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

