The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Monday, February 13, 2012 - 5A
The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Monday, February 13, 2012 - 5A
FULLER ROAD
From Page 1A
and we need to give them
a place to park at a reason-
able proximity of their place of
work," Kosteva said. "The phone
is literally ringing off the hook
with concern."
One issue the University
faces is the possibility of losing
employees who choose to move
to another hospital with easier
parking arrangements, Kosteva
added.
"These are individuals that
now have to come to work 45
minutes or an hour and a half
or so early because they have
to park and take a shuttle ride
to their place of work," Kosteva
said. "This is another 45 minutes
or an hour of time added up that
they cannot spend with their
families."
He added: "We are still com-
mitted to the vision, we still see
the value to us and to our sus-
tainable transportation objec-
tives. But, we also have some
dramatic and immediate needs
with parking for the medical
center."
City Council member Chris
Taylor (D-Ward 3) said that
though the Fuller Road station
plans have changed, the initia-
tive will still continue.
"It has slowed and it has
become slightly complicated, but
it will move forward, move for-
ward as soon as possible," Taylor
said.
Taylor said that the city has
shifted its focus to a commuter
HEARING
From Page 1A
judge will refuse our wit-
nesses," Raiman said. "We think
they'll likely make it to the stand."
GEO's response, once filed, will
likely address the issue of wheth-
er or not SAGU and the attor-
ney general's witnesses should
be allowed to testify based on
the standards set up by Stern
before the hearing. According to
Rodrigues, witnesses must bring
new facts to the table, not just
new opinions, and GEO plans to
challenge the idea that the new
witnesses will actually present
new, accurate information.
"If the administrative law
judge admits their testimony, it's
because she thinks it's impor-
tant, so I'll leave the fairness of it
up to her," Rodrigues said.
Witnesses being called by
Schuette include Engineer-
ing Dean David Munson; LSA
Dean Terrence McDonald; Kate
Barald, chair of the Senate Advi-
sory Committee on University
Affairs, and Stephen Forrest, the
rail station.
"There is no way to tell right
now how long it will take (for
federal funding to come in),"
Taylor said. "We have $2.8 mil-
lion right now from the (Fed-
eral Railroad Administration)
to conduct an environmental
assessment and the creation
of the drawing which will be a
multi-modal station."
Taylor explained that when
the project is redesigned, the
number of parking spaces will
be reduced.
"The design will be very dif-
ferent because now the design
has included over a thousand
parking spaces, most for the
University," Taylor said. "The
new design will not include that
level of parking."
Taylor added that he esti-
mated that the cost for the sta-
tion would be about $40 million,
with the city paying 20 percent.
"We will reach out to city
partners who will benefit from
the construction of the station,"
Taylor said. "These include
the University, the Michigan
Department of Transportation
and the AATA."
Taylor continued: "It is a hub
of transportation and the Fuller
Road station is an ideal area to
satisfy that need. It would be
a tremendous benefit to Ann
Arbor."
The station was part of a $2.8
million project that would've
included collaboration from the
University, Ann Arbor Trans-
portation Authority, Michigan
Department of Transportation,
AMTRAK and the Federal Rail-
road Administration. The initia-
tive was first proposed in 2008
when the University recognized
there would be a need for addi-
tional parking with the contin-
ued expansion and opening of
the new C.S. Mott Children's
and Von Voigtlander Women's
Hospital, according to Jim
Kosteva, the University's direc-
tor of community relations.
Originally, the University col-
laborated with the city of Ann
Arbor to design a facility that
would involve an additional
parking structure on Wall Street
near the University's Kellogg
Eye Center. However, after some
resistance from the neighboring
Riverside Park Place condomini-
um complex during public meet-
ings, the University decided to
reconsider the location.
The group in charge of the task
formed an intermodal project
that would incorporate parking
for UMHS and serve as a depot
for commuter rail, Kosteva said.
The group chose Fuller Road as
the new project location.
The multi-transport station
would have had a covered first
floor with a bus stop, close to
900 parking spaces and a plat-
form for trains, Kosteva said.
"There are 20,000 people
that work within a quarter-mile
radius," Kosteva said. "There
probably isn't a location along
any other major rail line that
will have a concentration of that
many employees. This way you
can serve hundreds or thou-
sands of people who might oth-
erwise drive their individual
cars into the Medical Center."
A SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS
IN THE UNIVERSITY'S INTERNAL REPORT
Create University-wide guidlines and protocols for reporting security incidents
The Office of the General Counsel, Health System Risk Management, Hospitals and Health Centers Security,
Housing Security, the Department of Public Safety and more will work together to establish clear guidelines.
