MIchelle Chamuel performs on "The Voice" on Monday.

NBC

On Tuesday night's season finale of NBC's singing competition, "The Voice," the Swon Brothers came in third place, by virtue of earning the fewest viewer votes; former Ann Arborite and My Dear Disco/Ella Riot front woman Michelle Chamuel came in second place; and Danielle Bradbery, a 16 year old from Texas, won the prize.

Earlier in the episode, though, Chamuel performed "Counting Stars" with One Republic:

And many locals had gathered at the Blind Pig on Monday night to cheer on Chamuel as she competed on the series for the last time, performing Annie Lennox's "Why."

But Tuesday's season finale episode of "The Voice" had an additional Ann Arbor link: rock star Bob Seger, who grew up in Ann Arbor, performed "Night Moves" with the Swon Brothers during the episode.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

In Ann Arbor, fans gathered at the Blind Pig for a viewing party for the program. They watched as Chamuel sang her "defining moment" song, for which coach Usher chose Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble."

Following the performance, Shakira said she was "so thrilled you’ve made it to the finals. Your energy is crazy. It’s contagious." Judge Adam Levine said, "You feel the energy in here. You can’t create that. … It’s created as a result of what you do on stage. … People are screaming so loud our ears hurt."

Blake Shelton said, "You’ve become this rock star that’s happening right before our eyes."

Later in the show, before Chamuel performed her new song, Annie Lennox's "Why," she said in a video segment that before "The Voice," she was "working at a bakery and making my own music," while Usher said, "Who would have ever thought that a quirky girl with glasses would have taught me something?"

In reference to "Why," Chamuel said, "This song is pure emotion. … It’s anybody’s game right now. In order to win, I need to be myself. And I need to trust my coach."

Following Chamuel's performance, Shakira—sporting a pair of Chamuel-like glasses—said, "That was beautiful. … I think that people should know you’re such a humble and sweet person, and when you have humility on one side and talent on the other hand, that’s the perfect combination, a perfect recipe for long-term success."

Shelton noted, "That was a more laid back performance, and I hadn’t seen you do as much of that, and it’s probably an important time to show that side of you."

Usher said that what he "wanted to do … was connect everybody to our story, and the mirror takes us back to when we first made the connection to the world."

Chamuel's competitors the Swon Brothers, sang "Danny's Song" as their defining moment song and "I Can't Tell You Why" as their new song; and Danielle Bradbery—who would appear to be Chamuel's biggest competition—sang "Maybe It Was Memphis" as her defining moment song and a knockout rendition of "Born to Fly" as her new song.

Lastly, Chamuel performed U2's "One" with her coach, Usher, and preceding that, a segment showed Usher having a meal with Chamuel, her mom, and her cousin, Dave.

Chamuel's cousin spoke of the first time he heard Michelle sing—"I had to leave the room in order to hear her do it," he said—and her mother explained that though their Jewish family had been in Egypt for centuries, they fled as refugees in 1967 and came to the United States.

"My parents came her as refugees, and this is definitely what they want for me, to be able to live the American dream," said Chamuel. "It all means so much to me."

Chamuel's fans may vote for her by calling 1-855-VOICE-02 or text 2 to 8642. The winner of the competition will be announced during a two-hour broadcast starting at 9 p.m. Tuesday on NBC. Another Ann Arbor favorite, Bob Seger, was announced as one of the special guests for the broadcast; he's slated to perform with the Swon Brothers.

Being selected to appear on a reality television show contest is a notable accomplishment, making it to the final three where a $100,000 and a record deal is within reach is making the most of your five minutes of fame.

Former Ann Arbor resident and University of Michigan alumna Michelle Chamuel has done just that in her run on The Voice where her fan based has steadily grown throughout the competition. During Monday's night episode they flocked to social media to show their support for "Team Usher" in the final performance episode of the show, see a sample of them below:

Michelle Chamuel with Carson Daly

Tyler Golden | NBC

The former Ann Arbor resident turned in another strong performance on Monday's episode of "The Voice," NBC's singing competition show. And fan voting after that show has now sent her into next week's finale as one of three finalists.

Tuesday's results show started with Chamuel joining Fall Out Boy for a live performance.

In a chat with the show's celebrity coaches, host Carson Daly asked Chamuel's coach, Usher, about her future. "I think it's very promising," Usher responded. "I feel like she is medicine for our country, for our world."

A short time later, Daly announced that Chamuel was the first of the five semifinalists to become one of the three finalists. Fan voting, by phone and online, determines who moves on in each round of the competition.

In a brief interview after the announcement, Chamuel praised the other singers and thanked the voters. "I'm still in shock. This is crazy," she said.

Chamuel now lives in the Boston area, but she is a University of Michigan graduate who became well known to local music fans as the lead singer for the Ann Arbor band Ella Riot / My Dear Disco.

Later in the show, Danielle Bradberry from Blake Shelton's team became the second finalist, followed by the Swon Brothers, also from Shelton's team. That left Sasha Allen and Amber Carrington as the latest eliminations.

"The Voice" airs at 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays on NBC.

On "The Voice" episode that aired on Monday, June 10, Michelle Chamuel - a former Ann Arborite who was front woman for the band My Dear Disco/Ella Riot - performed 2 songs: Zedd's "Clarity," and Cyndi Lauper's classic, "Time After Time.”

At the top of the live, two-hour episode, host Carson Daly said that the two contestants receiving the fewest votes in the next several hours will be eliminated on Tuesday evening, leaving three finalists.

On Monday's episode, each artist/duo was featured in a segment about making a return trip to the artist's hometown, and Chamuel's trip to Amherst, Massachusetts came first.

After being surprised by friends and family members at her mother's house, Chamuel had another surprise in store: MDD bandmate Robert Lester.

"I don’t know how Bob got there - my band member from Ella Riot, my band from Michigan - and I’m so stoked he was there," Chamuel said in the segment.

Lester said, "I’m so proud of Michelle. I’ve really seen her develop an incredible amount. We started out playing shows for 10 people, and she’s performing for the entire world. It’s pretty incredible."

Chamuel next received a warm welcome at the Woodstar Cafe in Northhampton ("where I was working just a little bit ago," Chamuel said), and then did a radio interview, where she spoke of getting ready to sing "God Bless America" at a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park that night.

Chamuel's mother and cousin were in the crowd at Fenway, and her mother said, "It's Incredible to hear her sing with such passion and love for her home state and her country and the Red Sox."

Chamuel's first live performance was "Clarity," chosen by Usher:

Adam Levine said, "I feel like a broken record because every week I always just tell you how much I love you, so I don’t know what I can say except I love you."

Blake Shelton said, "As an opposing team coach, you hope somebody stumbles, … but she never does it. It’s always solid, and I’m always amazed at how dramatic you can be."

Chamuel's coach Usher said of the performance, "You always bring your A game, and this song was one that I had to fight for for you. … But I’m more happy about who you’re becoming and how consistent you are, every week, showing the world the artist that you are."

When given the chance to choose her own song and dedicate it to someone, Chamuel chose "Time After Time," dedicating it to Usher in a short video. Fighting tears, Chamuel said, "You’ve become like family to me, someone I look up to, and you lead by example, both on and off camera. You’ve allowed me to be who I am, taken the time to see that and help me appreciate that as well. Time after time you've been there for me. … Thanks, coach."

Regarding this performance, Shakira said, "You keep growing so much. … You are without a doubt one of my favorites in this competition."

Usher was visibly moved. "My God. You’re the winner. … You are medicine for the whole world. I love you, Michelle Chamuel."

Viewers can tune in Tuesday, June 11 to see if Chamuel makes the final 3 on "The Voice." Fans can vote for Chamuel up to 10 times through "The Voice"'s website, or by calling 1-855-VOICE-03, or texting 3 to 8642, until Tuesday, June 11 at 10 a.m. Tuesday night's episode of "The Voice" will reveal which 2 of the remaining 5 contestants are eliminated from the competition, by way of earning the fewest votes.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

In the near future, University of Michigan expects to raze eight houses and a parking lot in downtown Ann Arbor and erect an eight-story, 600-bed graduate student residence hall at a cost of $185 million.

While the new dormitory will change the landscape of Ann Arbor and further expand the footprint of campus, it's also exploring new frontiers in higher education. The 370,000-square-foot building will include seven-bedroom furnished apartments and an entire floor dedicated to community spaces.

These buildings, which house rental apartments on South Division, will be knocked down and replaced with a graduate housing residence hall near downtown Ann Arbor.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The large apartments are a departure from the norm in graduate housing; according to Ann Arbor real estate and housing officials, such students —typically in their mid-20s or older— usually seek one- or two-bedroom apartments. The high-occupacy apartments, in which graduate students will be placed randomly, are intended to encourage partnership and collaboration.

And while traditional college housing for graduate students focuses on family-friendly offerings, this new building is intended for single graduate students.

"What happens to students in graduate school is, because they specialize so quickly, they get quite isolated," said Mary Sue Coleman, U-M's president.

The large apartment and community areas, Coleman said, are "designed to break down the intellectual barriers" between students.

Coleman said that "very few universities" are building graduate student residence halls that foster collaboration. Peter Logan, communications director for U-M housing, said the school believes no other university in the U.S. has built a graduate residence hall with seven-bedroom apartments.

Vennie Gore, president of the national Association of College and University Housing Officers and head of housing at Michigan State University, said he's heard of no other graduate student housing project that emphasizes community and collaboration as much as U-M's planned dorm.

The new project also has the potential to draw a new demographic of older students to the neighborhood just south of downtown. Of the 15,480 graduate students enrolled in the fall of 2012, 80 percent were between 22 and 30 years old and 11 percent were between 31 and 35.

