs.
in question

University hosts second annual
Students Organize for Syria talks

HANNAH SIEGEL/Daily
Students from the University of Texas and the University of North Carolina speak about their experiences volunteering with Syrian refugees in Greece at the second
annual Students Organize for Syria nation conference Friday.

CRIME

Federal funds require campus to remain
weed-free even after passage of Prop 1

Conference attendees ask where to go after eight years of ongoing war abroad

Over the course of the second
annual
national
Students
Organize for Syria conference,
from Friday through Sunday

at the University of Michigan,
students and faculty from all over
the country had the opportunity
to listen to speakers, engage in
discussions surrounding Syria
and grapple with the primary
question of the event: “Where do
we go from here?”
In the course of the eight-
year-long civil war — which most

watchdog organizations estimate
has
claimed
about
500,000
lives — Syrian students have
struggled with news of chemical
attacks by the Assad regime,
political inaction by the U.S. and
other international actors and
the resulting refugee crisis.
With
the
last
national
conference hosted in Chicago,

SOS National President Amal
Rass, a senior at Wayne State
University, was excited to have
the 2018 conference at the
University of Michigan.
“I’m just so happy to have this
at U of M, for the conference to
be hosted here,” Rass said. “I
think it’s the perfect place to

Last Tuesday, Michigan voters
approved the passage of Proposal
1, which will soon legalize the
recreational use of marijuana in
the state. Michigan became the
first Midwestern state and the
10th in the country to legalize
cannabis, as the proposal won by a
margin of 56 to 44 percent.
The proposal allows for adults
aged 21 and older to purchase,
possess and use marijuana; eat
marijuana-infused edibles; and
grow up to 12 marijuana plants
in their homes for personal
consumption. There will be a
10-ounce limit for marijuana
kept at residencies and any

amount over 2.5 ounces must
be kept in a locked container.
While marijuana will most likely
not be immediately available in
commerical markets until early
2020, a state licensing system will
be created for local governments
to monitor marijuana businesses,
including growers, processors,
transporters and retailers. State-
licensed retailers will be able to
sell marijuana and other products.
The proposal will not go into
effect until the vote count is
certified by the state Board of
Canvassers, which is projected
to occur in the first weeks of
December.

CAMPUS LIFE

Petition seeks to add in
Palestinian views to pro-
Israel birthright agenda

RILEY LANGEFELD
Daily Staff Reporter

CAMERON HUNT/Daily
Robert Lee Mitchell shares his story at the Voices of Homelessness event in Ypsilanti Friday.

Local community members question
gaps in resources for homeless people

Presenters at Ypsilanti speak out use art, storytelling to share experiences with inequity

ALICE TRACEY
Daily Staff Reporter

SportsMonday

The Michigan football
team dominated Rutgers on
Saturday with a 35-point
win in Piscataway.

» Page 1B

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Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail
news@michigandaily.com and let us know.

INDEX
Vol. CXXVIII, No. 29
©2018 The Michigan Daily

N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CL A S S I F I E DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 B
michigandaily.com

For more stories and coverage, visit

Read more at
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at
MichiganDaily.com
On Nov 3, owners Keith
Orr
and
Martin
Contreras
announced Common Language
Bookstore, one of about 10
LGBTQ-oriented
bookstores
remaining in the U.S. and
Canada, will close at the end
of the year. Orr and Contreras
have been together for 32 years
and have owned the Kerrytown
bookstore
since
2003.
Community members lamented
the loss of a gathering space.
Since its establishment in
1991, Common Language has
been a vital part of Ann Arbor’s
LGBTQ community. When Kate
Burkhardt and Lynden Kelly,
Common Language’s former
owners, decided to retire, Orr
and Contreras were compelled
to keep the bookstore alive.
“It’s an important part of gay
culture,” Orr said. “Bookstores
are where people a lot of times
have their first time in a safe
space to figure out who they
are.”

Common
Language
to close by
end of year

CITY

LGBTQIA-centered
bookstore is one of ten
remaining across country

JULIA FORD
Daily Staff Reporter

Read more at
MichiganDaily.com

Read more at
MichiganDaily.com

Follow The Daily
on Instagram,
@michigandaily

ATTICUS RAASCH &
PARNIA MAZHAR
Daily Staff Reporter &
For the Daily

RAFI KUBERSKY
Daily Staff Reporter

J Street org.
pushes for
changes to
Hillel trips

See SYRIA, Page 2A