ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-FOUR YEARS OF EDITORIAL FREEDOM Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Ann Arbor, Michigan
LUCK OF THE IRISH
HOSPITAL
Pescovitz to step down from CEO role in June Coleman recommends Emory University prof. to fill top health system position By IAN DILLINGHAM Daily News Editor
Ora Pescovitz, CEO of the University of Michigan Health System and executive vice president for medical affairs, announced in a blog post Monday morning that she will step down from her position after her five-year term ends on June 1. Pescovitz, the first woman to serve as the head of the health system, has worked in her current position since her 2009 appointment. “I want to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Pescovitz for her commitment to Michigan and for ensuring that the Health System remains sound and strong, which is an enormous accomplishment given our complex environment and the changing national health care landscape,” Coleman wrote in an e-mail to faculty and staff on Monday. As EVPMA, Pescovitz oversaw the University’s medical operations — three main hospitals, 40 outpatient locations and more than 120 clinics around the state — as well as the Medical School, School of Nursing and various research initiatives through various departments and institutes.
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Under Pescovitz’s tenure, UMHS has implemented major renovation projects, most notably the construction of the $754 million C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital, completed in 2011. She also oversaw the transfer of several research departments from the medical campus to the North Campus Research Complex after the University purchased the former Pfizer property in 2009 at a cost of $108 million. In a communication to the University’s Board of Regents, University President Mary Sue Coleman recommended Michael Johns, professor of otolaryngology and health policy at Emory University, to serve as interim EVPMA effective June 2. A Detroit native, Johns graduated from the University’s medical school in 1969 after obtaining a bachelor’s and graduate degree in biology from Wayne State University. “I look forward to the leadership, depth of experience, and vision that Dr. Johns will bring to the University,” Coleman wrote. “I appreciate his willingness to serve his alma mater and his home state in this important way.” Johns formerly served as dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and vice president of Medical Faculty from 1990 to 1996. He later became the executive vice president for health affairs at Emory before serving as chancellor from See PESCOVITZ, Page 3
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LEFT and LOWER: Dancers from the O’Hare School of Dance perform traditional Irish dances at Conor O’Neills Monday. CENTER: Green beer at Ashley’s Pub on State Street. TOP RIGHT: The Diggers perform at Conor O’Neill’s for St. Patricks Day.
ADMINISTRATION
Board to approve projects Regents to consider host of renovation plans at Thursday meeting By CLAIRE BRYAN and YARDAIN AMRON Daily Staff Reporters
The University’s Board of Regents will convene Thursday afternoon in the Michigan Union’s Anderson Room to consider multiple construction projects, as well as the elimination of an academic program within the School of Kinesiology. Initiatives slated for the Art and Architecture Building, the
Ross School of Business and the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital, among others, are expected to receive approval. Regents to approve Art and Architecture Building Renovations The regents will vote to approve renovations of the Art and Architecture Building on North Campus, which houses the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the School of Art & Design. If approved, the renovations will consist of an addition to the original building, which was constructed in 1974, as well as minor renovations to the exist-
ing building. The project will add new classrooms, studio spaces and faculty offices. The project is estimated to cost $28 million, $12.5 million of which will come from a gift from real estate mogul A. Alfred Taubman, who donated $30 million in 1998 to the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, which now bears his name. In a separate agenda item, the regents will also vote to name the addition the A. Alfred Taubman Wing in his honor. Taubman has also funded the A. Alfred Taubman Health Sciences Library and the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute as well as support for an expansion of the University
of Michigan Museum of Art. Pending approval by the regents, the University will appoint architecture firm Integrated Design Solutions and the Preston Scott Cohen firm as project designers. Mobility Transformation Facility moves ahead Initial schematic designs and bids for construction contracts of a Mobility Transformation Facility will also receive approval. The research facility — which received approval in the fall — will simulate automated and connected driving in everyday conditions. For $6.5 million, the facility See BOARD, Page 3
ANN ARBOR
SENATE ASSEMBLY
City Council vote to lead to creation of new park
Proceedings for faculty removal raise questions
Councilmembers in favor of resolution say park will provide safe public space
Governance body also picks four new members of SACUA By ANDREW ALMANI
By EMMA KERR
ADAM GLANZMAN/Daily
Daily Staff Reporter
Ann Arbor City Council members passed a resolution Monday night granting official council dedication to the establishment of an urban park near the Ann Arbor District Library. However, councilmembers and community members debated many concerns with the resolution, including a lack of organization and financial planning, safety and patrol questions and inconclusiveness as to whether the property would be publicly or privately owned and developed. Josie Parker, the Ann Arbor District Library Director who represented its board, opposed the creation of a park near the library due to safety concerns as well as issues surrounding the financial and organizational aspects of the potential park. According to Parker, Ann Arbor See COUNCIL, Page 3
WEATHER TOMORROW
HI: 41 LO: 23
Jonathan Cohn, senior editor at The New Republic, and Avik Roy, opinion editor at Forbes, debate the U.S. Health System and potential reform at the Ford School of Public Policy Monday.
Journalists debate issues surrounding Obamacare Ford School talk examines how to reform healthcare in the U.S. By CHARLOTTE JENKINS Daily Staff Reporter
Journalist Jonathan Cohn and Avik Roy, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, engaged in a debate on the recent roll out of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act and its impacts on health care cost and quality at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy Tuesday. Both Roy and Cohn focused on the theme of compromise in the healthcare system in the event, “Obamacare and Beyond: How to Reform the U.S. Health System.” “The truth of all public policy — liberal, conservative — is that there are tradeoffs,” Cohn said. Roy worked as a health care policy adviser to presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012. He is also currently the opinion
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editor at Forbes Magazine. As the voice of the other side of the debate, Cohn works as a senior editor at the New Republic and the author of “Sick: The Untold Story of America’s Health Care Crisis.” The debate was often framed as a balance between health care services and high healthcare costs. Roy said he believes health insurance is too expensive. Referring to the ACA’s mandate that every person in the United States have health insurance, See HEALTHCARE, Page 3
NEW ON MICHIGANDAILY.COM Social Disorder: Accepting evolution MICHIGANDAILY.COM/BLOGS
INDEX
Daily Staff Reporter
On Monday, the University’s Senate Assembly met at Palmer Commons to select new members for its executive body, the Senate Advisory Committee for University Affairs. Although the necessary quorum to initiate a Senate Assembly meeting was not reached, the new SACUA members were elected and members held a discussion about adjustments to University policy regarding the removal of faculty. The newly-elected SACUA members include John Lehman, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Prof. David Smith, William Schultz, professor of mechanical engineering, naval architecture and marine engineering and Silke-Maria Weineck, chair of the Department of Comparative Literature and associate professor of German Studies.
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The election process began with candidates delivering brief remarks about why they are interested in the position and which issues they find most important. Common themes included concern about future administrative decisions such as the Administrative Services Transformation, the lack of faculty input in the AST decision-making process, diversity and the importance of the humanities in the 21st century. The group later examined the proposed Fitness for Duty section of the Standard Practice Guide, concerning proper procedures in situations where faculty members need to be removed involuntarily. SACUA first received a draft of the SPG in January 2013 from Christina Whitman, vice provost for academic and faculty affairs. Upon review, SACUA found a few points of concern in the policy and spent time revising it during the summer, returning a new draft to the University in the fall. The most recent edition of the policy, which includes changes reflecting feedback from SACUA, was first presented in January 2014 and was discussed at the See SENATE ASSEMBLY, Page 3
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ARTS............................. 5 CL ASSIFIEDS.................6 SPORTS.........................6