Making way

The two houses on the left are owned by David Copi. The house in the center — 541 S. Division St.— has six bedrooms and rents for $3,800 a month. Currently undergraduates live there.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

The residence hall, approved April 18 by regents, will be near West Quad and South Quad, two soon-to-be renovated undergraduate dorms.

In December 2012, the university bought 551 and 545 S. Division Street, on which sits two apartment buildings and the Blimpy Burger building, for $1.5 million. In April 2013, the school's regents approved the purchase of 535 and 537 S. Division Street and 401 and 409 E. Madison Street for $3.17 million. David Copi, of Copi Properties, owns 541 and 543 S. Division St. and has agreed to sell them to the university, although the sale is not final, according to his son Sam Copi. The university had threatened eminent domain if Copi would not willingly sell the properties.

The properties, coupled with an existing surface parking lot that the university owns on Thompson Street, will be razed to make way for the new building.

The project is partially funded by the largest donation in university history. Charles Munger, the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. who attended U-M for two years in the 1940s, donated $100 million toward the building and $10 million toward fellowships for graduate residents. The university is in the process of developing the fellowship program, Coleman said.

"Graduate housing? It's not something universities are able to put aside money for," said regent Andrea Fischer Newman, who credited Coleman for developing the relationship with Munger that led to the $110 million donation.

Munger, 89, also has donated $20 million to the university for the renovation of its 240-bed Lawyers Club dormitory, which is restricted to law students. After a yearlong $39 million renovation, U-M's only central campus residence hall for graduate students will reopen in the fall.

"I think he saw the Michigan project as an opportunity to refine what they did at Stanford and to really expand the things that worked well but that they hadn't done enough of at Stanford," Coleman said of Munger.

Unlike the Lawyer's Club, the new building, which will be named after Munger, won't focus on one discipline; instead it will be open to students from all 19 of the school's colleges.

The building is set to rival some of Ann Arbor's newest student high-rises. The top floor, replete with a skylight ceiling, won't boast a single apartment. Instead, it will include lounges and work areas, a gym and running track and a commissary that will carry food at low prices. Fellows will have access to a fellows' room on the eighth floor.

Each bedroom in the seven-bedroom apartments will have its own bathroom and access to large living and kitchen areas.

There also will be a few three- and six-bedroom apartments in the building and the university anticipates some of the apartments will be used by visiting faculty.

"You’re starting to see housing being mixed with a number of different things for students ... many more functions that are involved in the campus housing community, [including] collaboration," Gore said. "You're beginning to see spaces becoming more flexible."

The university declined to release a rendering of the proposed residence hall.

Housing a draw

Housing has become an increasingly important factor for graduate students torn between two or three schools.

According to James Baumann, who also is with the national housing officers association, a student's first question about a college usually centers around his or her academic program. The second question is almost always about housing.

While this sentiment used to apply primarily to undergraduates, it's becoming increasingly befitting to graduate students. That's especially true at campuses like Stanford and New York University, where available housing near campus is limited and expensive, so prospective graduate students need an affordable option. At a school like U-M, where downtown graduate housing isn't as expensive as in major metropolitan areas, the appeal to students comes from a different set of factors, such as the convenient location, amenities and building design.

For Kelsey Vanoverlap, location and amenities drew her to the Lawyer's Club. The first-year law student lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Kerrytown but is moving to the newly renovated Lawyer's Club on the Law Quad in the fall, even though the cost is double the rent she is paying for her off-campus apartment.

"This is a 10-minute walk and that's a 30-second walk," she said. "It's a little more expensive, but you're paying for the convenience."

She said the ability to be around like-minded students also is a draw.

Vanoverlap added: "That was a big drawback for other schools that didn't have housing."

U-M officials are expecting the new graduate dorm to attract applicants and lure students who would otherwise be on the fence about which graduate school to attend. They think it will be a draw for international students and students from out of state.

Withstanding law students, who have access to the Lawyers Club, existing on-campus housing for graduate students is lackluster. The vast majority of graduate students live off campus in neighborhoods like Kerrytown and the West Side, or in apartment communities outside of downtown.

Logan says the school can't accommodate all the requests it receives for graduate housing with existing facilities. Each year a few hundred graduate students are turned away.

Part of the crunch is because the school has transformed three residences —Northwoods I, II and III— into undergraduate housing, even though the apartment and townhouse-style buildings were originally meant for graduate students and students with families. Altogether, switching the housing has eliminated nearly 1,190 graduate beds.

Most graduate students in Northwoods IV and V, which are located on North Campus, are in their 30s or late 20s. Many have families and children who play together in courtyards. A large percentage of the graduate students living there are international.

Bikes and toys are strewn in a courtyard at Northwood Community Apartments, on-campus housing for graduate students at U-M that houses many families with children.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

"Forty years ago universities were building apartments for graduate student families. That's sort of how, as I recall, when I was in graduate school myself, that was sort of the rage," Coleman said. "But theses facilities, they're not really popular anymore."

The school can accommodate 1,240 graduate students with existing facilities. One thousand graduate students, many with their families, live in Northwoods IV and V and another 240 law students can fit into the lawyers club, which will reopen this fall after a $39 million renovation.

A one-bedroom apartment in Northwoods can cost up to $970 a month and a three-bedroom townhouse can cost up to $1,250. A one-bedroom apartment with a 12-meal-per-week plan at the Lawyer's Club costs between $11,660 and $13,260 for an 8-and-a- half-month lease. The price-point for a bed in the proposed graduate hall hasn't been released.

Once U-M finishes its Residential Life Initiative —a decade-long project to renovate many of the school's central campus undergraduate dormitories— in 2015 with the renovation of West Quad, the school could possibly switch 550 Northwoods beds back to graduate housing. Those beds, with the addition of the 600 beds in the Munger dormitory, would double the university's graduate housing capacity.

U-M anticipates housing 10,460 students this fall— 1,180 students less than the college's current capacity because South Quadrangle will be closed for renovations.

A new neighborhood dynamic?

Players in Ann Arbor's real estate and rental housing businesses say the new dorm could alter the composition of the area just south of downtown.

Right now most rentals between South Fourth Avenue and South Division Street, between East Madison and East William Streets, are filled with undergraduate students who attend U-M. Yet developers say that new high-rises targeted primarily to undergraduates —such as Zaragon Place and Landmark— are attracting undergraduates and leaving openings in the area for graduate students.

Amy Khan, president of the Ann Arbor-based CMB Property Management, says that while the area remains primarily inhabited by undergraduates, there's more graduate students living in the neighborhood than in years past.

"We manage a property kitty-corner from where it's going up and we just think it's going to draw more graduate students [to the area]," Khan said of the new dorm. "That will probably change how we market some of our nearby locations."

The university wants to build a residence hall for graduate students in the highlighted area.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com

Khan said the area in the south part of downtown has "the biggest mix" of undergraduates and graduates— unlike Kerrytown, which is known for housing graduate students, or the State Street and Packard areas, which are known for housing undergraduates.

"That area is halfway between campus and Main Street, so it's kind of like that middle road," said Bennett Borsuk, director and co-founder of the Ann Arbor-based Cabrio Properties.

Of the proposed graduate student residence, he added: "It will change the demographics in some of the nearby properties a little bit and it may push where graduate students are living."

One of Ann Arbor's newest high-rises, Zaragon West, which abuts campus and the area just the south of downtown, offers one- to four-bedroom apartments, and is thus attracting a mix of graduate and undergraduate students.

Typically graduate students seek apartments with fewer bedrooms, while undergraduates flock to apartments with several bedrooms. High-rises such as Landmark, which only offers five- and six-bedroom apartments or Zaragon Place, which primarily offers four-bedroom apartments, are populated primarily by undergraduates. Such high-rises are relatively new, and downtown Ann Arbor's student housing scene is still adapting to their presence. The eight-story Corner House was built in 2008, followed by the 10-story Zaragon Place and 10- story 411 Lofts in 2009.

Khan said that since luxury student apartments began springing up in Ann Arbor, she's seen an influx of graduate students in one- and two-bedroom apartments that used to be rented by undergraduates. For example, CMB's Corner House Apartments, near the corner of State and Washington streets, used to be primarily inhabited by undergraduates. Now Khan says graduate students are moving into the one- and two-bedroom apartments.

"It's getting a mix," she said. "In the beginning it was pretty much all undergraduates."

A flood of new beds

The addition of 600 beds to the downtown area also will make downtown housing more competitive. The new dorm, coupled with the end of U-M's housing renovation initiative that's taken between 430 and 1,180 beds offline each year since 2007, will likely affect Ann Arbor's student housing market.

"That does change the campus capacity and it may have an effect on off-campus housing," Logan said, also agreeing that the new graduate dorm "could change the population mix" of the area surrounding it.

Gore said when colleges build new dorms "typically what you see happening is the really good properties will remain full.

"The properties that are located further away from campus will lose students."

Fall 2012 enrollment at U-M was 43,426, up 1,500 students from two years before— with the bulk of the uptick occurring in graduate programs.

"Private developers are always looking at colleges and universities, and especially the tier one universities," Gore said. "They're trying to figure out what's the capacity? What's the opportunity for growth?"

Two high-rises are under construction in downtown Ann Arbor right now: Varsity Apartments and Ann Arbor City Apartments. Two other high-rises have been approved for 413 Huron Street and Church Street. Zaragon West, City Place and Landmark apartment complexes opened in 2012, joining 411 Lofts and the original Zaragon Place. Monthly rents in the new apartment projects range between $800 and $1,745 per bedroom.

