In order to address the housing crisis in Ann Arbor, stakeholders are proposing innovative solutions to address the issues of affordability and the growing influx of students while maintaining the city’s unique character. Rent control — legislation that sets caps on rents — is one such option the city council is considering. Rent control policy has been implemented statewide in California and in a few communities in Maryland and New Jersey to maintain the existing affordable housing and limit disruptions caused by dramatic rent increases. Under Michigan law, “A local governmental unit shall not enact, maintain, or enforce an ordinance or resolution that would have the effect of controlling the amount of rent charged for leasing private residential property.” In an email interview, Jennifer Hall, executive director of the Ann Arbor Housing Commission, told The Daily rent control had previously been proposed in southeastern Michigan decades ago. “Rent control was proposed in Ann Arbor and Detroit in the 1980s and the state enacted legislation prohibiting it,” Hall wrote. michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Thursday, October 24, 2019 ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINE YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM About 100 people gathered in Weill Hall on Wednesday afternoon to hear Kathy Cramer, professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, tell stories from her research on the exclusion of rural voices in political discussions. The event, entitled “Listening to Strengthen Democracy,” was hosted by the Ford School of Public Policy as part of the school’s “Conversations Across Difference” lecture series. The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP), a research center at the Public Policy School, co-hosted the event because they are interested in redefining the ways society views urban and rural populations, according to Sarah Mills, senior project manager at CLOSUP. “We’ve been really looking at what’s conceptualized as an urban-rural divide, but we like to think of it as an urban- rural continuum,” Mills said. CLOSUP and the Public Policy School invited Cramer to this lecture series because of her work in rural communities with the Local Voices Network, a digital network used to share community conversations. “Given her work trying to understand the rural side of the equation, we thought that sharing that with the U-M community would be helpful to understand what you can learn by listening to people in rural communities,” Mills said. Cramer’s research involved working with experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Cortico, a nonprofit focused on holding healthy political discussions in communities, to create the Local Voices Network. “We are basically aiming for a way in which we can listen to one another and understand the perspectives of people who are unlike us or don’t live near (us) or who we haven’t had (an) interaction with,” Cramer said. A petition demanding the University of Michigan release the papers of the late Dr. John Tanton, father of the anti-immigration movement, was presented to Tim Lynch, University vice president and general counsel, on Wednesday afternoon. The petition, titled “Tell the University of Michigan: Stop Hiding White Nationalist’s Papers From The Public,” has more than 3,800 signatures. The petition was created by Law student Kerry Martin in an effort to raise awareness about Tanton’s ties to white nationalism, eugenics and anti-immigrant movements. Martin originally requested to meet with University President Mark Schlissel regarding the petition, but was scheduled to meet with Lynch instead. Martin rehashed the events of the hour-long private meeting to The Daily, which included presenting the petition to Lynch and arguing why Tanton’s papers should be released immediately to the public. GOT A NEWS TIP? Call 734-418-4115 or e-mail news@michigandaily.com and let us know. INDEX Vol. CXXIX, No. 137 ©2019 The Michigan Daily N E WS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 CL A SSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 S U D O K U . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 S P O R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 michigandaily.com For more stories and coverage, visit Anti-abortion group incites response, draws demonstrators Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property takes Diag stand The Tricontinental Solidarity Network held an open roundtable discussion on Wednesday evening at Hatcher to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crises in Kashmir and Hong Kong, where the lack of democratic freedom in each region has lead to protests against the Indian and Chinese governments, respectively. Around 30 University of Michigan students and community members attended the event led by five panelists, three of whom concealed their identities with face masks. The event began with the panelists providing background and summary of the current situation in each region and then transitioned into a discussion about imperialism, the importance of grassroots movements and solidarity with oppressed people. Panelists drew connections between the surveillance tactics and mechanisms of control used by both the Chinese and Indian governments in Hong Kong and Kashmir, respectively, and how those practices mimicked patterns reproduced around the world where indigenous voices are overlooked. Event talks crises in Kashmir, Hong Kong GLOBAL POLITICS VARSHA VEDAPUDI For The Daily U-W Madison professor discusses urban-rural divide, role of dialogue The Ford School, CLOSUP host Kathy Cramer as part of lecture series U-M vice president receives petition ADMINISTRATION Follow The Daily on Instagram, @michigandaily More than a dozen male representatives from the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property took to the Diag on Wednesday to oppose abortion rights, inciting responses from several bystanders. Members of TFP distributed anti- abortion material to passersby. The pamphlets listed “10 Reasons to Protect the Unborn,” claiming that “Abortion Offends God,” and calling the practice “Our Deadliest War.” John Ritchie, TFP’s student action director and one of the speakers at the Diag protest, told The Daily the organization stands up for conservative values by protesting abortion on college campuses around the country. “Today we are here promoting the right to life – every human being has a right to life, whether they are born or not,” Ritchie said. “... We are just visiting the state of Michigan going from campus to campus promoting and defending the right to life.” According to Ritchie, the organization has about 200,000 members across the nation. In response to the anti- abortion demonstrators, multiple students gathered in the Diag to protest the anti-abortion stance. LSA senior Tiahna Pantovich held a sign that read, “Get out of my womb.” She said she was determined to make an impression on TFP representatives. “I’m going to keep screaming until you get annoyed with (my) voice,” Pantovich yelled at the TFP representatives. “Eventually, you’re going to get annoyed, and you’re going to say, ‘I can’t stand listening to this woman,’ and then you’re going to dip out.” Faculty, students reflect on what rent control means for city of A2 Stakeholders propose innovative ideas to address housing affordability See PETITION, Page 3 MADELINE MCLAUGHIN Daily Staff Reporter JULIA FANZERES & KATHERINA SOURINE Daily Staff Reporters JULIA JOHNSTON Daily Staff Reporter DESIGN BY CHRISTINE JEGARL See ABORTION, Page 3 Roundtable discussion highlights the lack of democratic freedoms, humanitarian concerns See RENT, Page 3 MICHAEL BAGAZINSKI/Daily Kathy Cramer, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor, lectures on how the ability to understand opposing ideologies influences political opinion as well as the necessity of crucial conversations when discussing politics at Weill Hall Wednesday evening. Law students demand increased transparency of anti-immgration papers, movements DANIELLE PASEKOFF Daily Staff Reporter See URBAN , Page 3 See KASHMIR, Page 3A