Ensure individuals understand their legal duty to report
A memo, set to be issued by Feb. 20, to deans, deparment heads and directors will be meant to remind
University community members ofttheir obligation to report any unlawful activity to the proper authorities.
Improve communication between DPS, Hospital security and Housing Security
Hospital and Housing security should be aware of any crimes that occur in their jurisdictions and should clearly
identify themselves as security and not police. DPS and Hospital security also must formalize 911 procedures.
Consider new practices
Compare practices at the University with those at other institutions, potentially create a DPS liason to UMHS
and develop teams that can respond to any type of scenario.
University's vice president for
research, among others.
"That's a surprise to me,"
Raiman said of the attorney gen-
eral's witness list. "A pleasant
surprise, though."
Raiman added that he believes
the testimony of those like Barald
and Forrest will ultimately sup-
port Schuette and SAGU's case.
"They're called by the attor-
ney general, so the attorney gen-
eral definitely thinks that they
have something to say, which
strengthens our case," Raiman
said.
He added that he believes the
positions of some administrators
will definitely add credibility to
the case against unionization.
"I feel that the deans of the
colleges will have a lot of rel-
evant information to say about
the role of GSRAs in the Uni-
versity," Raiman said. "I think
that Dr. Forrest knows about the
research operation at this Uni-
versity, maybe better than any-
one, so I believe his testimony
will be very valuable in proving
that GSRAs are employees and
not students."
Rodrigues said she does not
think the fact that some of the
University's top administra-
tors are being called to testify
by Schuette, who is opposed to
unionization, should influence
the outcome of the hearing or
the decision of the Michigan
Employment Relations' Com-
mission. MERC has the final say
in whether or not GSRAs will
be granted the right to vote to
unionize, she added.
"Everyone, ultimately, is enti-
tled to their view on this issue,"
Rodrigues said. "But ultimate-
ly it's not administrators who
should be able to make this deci-
sion; it's the rights of the people
who are doing the work - the
GSRAs."
The witnesses, if granted the
right to testify, will be called
before the administrative judge
between Feb. 20 and Feb. 24.
While the testimony will not
function like the rest of the
hearing - there will be no cross
examinations, for example - the
judge will ask questions and the
parties will be allowed to submit
evidence.
From Page 1A
allegations in May," Coleman
wrote. "It took an act of courage
to come forward again, and it is
because of her that the case is
now moving forward in the legal
system."
The report cites the Health
System Legal Office as a major
contributor to the delay, noting
that it "should be available for
legal advice but should not take
ownership of an investigation."
According to the report, the legal
office was aware of the case as
early as May 25, just days after it
was reported to Hospital Secu-
rity, though it wasn't reported to
police until December.
In her letter, Coleman also
criticized the lead attorney on the
case for "acting improperly when
the incident was reported to her."
"A University attorney must
not assume the lead role in inves-
tigating a potential crime of this
nature," Coleman wrote.
The attorney told the resident
her claims were "unfounded,"
according to the report. The
report also suggests that the
attorney delayed other UMHS
departments, like hospital secu-
rity, in their investigation efforts
because of inappropriate control
of the case.
"We conclude that the asser-
tion of improper control of the
investigation by the attorney and
reliance on her conclusions by
others were the root cause for
the delay and improper handling
of the initial report," the report
states.
Echoing Coleman's statement,
the audit criticizes the Health
System Legal Office for relying
on the single opinion of the lead
attorney, and further notes that
the office of Clinical Affairs or
the Health System Risk Man-
agement Office should have
been notified in order to protect
patients or employees involved,
"even in the absence of a criminal
investigation."
Coleman also wrote that
though the Jenson case has been
challenging, it will allow officials
to strengthen future procedures.
"I believe this experience,
painful as it has been, will enable
all of us to properly address the
seriousness of these issues with
any and all future renorts and
investigations," Coleman wrote.
"As a community, we must and
will be constantly vigilant."
According to the report, the
University will review its current
procedures regarding "police
and security reporting lines and
organizational structures" and
ensure they are up to par with
other universities.
DPS and hospital security
leaders will provide an "action
plan" regarding the recommen-
dations within 90 days, and a
benchmarking report will be
completed in six months.
The report also notes that
starting in June, University
Audits will conduct quarterly
follow-up reviews of the incident
"until all noted risks are appro-
priately mitigated."