When U-M's new dorm opens, its existing dorm renovations end and the new private high-rises open, the Ann Arbor housing market will be flooded with hundreds of new beds.

"It will definitely make finding stuff easier for people and it will affect the pricing as well," Borsuk said. "Right now there's very limited availability."

While Borsuk and others have predictions about exactly how the university's proposal will affect downtown Ann Arbor if built, they all say that the scope and shape of the impact will be hard to pin down until the building is operational.

"It's a guessing game," Khan said.

Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.

Ann Arbor Board of Education members earn $130 per month for attending meetings. Broken down per meeting, that's about $43. Other school board members in Washtenaw County earn $25 or $30 per meeting — or nothing at all.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com file photo

It's a statement that recently has played out in school districts across the state of Michigan, as the number of traditional public schools facing staggering deficits and elimination of key educational services for Fiscal Year 2014 grows.

In Ann Arbor, high school transportation; more than 80 employees, including about 50 teachers; middle school pools; and several athletics programs are on the chopping block for the 2013-14 academic year.

However, one item not on the table is school board members' per diem stipends.

According to officials, trustees in the Ann Arbor Public Schools earn a stipend of $130 per month or $1,560 per year for attending meetings. Multiplied by seven school board members, and the cost to AAPS for board salaries is $10,920 — a pittance in reality, at less than 0.2 percent of the district's $8.67 million deficit.

But is eliminating these payments a necessary symbolic gesture in tough financial times? Some school trustees across Michigan have thought so.

The Michigan Association of School Boards doesn't know very many local districts that offer board members compensation anymore, said Communications Director Pam Jodway.

Brad Banasik, legal counsel for the MASB, said he wouldn't call giving up these stipends a trend, but added he has heard of it happening more and more frequently.

"First and foremost, the main reason boards do this is as a show of support to teachers and the community," he said. "Schools are making a lot of difficult decisions right now. And even though the board stipend is such a minute part of a school district's budget, some members believe: how can we expect teachers to make concessions and the community to accept layoffs and programs being cut (if we keep our stipends)?"

The idea of board sacrifice and symbolic gestures was debated recently in Ann Arbor, when the Board of Education agreed to slash $65,000 from next year's budget for discretionary food purchases for meetings and events throughout the district. And at the same time, the board expressed it would maintain a $5,000 line item for food for trustees and administrators during school board meetings. Only one trustee, Secretary Andy Thomas, has verbalized a desire to sacrifice the board's food expenditures.

Payment history

Board service in Michigan is considered a voluntary position and language that called for public school trustees to be offered per diem allowances was struck from the books in about 1996 or 1997, Banasik said.

"When the school code was revised, it was the intent of the Legislature to provide more local control to school boards," he said.

A section of the state's Revised School Code does still address payment for members of an intermediate school district board. This section states:

An intermediate school board member shall receive a per diem allowance for attendance at meetings convened in accordance with the bylaws of the intermediate school board or held pursuant to law. Except as provided … the intermediate school board, by resolution, may authorize compensation which shall not exceed $30.00 per meeting, subcommittee meeting or authorized duty, if the duty is related directly to the member's responsibility as a board member and if the duty is authorized in advance by resolution of the board. … A board member shall not receive compensation for more than a total of 52 meetings … unless the majority of the board votes to remove this limitation.

Banasik said this same language previously was applied to local public school districts as well. But because it isn't any longer, any compensation for local school boards would need to be outlined in their governing bylaws.

"… This was just one of the restrictions (the Legislature) took out (to give control back to the schools), but a lot of the boards went ahead and just continued that amount," he said. "I see no problem in allowing a stipend for local board members. Almost all public, elected officials receive some type of stipend for their work and service to the community."

Banasik said the MASB does not advise local districts one way or the other on the topic of stipends. He said the organization believes that's a local decision that should be made while considering the district's financial means and community values.

It is not clear how many school districts in Michigan still have provisions permitting school board member stipends. The MASB will conduct a survey "every so often" of school districts on the topic to see, Banasik said. But he added the most recent survey data is more than 10 years old.

Comparing local stipends

Despite a section in the Revised School Code allowing ISD board members to earn up to $30 per meeting, the Washtenaw Intermediate School District board has not earned an allowance since early 2010. WISD Communications Director Emma Jackson said the board voted at that time to suspend the stipend indefinitely.

But the Ann Arbor Public Schools is not alone in Washtenaw County in compensating its Board of Education members. However, it is the only district that receives a monthly stipend. Most of the other school trustees receive a per-meeting amount, some for just regular and special meetings, while others also are paid for subcommittee or standing committee meetings.

Broken down per meeting, AAPS trustees make about $43 per meeting, based on a schedule of two regular meetings and one study session or subcommittee meeting per month.

Saline school board members earn $30 for each regular and special board meeting they attend, payable at the end of each calendar year. Typically, Saline has 21 board meetings in a year — two per month, except July, August and December — so this equates to about $630 per board member or $4,410 in total annual cost to the district.

Plymouth-Canton schools in Wayne County pays its board members $30 per meeting, but it also pays for workshops and committee meetings. Plymouth-Canton is larger than AAPS with 17,998 students enrolled in fall 2012, compared with Ann Arbor's 16,635, according to the Center for Educational Performance and Information.

Trustees in Willow Run earn $25 per regular, special or standing committee meeting, according to current board policy.

The number of meetings Willow Run has conducted this past school year has exceeded the typical number as a result of the consolidation effort with Ypsilanti Public Schools, which does not give its board members a stipend. Prior to the merger being passed, Willow Run had two meetings per month, so board members would have earned $600 annually, at a total cost to the district of $4,200. However, several trustees do not accept the stipend or donate it back to the district, said Superintendent Laura Lisiscki.

Ann Arbor school board President Deb Mexicotte.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com file photo

Chelsea School District board members also earn $25 per meeting that they attend and are paid at the end of the calendar year. They do not get paid for committee meetings. The Chelsea school board also typically meets about 21 times per year, so trustees earn $525 annually, which costs the district a total of $3,675.

Manchester Community Schools Board of Education members earn $5 per meeting. However, administrative assistant to the superintendent Pam Lee said all of the board members give the stipend back to the district by not accepting payment.

Lincoln school trustees cut their $25 per-meeting stipends and struck them from board policy in August 2006 in a round of budget reductions, said district administrative assistant Jean Fensch.

Ann Arbor board president Mexicotte said eliminating or reducing the board's stipend has been discussed on and off through the years since she was first elected in 2003.

"But no one ever brought a motion to the table," she said.

Mexicotte said she believes the board has a general "discomfort" in saying someone else doesn't need the money or deserve to be compensated for the work they do.

"On the one hand, it certainly isn't life-changing money. It's there for the purposes of making travel or incidentals that might go along with board service just a little easier," she said. "But we can't walk in each other's shoes. ... It's hard for people to decide that it's not appropriate or that someone else doesn't need that amount of money ... when we're all sacrificing our time and energy for the service of the district."

Mexicotte said donating the money or not accepting it should be a personal decision. As a whole, the board believes people should be appropriately compensated for the work they do — it's a concept the board applies when thinking about Ann Arbor's teachers and other staff. She said trustees spend typically 10 to 15 hours per week on board-related tasks and meetings. So it is similar to a mini part-time job, she added.

Board members also are expected to attend graduation and award ceremonies, as well as other events at the schools.

"The other hesitation is once it's gone, it's gone. We nor any other board will reasonably be able to vote to put (the stipend) back," Mexicotte said. "So you think about how that might affect people wanting to volunteer for board service in the future."

Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.

Michelle Chamuel with "The Voice" host Carson Daly.

Tyler Golden | NBC

So it came as no surprise that Chamuel was the first name announced on the "saved" list, as determined by viewer votes.

Before Chamuel's name was called, the former My Dear Disco/Ella Riot front woman performed Madonna's "Open Your Heart" with Team Shakira's lone survivor, Sasha Allen, and Chamuel's coach Usher talked about why the crowd responded so exuberantly to his protege's second performance on Monday evening.

"I think what they got a chance to see is what they all believe in," said Usher. " … We’re proud, we’re happy, we’re humbled by this experience. This is our first time in the saddle, and we’re going to put our best foot forward and continue to be the greatest we can be, man."

Allen, who also had terrific performances on Monday, had her name announced second, followed by Danielle Bradbury (Team Blake), Amber Carrington (Team Adam), and the Swon Brothers (Team Blake), leaving Team Blake's Holly Tucker shut out of the competition.

Chamuel will be back on "The Voice" next Monday night, aiming to earn a spot in the singing competition's final 4.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

Michelle Chamuel performs on "The Voice" last week.

NBC

While you can never make guarantees, it sure doesn’t look like Chamuel will be anywhere close to the bottom, thanks to her performances of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” (Usher’s choice) and Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” (Chamuel’s choice) on Monday.

In the segment focused on Chamuel's preparations for singing the Keane song, Usher told her, “We should continue to do this, regardless. I really am invested in you as an artist.”

Plus, during another pre-performance interview, Usher said, “I don’t feel like a coach anymore, man, I feel like a friend.”

“I trust Usher,” said Chamuel. “He’s picked incredible songs that I feel very connected to.”

Here’s Chamuel’s performance of “Somewhere Only We Know.”

Shakira said she thought Chamuel and Usher were a “perfect fit,” saying, “You have made so much progress with him.”

Adam Levine praised Chamuel for “carving out your own spot in the universe. I think that’s the sign of a really great artist is when you see them carve out their own spot and exist there, by themselves. That’s beautiful.”

Usher said, “It showed depth. It definitely showed your vocal ability and many different ways of using your tone.”

Later in the show, a segment showcased Chamuel’s rehearsals for “I Knew You Were Trouble,” and during an interview, Chamuel explained her song choice by saying, “Taylor Swift is amazing, and I think it would be cool to show how I can fit into the top 40 or straight up pop.”

Then Usher said that there was a surprise at Chamuel's rehearsal, and that “things like this happen on Team Usher.”

Check out the surprise, and Chamuel’s reaction, in this clip.

“Singing a Taylor Swift song to Taylor Swift is crazy,” Chamuel said in an interview.

“That was so emotional,” Swift told Chamuel after hearing a run-through of the song. “All the vocal runs are just amazing.”

“If Taylor Swift loved it, I know America will, too,” said Usher.

Here’s Chamuel’s fantastic live performance of the song. You might want have a fire extinguisher at hand, because this rendition is a full-out scorcher.

The "Voice" audience went absolutely bonkers after the song ended, with an extended ovation that left Levine nearly speechless. “I don’t need to say anything. Listen to these guys. It’s unbelievable. Stop it, already.”

Blake Shelton looked toward Usher and said, “I’m so freakin’ jealous right now.”

Usher said, “At the base of all Taylor Swift’s songs is an incredible emotion, and an opportunity to be able to connect with something real. And that’s what this performance was about.”

Fans can vote for Chamuel up to 10 times through "The Voice"'s website, or by calling 1-855-VOICE-02, or texting 2 to 8642, until Tuesday, June 4 at 10 a.m. Tuesday night's episode of "The Voice" will reveal which 1 of the remaining 6 contestants are eliminated from the competition, by way of earning the fewest votes.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

The former C.S. Mott Children's Hospital Friday on the University of Michigan Health System's Ann Arbor campus. After it was vacated in 2011 when the new Mott Hospital opened to patients, officials have used the building as overflow office space while plans are developed to turn it into a new Neuroscience Hospital.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com

A $163 million retrofitting of the former C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital facility to create a new Neuroscience Hospital has been delayed, as has a $17.5 million renovation of a building at U-M’s North Campus Research Complex.

Both projects received approval by the U-M Board of Regents last year and were slated to move forward immediately.

However, UMHS revised its long-term financial planning goals in the first months of this year -- and the capital investments required for the Neuroscience Hospital and the building at NCRC were shifted to the back burner for three years, records show.

UMHS has an annual budget of about $3 billion, which accounts for about half of U-M's overall budget.

U-M's general fund has a cost-containment plan has a targeted reduction of $120 million over the next five years, according to documents obtained by an AnnArbor.com FOIA. In the 2013 fiscal year, the fund requires ongoing reductions and re-allocations totaling $30 million.

Creation of the Neuroscience Hospital is a part of UMHS’ adult inpatient capacity expansion project -- and it is already denoted on an official map of the health system’s campus as such even though the project hasn’t happened yet.

• Download a copy of the UMHS campus map

The change to the campus map was made after the regents approved the project in April 2012, said Pete Barkey, director of public relations for UMHS.

Plans called for the renovation of about 163,000 gross square feet of the old Mott, former women’s hospital and Mott expansion. The old Mott facility is about 500,000 square feet.

Eight operating rooms, a new imaging suite, 95 patient beds and a 25-bed intensive care unit are planned as a part of the project.

An additional 104,000 gross square feet inside the old Mott are also slated for conversion into office space for faculty and staff.

The Board of Regents appointed Hobbs & Black Architects to the Mott backfill project on April 19, 2012. This March, the project was removed from the health system’s list of projects in active planning -- which Barkey said was due to a number of factors that officials took into consideration.

“It is a part of a very large, overall picture,” Barkey said. “We revised the timing of it … but it’s still very much on the table.”

Vacated by patients in late 2011 upon the opening of the new Mott Hospital, the former children’s facility wedged inside the middle of UMHS’ Ann Arbor campus is being used by various departments displaced by other renovation projects.

Though there are parts still being unused, most of it is being utilized as office space by staff and faculty. The health system’s inpatient child and adolescent psychiatric department is still in the former Mott facility, as well as its outpatient Pediatric Speech Language Pathology, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy services that occupy part of the second level.

At NCRC, about 68,000 gross square feet in the east wing of Building 20 was slated for renovation. Infrastructure in the building dates to its 1956 construction date. Lab facilities -- last updated in 1995 -- were also slated for upgrades.

The $17.5 million project will be funded out of U-M’s Medical School budget, and was initially given a projected completion date of winter 2014. Officials touted the project as an investment in NCRC’s research space and as a continued commitment by U-M to repurposing the former Pfizer facility.

However, the health system’s review of its finances and capital investments this year caused the renovation to be delayed for up to three years as well.

UMHS has continued to invest in capital projects:

• $55 million renovation of the Taubman Health Sciences Library
• $39 million dedicated to outfitting the interior of the new Northville Health Center that’s under construction by a private developer at the corner of Seven Mile and Haggerty roads
• $3.6 million renovation of a 17,413-square-foot space at 2205 Commonwealth Blvd. in Ann Arbor for Pediatric Speech Language Pathology, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy services
• $2.34 million for a new wound care clinic in 9,325 square feet of the Domino’s Farms Office Park on Frank Lloyd Wright Drive in Ann Arbor Township

However, priorities change as new financial investment opportunities present themselves, Barkey said.

“We’re making significant investment in capital projects,” Barkey said, noting that the health system expects growth in the Ann Arbor market and elsewhere.

Other major capital projects on the health system’s radar include a new facility for University Hospital, which officials have previously said could be underway in about 10 years.

“It’s still one of the many things under discussion,” Barkey said. “We’re working toward that goal.”

Barkey declined to discuss the financial investments the health system chose to prioritize over the neurosciences hospital and NCRC renovation, or to comment on the budget outlook for UMHS.

One year ago, the organization was planning to end this fiscal year with a 0.5 percent positive operating margin. For the past two years, the health system has operated on a deficit -- mostly as a result of the $754 million price tag to construct the new Mott Hospital.

“Meeting the financial targets will always be a challenge in our ever-changing environment. I do appreciate the fact that this is a constant conversation within the health system …” said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman in an August 2012 letter to health system CEO Dr. Ora Pescovitz, obtained by an AnnArbor.com FOIA request.

“The expansion of patient care brought about by rebuilding Mott was central to our overall strategic plan, another success I attribute to your leadership,” Coleman wrote to Pescovitz. “…Since the health system is such an important component of the overall University budget, it is really important that you keep closely aligned with our progress and opportunities in the new health care environment.”

Ora Pescovitz

UMHS

Friday, Pescovitz published a post to her blog, Medicine that Speaks, that made mention of the issues the health system is facing.

“This year, we have faced significant financial challenges, and when we put out a call to action, you stepped up and implemented improvement strategies that have already had substantial positive impact,” Pescovitz wrote. “We have more work to do and we need to prioritize ongoing good stewardship of our resources, but based on what we’ve already accomplished in these last several months, I am confident that we will weather the storm brought about by increasing competition, sequestration, health care reform and other challenges. This is not easy work, and it takes great courage.”

UMHS will publicly unveil its fiscal status June 20 at the Board of Regents meeting.

The map of the health system's Ann Arbor campus. The former Mott Hospital has been relabeled the Neuroscience Hospital.

Courtesy UMHS

Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.

After Chamuel performed a duet with fellow contestant Judith Hill on "Sweet Nothing" by Calvin Harris, "Voice" host Carson Daly announced that fan voting had moved Chamuel on to the next round. She had turned in another strong performance Monday with her rendition of Bruno Mars' "Grenade".

Following the announcement, she got a big hug from her coach, Usher; Chamuel is his last remaining team member. In a brief interview segment later in the show, Chamuel introduced her mother and said of the fan votes, "It's crazy. I'm just very, very grateful. Thank you so much."

Chamuel, a University of Michigan graduate, became familiar to Ann Arbor in recent years as the lead singer for the popular local band Ella Riot / My Dear Disco. She now lives in the Boston area.

After Chamuel, Danielle Bradbery of Blake Shelton's team became the second contestant to move on to the top 6, followed by Sasha Allen of Team Shakira and then the Swon Brothers, from Shelton's team. As the episode closed, Amber Carrington from Adam Levine's team and Holly Tucker from Shelton's were announced to round out the top 6.

That left Hill and Sarah Simmons, both from Levine's team, as the night's eliminations.

The top 6 "Voice" contestants will perform live on NBC next Monday at 8 p.m., with another elimination round next Tuesday.

Earlier in the episode, Chamuel's coach, Usher, described her as "an incredible student," and pulled out a pair of black-framed glasses (Chamuel's trademark) and put them on, saying, "I decided to go ahead and join the army of Michelle Chamuel supporters."

Regarding "Grenade," Chamuel said, during a segment focused on her one-on-one rehearsals with Usher, "The strategy behind the song is to pick a record that we can bring to life in a new way, and I can show a new type of vulnerability."

In the same segment, Usher said, "There’s no one like Michelle in this competition. She’s the new standard for what all of us are optimistic about. Something that is different." Chamuel is the last remaining member of Team Usher.

Usher's plan for "Grenade" was "to take everything away, and we make (Chamuel) the loudest instrument on it."

Check out how Chamuel executes Usher's plan below.

Shakira called the performance "spectacular" and said that while Chamuel always had great stage presence, she's now also "exuding a lot of confidence."

Adam Levine was blown away by how the number was designed, with additional musicians and back-up singers entering the stage as the song progressed. "Usually that stuff seems forced," Levine said; but he thought that the number's design not only worked for Chamuel, but that the performance was "one of the best of the night."

Blake Shelton, meanwhile, said, "I can’t believe such a big voice comes out of such a little human being. … That’s your best so far."