In an e-mail to the UMHS
community on Friday, Ora Pesco-
vitz, the University's executive
vice president for medical affairs,
wrote that the health system is
cooperating with a review by
the Joint Commission, a national
healthcare accrediting organiza-
tion, of UMHS' reporting system
and infrastructure.
"We are working diligently,
along with campus leadership,
to correct the shortcomings
brought to light by this serious
lapse," Pescovitz wrote. "It is
important to remember that it
is both our individual and col-
lective responsibility to make
certain that the University of
Michigan Health System pro-
motes an environment of safety."
Pescovitz wrote that it is
important that UMHS determine
exactly what went wrong in this
instance in order to improve inci-
dent reportinglines inthe future.
"As an institution, we failed
to make sure that this resident's
concerns were investigated in a
thorough and timely manner,"
Pescovitz wrote. "We are com-
mitted to turning this failure into
a lesson, and turning that les-
son into actions that ensure that
when someone does the right
thing and reports a suspicion, we
have asafeguarded system and
appropriately trained personnel
in place to make sure the matter
is handled in a judicious and cor-
rect manner."
Pescovitz concluded here-mail
by ensuring UMHS faculty and
emolovees that administrators
are dedicated to improvement.
"Sometimes we fall short.
Sometimes we make mistakes,"
Pescovitz wrote. "Our commit-
ment to doing better has never
been stronger."
DeAndree Watson, president
of Central Student Government,
said increased transparency
between students and DPS is
necessary for the general safety
of students, adding that this
incident was not indicative of a
healthy correspondence.
"Transparency is essential in
that relationship," Watson said.
"I think (this incident) shows a
lack of transparency."
Watson added that this issue
could be representative of other
missteps of DPS, including shar-
ing important information with
students and the campus com-
munity.
"I think it definitely provides
room for concern about what
other things exist that we aren't
aware of," he said. "There have
been issues in the past about this
same type of situation where DPS
isn't as quick as students want
them to be in terms of releasing
information."
Watson added that the issue
won't hurt the deep-rooted con-
nection between students and
DPS.
"I think DPS has established
a positive relationship on cam-
pus," Watson said. "I don't think
this one incident is going to have
a serious or significant negative
impact on the student body."
Jenson is currently out of jail
on a personal recognizance bond
of $10,000, according to court
documents. Conditions of his
bond demand that he surrender
his passport, cease contact with
children, and not use the Inter-
net "for any reason."
The bond also requires that he
wear a GPS tether and not leave
the state unless travel is approved
by the court. According to court
documents, Jenson was granted
permission to travel to Utah on
Dec. 28and return on Jan. 16.
Jenson's preliminary exam,
a hearing in which prosecutors
must provide evidence that sug-
gests probable cause that Jenson
possessed child pornography, is
Feb. 16 at the 14A District Court
at Washtenaw Avenue and Hog-
back Road.
Jeffrey Zaslow killed in car
accident in northern Mich.
Best-selling author
co-wrote 'The Last
Lecture'
DETROIT (AP) - Best-selling
author Jeffrey Zaslow was killed
Friday when he lost control of his
car on a snowy road after promot-
ing his latest book in northern
Michigan. He was 53.
Zaslow, co-author of the
million-selling book "The Last
Lecture," was also a former col-
umnist for The Wall Street Jour-
nal and former advice columnist
for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Zaslow, who had an affinity for
stories of heroism and resilience,
worked on memoirs of U.S. Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords and airline
pilot Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sul-
lenberger.
"Jeff was a beautiful writer,
wonderful collaborator, lov-
ing husband, father and friend,"
Sullenberger, who was praised
for his skill after safely ditching
a plane in the Hudson River in
2009, said in a written statement
Friday. "Our whole family loved
him dearly and he will be sorely
missed."
Zaslow was killed in an acci-
dent Friday morning in Warner
Township, about 160 miles north-
west of Lansing, according to the
Antrim County sheriff's office.
Zaslow's car slid into the path of
a semitrailer. He was killed on
impact.
The sheriff's department did
not release the name of the vic-
tim, but literary agent and friend
Gary Morris confirmed Zaslow's
death. Morris said he was told of
Zaslow's death Friday evening
by the author's wife.
Zaslow was in northern Mich-
igan speaking about "The Magic
Room: A Story About the Love
We Wish for Our Daughters."
The book, based on a Michigan
bridal shop, was published in
December.
"His great talent was to find
stories that had heart that peo-
ple could relate to," Morris said.
I I - I
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