And Usher, who hooted and cheered as Chamuel finished the song, said, "So many people have these humps that they can’t get over in life, and you represent that. You represent true inner beauty, and the fact that you can tear down any barrier. That performance represents everything we love about life, and what you’re becoming. … I’m so happy you did that for the world."

Fans can vote for Chamuel through "The Voice"'s website until Tuesday, May 28 at 10 a.m. Tuesday night's episode of "The Voice" will reveal which 2 of the remaining 8 contestants are eliminated from the competition, by way of earning the fewest votes.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

An Amtrak passenger train struck a semitrailer carrying kayaks on the tracks near North Maple Road and Huron River Drive in Ann Arbor Township Saturday afternoon.

No one was injured in the crash, which occurred about 12:50 p.m., said Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office spokesman Derrick Jackson.

The train struck the semitrailer, splitting it in two, Jackson said. One half lay on the north side of the tracks with kayaks spilled out shortly before 2 p.m. The other half lay on its side on the south side of the tracks.

Jackson said the truck driver had been rerouted to Huron River Drive from his original route, After discovering he could not cross the one-lane bridge over the river because the truck was too heavy and too wide, he tried to back up.

While he was trying to maneuver the rig back across the tracks with the help of another man, the train began approaching and the crossing gate came down. The trailer was still on the tracks when the westbound Amtrak train came through the crossing. The driver was able to get out of the truck cab before the crash occurred.

Passenger Mary Bak, who got on the train in Dearborn, where she lives, said she didn't even feel the crash. “I just noticed we were stopped and then we were told that the train hit somebody.”

Another passenger, Gabrielle Dickson, who also boarded the train in Dearborn, said she heard and felt the crash and then saw the split open trailer and the spilled kayaks. Passengers were told no one was injured, she said.

John Biancke lives near the railroad tracks. He and his wife were working outside when they heard the commotion.

"We were out in the yard and heard a thump and knew that something unusual had happened."

An Amtrak spokeswoman said the train was the Wolverine 353, which runs between Pontiac and Chicago. It was carrying 253 people, including passengers and crew, Vernae Graham said.

The train, which had two locomotives and about six passenger cars, was still blocking the railroad crossing at North Maple Road about 2:30 p.m. Passengers were still on the train.

As of about 4:15 p.m., the train had been cleared to continue on its route, but officials were waiting for the completion of a track inspection before proceeding, Graham said.

The westbound Wolverine runs daily between Pontiac and Chicago three times a day. The 353's scheduled departure from Pontiac was 10:35 a.m. It was to have departed Ann Arbor at 12:17 p.m. and arrive in Chicago at 3:38 p.m.

An eastbound Amtrak train was also been delayed by the accident. The Wolverine 350, which runs between Chicago and Pontiac, and had been scheduled to arrive in Ann Arbor at 1:05 p.m., was waiting on a siding near Chelsea, Graham said at 4:15 p.m. About 3:15 p.m., Jackson said the train was stopped somewhere near Chelsea waiting for the track in Ann Arbor Township to be cleared.

View Amtrak-semi crash in a larger map

Ann Arbor freelance journalist Lisa Carolin contributed to this report.

Michelle Chamuel performs on "The Voice" on Monday.

NBC

During Tuesday night's live elimination show, wherein the two contestants with the fewest viewer votes are out, Chamuel's last remaining Team Usher teammate, Josiah Hawley, got the hook, as did Team Shakira's Kris Thomas.

This leaves both Shakira and Usher with one-person teams, while judges Adam Levine and Blake Shelton retained all three of their mentee artists/duos on Tuesday.

In a lighter moment during Tuesday's elimination episode, called "Confessionals," the contestants pondered what career other than singing that they might pursue. Chamuel said, "If I weren't a singer, I might be a puppeteer."

Shortly after that, she appeared in the frame with two hand puppets (one with Chamuel's signature black glasses) and explained, "This is me, this is Ush." Referencing a rehearsal trick Usher used when Chamuel was preparing to perform Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" on a previous episode, Chamuel made the Usher puppet say to the Michelle puppet, "'Now, I'm going to get a mirror, so you can do an exercise,'" to which the Michelle puppet flatly replied, 'Oh, God, no.'"

And though Usher was the star of Team Usher's performance of "The Look of Love" on Tuesday's episode, Chamuel and Hawley did back him up. Check it out here.

Chamuel will be back to perform again on "The Voice" on Monday, May 27.

Jenn McKee is an entertainment reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.

Previous coverage:

• Ann Arbor school board ratifies contracts with 3 unions that will save district $3.4M
• Domestic partner benefits: Ann Arbor couples at forefront of lawsuit challenging ban
• Federal judge hears arguments against state law banning domestic partner health benefits

Teachers in the Ann Arbor Public Schools are set to lose insurance benefits for their same-sex and domestic partners starting June 30, as a result of the union opening its contract to take a 3 percent pay cut.

Just two things could prevent this from happening: a ruling on a grievance filed against the Ann Arbor school district, or a ruling on a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Snyder filed in federal district court that involves two Ann Arbor schools couples.

Ann Arbor Open teacher Peter Ways, pictured here with his partner Joe Breakey and their daughter, Aliza Breakey-Ways, said Breakey is set to lose health insurance coverage on June 30 due to a letter issued by the AAPS.

The AAEA unions for teachers, paraeducators and office professionals negotiated amendments in March to their collective bargaining agreements to help the district address a then-estimated $17 million to $20 million deficit for the 2013-14 academic year.

The ratified contract agreements — which included a one-year 3 percent wage concession — saved the AAPS $3.4 million and brought the district's projected budget shortfall down from about $12 million to its current $8.67 million figure.

In addition to helping the district with its financial crisis, a primary purpose of passing the amended contract was to ensure the agreements were safe from Michigan's new Right to Work Law. The five-year amendments were approved by the Board of Education the day before the law went into effect.

Right to Work prohibits unions from mandating dues from the employees they represent. The AAEA contracts passed in March amended various language in the bargaining unit's master agreement affirming the union has the right to collect membership dues.

But what union members didn't know when they voted to approve these amendments was that opening the existing contract would enact House Bill 4770, which Snyder signed into law in December 2011 and now is called the Public Employee Domestic Partner Benefit Restriction Act.

'Surprise' and a history of coverage

AAEA President Linda Carter said she and members alike were "very surprised" to learn about the letters from the district stating couples would lose their insurance benefits — including comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance — as of June 30.

Linda Carter

"Neither side knew of the implications of the domestic partner law. ... It did not come up in discussions because we didn't open the entire contract for full-blown negotiations," Carter said. "We were really trying to get (the amendments) through — to be perfectly honest — because of Right to Work."

So, she added, the domestic partner benefits implications didn't even cross her mind.

The AAEA filed a grievance against the district on Tuesday pertaining to the loss of benefits and refuting Comsa's legal opinion that the law needed to take effect.

"We have our MEA (Michigan Education Association) legal staff working on this," Carter said. "We are in this for the long haul. We are going to fight on behalf of our members. ... We are hoping we can carve out a solution here. Our members have families, they have children, and we want to come to an amicable resolution."

The Act, according to Comsa's letter to the teachers, outlaws public schools and government bodies from offering benefits to anyone whom resides with a public employee and is not one or more of the following:

• Married to the employee,
• A dependent of the employee as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, or
• Otherwise eligible to inherit from the employee under the laws of succession in the state.

Comsa wrote this prohibition applies when a collective bargaining contract or agreement expires or is "amended, expanded or renewed."

District officials said there are fewer than 25 people affected by the loss of benefits. Carter estimated that number at 14 to 18 people. However, she added this fight isn't necessarily about the broad reach or the impact, but rather it's about right and wrong.

But the Ann Arbor Public Schools is a proponent of domestic partner benefits, said district spokeswoman Liz Margolis.

"AAPS does not believe this is the right law for our employees and have done all we can to allow for partner benefits," Margolis said. "It is interesting that the governor does not think this law applies to university or civil service employees, but (he) has not come out with a statement about K-12 employees. Thus, we are required to follow the law."

Margolis said it is the belief of the district's legal counsel that the law effectively eliminated the district's "Other Eligible Adults" policy. The policy allowed coverage for a person 26 years of age or older, who is not a dependent or an undocumented immigrant, to be eligible for health benefits under an employee's insurance policy. Other requirements for receiving benefits under the district's policy were: residing together for 18 months, not married to another party, not related by blood and not a tenant or boarder.

"AAPS has worked tirelessly to allow for partner benefits, which we believe is the right thing to do," Margolis said.

The district has offered these benefits since about 1993, Carter said, adding AAPS followed in suit with this policy after a similar policy was created at the University of Michigan.

"We were pace-setters," she said.

Peter Ways, a teacher at Ann Arbor Open, is one AAPS employee affected by the district's decision to discontinue domestic partner benefits.

"I blame the legislature and the governor, not the district or the union," he said.

Awaiting a federal ruling

Ways and his partner of more than 20 years, Joe Breakey, are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that the American Civil Liberties Union filed against Snyder in January 2012, attempting to strike down the Domestic Partner Benefits Restriction Act. Slauson Middle School teacher Theresa Bassett and her partner, Carol Kennedy, also are named in the litigation.

From left, Carol Kennedy and Theresa Bassett stand with their sons Charlie Bassett-Kennedy, 12, Finn, 5, and Sam, 7, as they watch the Michigan Community Scholars Program's 5th annual "Circle of Unity" honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the UM Diag in 2011. Kennedy and some of the couple's children no longer will be eligible for health care coverage via Bassett's AAPS insurance as of June 30, 2013.

Melanie Maxwell I AnnArbor.com file photo

The teachers say they are dumbfounded it has taken so long for a ruling on the case.

"Many feel like many cases along these same lines are being delayed, (and lower courts) are waiting for the Supreme Court to rule," Bassett said.

After the Ann Arbor Public Schools letter was issued stating employees' domestic partner benefits would end June 30, the ACLU attorneys made contact with the judge and were told the judge would hand down a ruling before June 30.

ACLU Lawyer Jay Kaplan said if the judge does not rule in favor of the plaintiffs by June 30, all of the plaintiffs in the case, which include three other gay and lesbian couples from Kalamazoo and East Lansing, will have lost their benefits since the lawsuit was filed — and none of the employers have wanted to eliminate the domestic partner benefits, he added.

"The law has had unfortunate consequences thus far. ... There have not been any (employers of the plaintiffs) that have been in support of that (cutting the benefits)," Kaplan said. "The public employers want a diverse workforce, and they realize that they have to recognize the diversity of the families that work for them and that people that do the same work as their colleagues have a right to the same benefits, including health insurance. ... It's the right thing to do."

The biggest thing is the families and spreading awareness, Bassett told AnnArbor.com.

"Some may not know that coverage doesn't end just for our partners, but also for any children that have not had the benefit of being adopted by the insured parent," Bassett said. "This is our case. But I did add our youngest as a dependent on my taxes two years ago, just in case this turned out negatively for us."

Bassett and Kennedy have six children, ranging from elementary school age to 25. The women have been a couple for more than 25 years and were legally married in California in 2008, according to the lawsuit.

Bassett has been an employee of AAPS for 28 years, while Kennedy has been self-employed as a day care provider since 1993, court documents show. Because Kennedy is self-employed, she does not have access to her own employer-provided benefits plan. Her family also has a history of breast cancer, making independent health care coverage for Kennedy and most of the couple's children very expensive, the lawsuit says.

Bassett said some of the AAEA members did take issue with the way the district and the union handled the loss of benefits. She said people did ask at the AAEA meeting about the contract negotiations and whether amending the contract for the 3 percent pay cuts would put the partner benefits in jeopardy.

"We were told no," she said.

She added the other issue was the letter Comsa sent came in an overall package of information regarding open enrollment for benefits.

"To many," Bassett said, "it is junk mail and gets tossed, as few of us are changing our coverage. We know that many did not read it and have no knowledge that the benefits end."

Kaplan and the teachers acknowledged the district has been very supportive of the lawsuit and has provided various affidavits and insurance information to the ACLU to help with the case. All parties are hoping for a favorable outcome in the ruling by the federal judge that will save AAPS employees' domestic partner benefits before they end June 30.

Comsa said in his letter to teachers in late April, "if there is a change that affects the Other Eligible Adult coverage you will be updated, however, in the interim, we are prohibited by law from providing the coverage."

Danielle Arndt covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. Follow her on Twitter @DanielleArndt or email her at daniellearndt@annarbor.com.

The University of Michigan Health System's campus in Ann Arbor.

Melanie Maxwell | AnnArbor.com file photo

But that doesn't mean patients or their insurance companies are paying those charges. Both Medicare and most commercial insurance reimbursements are calculated using formulas that don’t factor in the charges. Patients then pay whatever's left after the insurance or Medicare payments.

The federal government’s Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services attempted to shed light on hospitals’ charges by releasing a massive data set on average figures from Medicare patient data.

The data is available under provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Experts contend that the data can’t be taken at face value, and doesn’t help consumers in making decisions on where to go for health care as it doesn’t include hospital quality and safety considerations.

However, the data does add to the national dialogue on the practice of hospitals tabulating charges when they’re typically irrelevant to everyone except the most vulnerable patient: The uninsured.

The charges, which continue to rise each year, have become out of touch with the costs that a hospital actually incurs for procedures, officials contend.

The numbers

The newly released data averages charges from hospitals across the country for a set of top 100 inpatient diagnoses in Medicare patients from 2011.

In Michigan, the most expensive hospital charge is for ventilator support for 96 hours or more at the University of Michigan Health System: $203,249. That’s about $70,000 more than the second-highest charge at a Michigan hospital for the procedure - which can be found at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, where $134,511 is the charge.

Just a few miles away from UMHS’s Ann Arbor campus at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Superior Township, the charge is $119,767 for the same procedure.

And the lowest charge in the state for ventilator support — $41,199 — is at Garden City Hospital in Garden City.

The disparity between hospital charges is strikingly evident across the board.

For small and large bowel procedures, UMHS also ranks at the top of the pack in Michigan with a charge of $188,881 — about $40,000 more than the hospital with the second-highest charge for the category, which is Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.

St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor charges $96,349 for the procedure. The lowest charge in the state is $39,838 at Marquette General Hospital.

For pneumonia treatment, Karmanos Cancer Center in Detroit has the highest charge at $24,466, and Mecosta County Medical Center in Big Rapids has the lowest charge at $6,172.

Here’s what hospitals in Washtenaw County list as charges for pneumonia treatment:

• UMHS: $21,888
• St. Joseph Mercy Hospital: $14,498
• Chelsea Community Hospital: $8,856

Here are hospital charges from Washtenaw County facilities for joint replacement:

• UMHS: $40,588
• St. Joseph Mercy Hospital: $36,266
• Chelsea Community Hospital: $24,649

The most expensive charges in the state for joint replacement are at Detroit Receiving Hospital and University Health Center in Detroit at $63,590, and the least expensive is a $17,752 charge at Tawas St. Joseph Hospital in Tawas City.

UMHS is at the national average for hospital charges, said Chief Financial Officer Paul Castillo, plus or minus several percentage points.

Paul Castillo

Courtesy photo

Hospitals all have very different contexts and burdens, Castillo said, citing teaching costs, the number of uninsured and poor patients they serve, as well as the degree to which the patients who are arrive are sick.

“Clearly U-M has a different mission than most,” said Rick Murdock, executive director of the Michigan Association of Health Plans.

Murdock explained the teaching facility status of UMHS, and the referral system that brings in sicker patients for treatment alters its cost structure.

The figures are not useful or relevant for most consumers, said Marianne Udow-Phillips, director of the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation.

“It’s a little misleading,” she said. “If you have health insurance, you’re not going to face charges or even the total payment.”

The more relevant question is quality, Udow-Phillips said.

“It’s a very small slice of a picture,” Udow-Phillips said. “It doesn’t help consumers to figure out where the value is. … As a consumer, you want to know where you’re going to be treated with the most effective outcomes.”

Reimbursements

In addition to having some of the highest hospital charges in Michigan, UMHS also has one of the highest Medicare reimbursement rates in the state, according to the government’s data.

But, they’re not directly correlated.

The reimbursement rate for Medicare and for most commercial insurers— including Blue Cross Blue Shield, which insures about 70 percent of patients with private insurance in Michigan — is calculated on a formula independent of hospital charges, Udow-Phillips said.

Marianne Udow-Phillips

Courtesy photo

Medicare’s formula has a series of metrics used to determine reimbursement. There’s a base payment established by Medicare for each type of diagnosis, which is adjusted based on the average wage.

Ann Arbor’s base Medicare reimbursement is at the national average, Castillo said, putting it higher than the base reimbursement that Detroit hospitals receive.

Hospitals qualify for more Medicare reimbursement if they treat a disproportionally larger share of the population that’s not able to pay for health care.

UMHS qualifies in that case, Castillo said, which garners UMHS an additional 17 percent more than the base reimbursement.

UMHS’ status as a teaching hospital also guarantees an additional 37 percent more reimbursement, Castillo said.

“To the extent that you treat a disproportionally higher poor population, and to the extent that you’re a teaching hospital, you’ll get Medicare support for those activities,” Castillo said.

Even with the combined 54 percent increase from the base payment for Medicare reimbursements, the figure only covers about 90 percent of the hospital’s cost for the service, Castillo said — meaning UMHS loses money on Medicare patients.

The Medicare reimbursement is typically less than that of private insurers, Castillo said.

However, the Medicare system does pay more to hospitals for specific patients that are considered to be outliers — in essence, sicker patients who require more than a standard routine of care for a diagnosis.

As UMHS receives a high number of referrals of patients who are the “sickest of the sick,” Castillo said UMHS does receive those additional surplus payments from Medicare.

Charges

A hospital’s charges for a procedure are the same across the board — no matter if the patients are uninsured, under private insurance or on a federal, state or local program.

However, charges don’t reflect what the hospital’s actual cost is to perform the service.

“Over the years, the charge structure has simply tried to keep it moving at the rate of inflation (in the health care market),” Castillo said. “The charges have less relevance to what (hospitals) get paid, but we continue to inflate them.”

It’s a practice conducted at hospitals across the country.

For UMHS, Castillo said the charge is about double the cost of the service.

“Charges (have) largely lost (their) relevance in the health care world, because what we get paid will be determined by Medicare and by commercial insurers,” Castillo said.

About 30 years ago, charges were used by many insurance companies to determine patient deductibles and premiums — which changed during the last wave of health care reform under President Bill Clinton’s administration, Udow-Phillips said.

Those that do face the charges — which tend to increase annually, based on hospital market rates — are the uninsured.

Cost-shifting

Patients without health insurance may not pay their medical bills, leaving hospitals with uncompensated costs they must find ways to cover.

Rick Murdock

Courtesy photo

Those uncompensated costs can work themselves in to consumer insurance premiums, leaving patients paying for their insurance to help foot the bill of the uninsured.

“This continues to be a part of our whole cost-shifting issues that we have with different providers,” Murdock said. “There’s definitely uncompensated care costs — those are paid for by premiums in private insurance.”

An analysis conducted by CHRT found that one percent of the expense of a private insurance premium is due to hospitals’ uncompensated care costs, Udow-Phillips said.

Murdock said the real question is if those costs are being fairly shifted to each insurance provider.

As hospitals continue to increase their charges year after year in accordance with the market, the problem is that the uninsured patient is saddled with an inflated debt, Murdock said.

“We should focus on why we have these charges,” Udow-Phillips said. “The only people that get billed these ... amounts (are) the uninsured — and that’s wrong."

Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo spoke to University of Michigan graduates about being bold during Saturday's commencement ceremony.

Courtney Sacco | AnnArbor.com

• Related coverage: Images from University of Michigan's spring 2013 commencement
• Related: University of Michigan students graduate and prepare 'to take the next step'

Dick Costolo began his keynote at University of Michigan's commencement ceremony Saturday not by speaking, but by tweeting.

The CEO of Twitter and U-M alum sent a picture of the roughly 5,000 students sitting across from him in the Big House, waiting to graduate, to his more than one million Twitter followers.

"I am a professional, so this should only take a second," he joked.

Dick Costolo took a photo with his phone before his speech at University of Michigan's commencement ceremony Saturday. He tweeted the photo afterward.

Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com

Costolo told graduates they "look like an amazing, giant choir" and urged them to be bold in their endeavors. He told them their lives were blank slates, that there is no script for their futures and that they should do what inspires them. He urged them not to look toward the expectations of other people, but to decide their own path.

"You have to figure out what you love to do, what you have conviction about and go do that," he said.

He also spoke about his time as an undergraduate at U-M. He studied computer science, but began taking acting classes during his senior year. When he graduated in 1985 he had three job offers to work as a programer for technology companies. He turned them down and instead tried to make it as an improv comedian in Chicago.

"I decided to make a big bet on myself and took a chance," he said, recalling how while trying his hand at improv in Chicago and took comedy classes he also worked part-time job at Crate & Barrel. "I was grinding away for a long time and I had no money."

He said that while studying improv he learned that he couldn't plan out all his moves ahead of time.

"The beauty of improvisation is you're experiencing it in the moment. If you try to plan what the next lines are going to be, you're just going to be disappointed."

That lesson, he said, often applies in real life, as well. Although Costolo at first wanted to be a comedian he began working on the Internet in the mid-1990s, eventually working for Google and joining Twitter in 2009.

"As you get ready to walk out under the bright lights of the improvisational stage of the rest of your life... be bold," he said. "Don't always worry about what your next line is going to be."

U-M president Mary Sue Coleman also urged students toward boldness during Saturday's ceremony.

"You will take risks. You will make a difference with your advocacy, your inventions, your initiative, because these are the trademarks of leaders," she said. "You will create change for the better, you will work on behalf of your neighbors and you will do it with dignity and integrity."

Saturday's speech was Costolo's first commencement speech.

Costolo, who was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity as a student in Ann Arbor, last visited campus in Nov. 16, when he gave a talk about his experience as the top executive of one of the most popular social media companies in the world. U-M officials began forging a deeper relationship with Costolo when a group of communicators visited the company's California office in the fall of 2012 to talk with Costolo and other leaders about how to maximize U-M's presence on Twitter.

Costolo received an honorary U-M degree Saturday, as did U-M donor and businessman William Brehm, ballet dancer Suzanne Farrell, scholar Rosabeth Kanter and historian David McCullough.

At the end of her speech, Coleman told graduates:

"The University of Michigan, the Diag, the Cube— they will always be there for you."

Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.

The records, obtained by AnnArbor.com from the Washtenaw County Prosecutor's Office through a Freedom of Information Act request, show a lack of oversight and documentation by hospital officials, which allowed the attorney to decide on her own that the case would not be reported to police.

Six months later, the case finally came to light when a doctor concerned that the investigation had been dropped brought it to the attention of the U-M Health System's Risk Management Department, which eventually led to more investigation and officials turning the case over to police. The police investigation ultimately led to a three-year prison sentence for Stephen Jenson, who admitted to possessing the child pornography.

Stephen Jenson

“I’m not sure that it was the process (that was flawed) as much as it was primarily one attorney sort of overstepping the bounds of what was expected of that office,” he said.

“If you’re looking at the aspect of how this was handled in the hospital legal office, it was mishandled largely by one employee. I don’t think it’s fair to say there was something wrong with the legal office.”

Many of the processes that led to the six-month lapse between the original discovery of the child pornography on May 23, 2011, and the eventual report to police on Nov. 18, 2011, have been fixed, university officials said. The University of Michigan Department of Public Safety is no more — replaced by a division encompassing all the university's security units — the attorneys who worked on the initial investigation into Jenson no longer work at U-M, and university officials continue to develop a clear line of command to help avoid miscommunication.

Fitzgerald said the university has tried to be as open as possible about the case and the issues that led to the six-month reporting delay. University officials have not released a $487,000 report done into the case, citing attorney-client privilege, although a different report was released.

“All the issues that have been raised, we’ve tried to address as quickly and as thoughtfully as possible, including the creation of a new division,” Fitzgerald said.

A shocking discovery

A pediatric resident at the University of Michigan Hospital was near the end of her shift on May 23, 2011, when she logged on to a computer around 10 p.m. to complete her patient charts before going home. She was working on computer, terminal WSPD3445, in a room only open to residents when she realized someone had left a thumb drive in it. The resident finished her work and then tried to identify the owner of the thumb drive by opening the three files on the drive.

According to her interview with police, it took a little while for the files to load. And then, all three popped open at once.

One of them was a Microsoft Word file with Jenson’s name on it. The other was a pornographic photo of an adult woman. The third was a photo of a child, who appeared nude, tied to a bed with a nude adult lying across the child’s body.

“The child was definitely prepubescent,” the resident told University of Michigan police Detective Margie Pillsbury, lead investigator on the case. "I believe the child was between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.”

She said she panicked and left the room. She went home and came back the next day to the same computer she used the night before, trying to find the thumb drive. It was gone. She spoke to her adviser — Dr. Beth Tarini, an assistant professor of pediatrics at U-M — about what she saw and Tarini consulted Dr. Margie Andreae, professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and Tarini’s superior. Andreae directed Tarini and the resident to hospital attorneys and Hospital Security.

The resident then met with Corbie Wells, security supervisor at the hospital, and Brian Eichert, who was working as a temporary investigator in the hospital's loss prevention unit. Simultaneously, Andreae notified attorneys in the hospital legal department, who began their own investigation.

Wells said he then called U-M Police to see if they could aid in the investigation.

“I remember calling either U-M Police Lt. Melissa Overton or Sgt. Jason Forsberg and telling them I had a suspicious incident,” Wells said in the report. “I wanted to know if they could send over (investigators) to check the computer. I did not want to take the computer out of the room. I did not actually ever talk to anyone at U-M Police; I think I left a message on a phone.”

Forsberg's had a different recollection of the phone conversation. Forsberg emailed Overton on Dec. 7, 2011, and said he had no record of Wells ever asking police to look at the computer.

“My recollection is he began the story as a hypothetical ‘what if’: A staff person reported that she saw possible pornography on a USB flash drive,” Forsberg wrote. “Wells told me that there was no suspect and that the flash drive was gone. He asked if our computer forensic people would be able to tell anything by looking at the desktop computer that the flash drive was connected to.

“I told him that I did not know the answer to this but that we would be happy to look at the computer and see. I do not remember his response to this, but I believe that he said he had a couple more pieces of follow-up he could do and he would get back with me. If this is the same incident, I never heard about it again until November 2011.”

Shutting the investigation down

While Hospital Security was starting an investigation, Susan Balkema and Adil Daudi, attorneys in the hospital’s Office of the General Counsel, were starting their own investigation into the report. Balkema was the main investigator in the case and Daudi assisted her, records show.

The University of Michigan Health System's campus.

Daudi emailed James Simonis, a data security analyst with Medical Center Information Technology (MCIT) on May 25, 2011, asking him to pull the log-ins for the computer from May 23, 2011. In the email, Daudi informed Simonis that all work he did in the investigation was to be confidential and could not be shared with anyone except Balkema and Daudi.

“Your work that you perform in connection with your engagement, and all communications between you and us, shall be regarded as confidential and made solely for the purpose of assisting us in rendering legal advice, and therefore, is subject to the attorney-client privilege and the attorney work product protection,” the email stated.

Later on in the email, which was also sent to Wells, Daudi wrote, “Please do not disclose to anyone, without our prior written permission, the nature or content of any oral or written communication with us in the course of this engagement. We ask that you communicate only with attorneys in the OGC about substantive issues, the results of your activities, or any questions that you may have.”

In an interview with police, Wells said he interpreted that email to mean “I could not do my job,” the report states. Wells also said he was later told in a conference call with Balkema and Daudi to drop the investigation entirely.

“(They) told me whatever I found out they wanted that information,” Wells said in the report. “They instructed me that they were conducting the investigation and I was not to work on it any longer. I was very upset because General Counsel had never told me what I could and could not do.

“They were telling me that they would handle it. They told me I could not talk to anyone and that I needed to go through them.”

Although Wells said he had never before got such a message from general counsel, he said it wasn't the first time he had been told to shut down an investigation.

“I had previously experienced the Office of Clinical Affairs shutting down investigations I was working on which were related to doctors. This was the first time I had ever been instructed by OGC to stop an investigation,” Wells said in the report.

Daudi denied telling Wells to stop investigating.

“I may have called Corbie Wells with Susan to ‘wrap up’ the case at some point. I don’t recall telling Corbie to stop investigating,” Daudi told police. “If Corbie said that we called him I guess that is possible, I kind of remember a wrap-up conversation that was made with Susan and I contacting Corbie.”

Fitzgerald said it was wrong of hospital attorneys to give Wells, or any other investigators, the impression that they should not investigate. He said the Office of Clinical Affairs has previously looked into allegations of hospital officials telling security to stop an investigation and found nothing.

The statements Wells made in the police interview may not have been accurate, given the context of the interview, Fitzgerald said.

“Some things are never really followed up on from a police investigation because they’re not pertinent to the criminal investigation,” he said. “They may or may not be accurate because they’re based on recollection. If they’re not critical to the criminal investigation … the police are focusing on the most pertinent information.”

While Wells stopped his investigation of the incident after being instructed too, Balkema and Daudi continued theirs.

Emails sent among Balkema, Daudi and Simonis included in the police report show there was some difficulty finding out exactly what happened on the computer on May 23, 2011. Simonis was able to confirm Jenson was on terminal WSPD3445 from 6:12 p.m. until 8:23 p.m. on May 23, 2011. The resident who found the thumb drive logged on from 10:12 p.m. until 10:56 p.m.

According to the report, Jenson got back on the computer at 7:50 a.m. on May 24, 2011, for just seven minutes. There were no other users between when the resident logged off on May 23, 2011, and Jenson logged back on.

In emails dated May 26, 2011, Balkema and Daudi said they had trouble viewing the data Simonis was sending them. Daudi told police they asked Simonis if he could see what files were looked at on the computer. Simonis replied that he could only look at who logged on and off and not what was opened.

Daudi said Balkema took the lead on the investigation. An interview with the resident was scheduled for June 2, 2011.

The resident told police she met with Balkema, who told her “the investigation was complete and that they determined the concern was unfounded,” the report states.

According to the report, the resident was told Hospital Security confiscated the hard drive and “recovered nothing.” Balkema said she wanted to know who the resident had told about the report and, should she speak about what she found, it could be considered slander against Jenson, according to the report.

“She told me that no one had talked to Jenson about it,” the resident told police. “She told me that if I really ‘wanted to protect children’ I should have taken the thumb drive and given it to security. This meeting went on for close to an hour and I was crying and very upset by the time it was over.”

After the meeting, Balkema emailed Daudi: “God, that resident crying has really thrown my whole day off! And I wasn’t even rude. Maybe she was trying to make me feel sorry for her. I don’t like to make women cry.”

Attempts to reach Balkema for comment were not successful.

Free rein

Balkema was largely allowed to make the decision to stop the investigation on her own, records indicate. Her superior, Margaret Marchak, told police she remembered Balkema telling her “there was nothing there.” There were no records in the case’s file, aside from the reports from MCIT and a couple of emails, according to the report.

There were no written report or written notes explaining how the case was done or how Balkema came to the decision that the resident’s claims had no merit, Marchak said. That was generally how the hospital’s legal department operated.

“The attorneys in our office are free to open and close matters without consulting me,” Marchak told police. “It is expected that the work we do will be documented, but there is not a policy or procedure in place currently to assure that happens.”

Fitzgerald said last week that one of the first recommendations from reports done for the university after the case came to light was creating a common database for reports. He said there was a common reporting system between different agencies at the time, but that system has been strengthened.

Fitzgerald said the university has recognized from the start that Balkema's decision to drop the investigation was inappropriate. He said attorneys in the Office of the General Counsel are not supposed to conduct a criminal investigation autonomously.

Balkema and Daudi no longer work for the university, Fitzgerald said. University officials have said that Balkema's departure was not related to the Jenson case.

Heading to police

After Balkema told the resident the investigation was complete in June, nothing happened until Tarini and Andreae began discussing the case again after former Penn State University defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky hit the news.

Sandusky was being charged in November 2011 with molesting numerous children during his time at Penn State. Andreae told Tarini that Balkema was fired soon after she made the decision to stop investigating Jenson. Andreae suggested Tarini bring the case to Rick Boothman at the hospital’s Office of Risk Management.

Tarini told police she spoke with Boothman on Nov. 11, 2011, and told him about the resident’s experiences with Balkema. Tarini said Boothman wasn’t surprised.

“He said that this was serious and that the attorney was fired for behavior like what I was describing,” Tarini said in the report.

However, Tarini was initially put off by Boothman’s attitude toward the case, according to the report. He said there was a lack of proof, a long time had passed since the initial report and the thumb drive was gone, Tarini said in the report.

The resident who found the thumb drive met with Boothman the following day and told Tarini the meeting went fine, according to the report. However, Tarini wasn’t pleased with how she saw things playing out, so she decided to contact Dr. Valerie Castle, chairwoman of the hospital’s pediatric department.

“Dr. Castle listened to the report and was very concerned,” Tarini told police. “I felt like she understood the seriousness of this incident. Dr. Castle assured me that she would make sure the matter was looked into.”

On Nov. 14, 2011, Boothman turned the complaint over to the hospital's legal department, which gave it to Martha Boonstra, associate general counsel. By the next day, hospital officials were discussing a “time out” for Jenson while the case was investigated.

The next day, Boonstra indicated she thought the case would need to be turned over to police.

“We have made preparations for submitting a report to the proper authorities by the most expeditious means possible, if such reporting is found to be required,” she wrote in a Nov. 15 email to multiple officials involved in the investigation.

However, on the night of Nov. 15, the resident who originally discovered the thumb drive expressed apprehension about the investigation moving forward.

“You must understand that I thought this situation was completely settled months ago,” she wrote to Pediatric Residency Director Dr. Hilary Haftel. “It was directly against my request and certainly without my permission that Dr. Tarini meddled in this situation and involved the legal department for a second time.”

Haftel met with the resident the next day and calmed her fears, according to an email she sent Boonstra. Boonstra interviewed the resident and, on Nov. 18, brought the case to Hospital Security and told them to bring the case to police. Hospital security called Overton and the police investigation began.

An arrest, charges and a conviction

After that, the case moved quickly. On Nov. 21, 2011, Pillsbury began doing interviews, and the computer used by Jenson on May 23, 2011, was seized. A forensic examination corroborated the resident’s story that she opened images on the thumb drive that belonged to Jenson.

Pillsbury spent much of the next week talking to individuals connected with the case and collecting a paper trail of emails showing what happened in May, the report shows. Pillsbury contacted Balkema, who declined to speak with police, citing attorney-client privilege.

On Dec. 1, she obtained a search warrant for Jenson’s condominium in Pittsfield Township.

Investigators interviewed Jenson for the first time on Dec. 2, 2011, when Pillsbury and Forsberg served the search warrant. The Salt Lake City native said his original thought was that he accidentally viewed child pornography while visiting adult dating sites, the report shows.

“The first time I unintentionally looked at child pornography was about five years ago,” Jenson said in the police report. “The last time was within the last few months. I have viewed these images both at work on U-M Hospital computers and at home on my personal computer.”

Police searched Jenson’s home and seized two Toshiba laptops, an iPod, 3 thumb drives, a Sony camera, two Verizon cellphones, a CD, an external hard drive, CD-Rs, a binder of CDs, a Palm Pilot, seven 3.5-inch floppy disks, three zip drives, an RCA mp3 player, a Vivitar 35-millimeter camera with exposed film and an envelope that was addressed to Jenson, according to the report.

The search warrant was served before Jenson went to work on Dec. 2, 2011. Boonstra told police Jenson informed his superiors about the search warrant that day.

“We asked if the police were going to find anything and he replied yes,” Boonstra said. “We asked what. He said images of minors. We asked how many and he said 20. He further explained that this was something he had done while he was in medical school and that he should have gotten rid of them. He said that he needed counseling.

Jenson was suspended that day, Boonstra said.

A forensic scan done on Dec. 16, 2011, on the items seized from Jenson revealed there were 17 confirmed images of child pornography in Jenson’s possession and 60 suspected images. Jenson was fired on Dec. 16, 2011, and arraigned in Washtenaw County on four counts of possession of child sexually abusive material on Dec. 17, 2011.

In February 2012, those charges were dropped and Jenson was charged with one count each of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography by federal prosecutors. On March 21, 2013, Jenson was sentenced to serve the minimum of three years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. The charge of receipt of child pornography was dropped.

AnnArbor.com attempted to contact Tarini, Boonstra and the resident who initially discovered the thumb drive. They did not respond to the requests for comment. AnnArbor.com is not naming the resident to protect her anonymity.

A year of change

Jenson’s case, and the revelation of the six-month gap between the discovery of the thumb drive and the beginning of a police investigation, sparked a period of change at the University of Michigan.

The most dramatic impact was the creation of the Division of Public Safety and Security. Previously, the University of Michigan Police, Hospital Security and Housing Security were all separate entities. In the new division, all of those agencies are under the same umbrella.

Fitzgerald said this change clears up any confusion about when to report possible criminal complaints and who to report them to.

“We have a very good security agency in the health system, we have the same with the University of Michigan Police Department,” Fitzgerald said. “With those two units reporting as a part of the same division it makes it a more seamless process and things aren’t going to get (lost).”

In 2012, the University of Michigan Board of Regents commissioned an internal and two external reports into the Jenson case. The Margolis Healy external report cost the university $120,000 and a second report, the details of which are sealed due to attorney-client privilege, cost $487,000.

The Margolis Healy report listed broken and nonexistent trust between units, fear of police by some security officers and staff members, unclear roles between units and poor communication and lack of leadership and protocol as four of the main problems with the university’s security outfit.

Fitzgerald said university officials took these recommendations seriously.

“It’s changed a lot. On a day-to-day basis there was a lot of cooperation before and that’s been strengthened and enhanced,” he said.

The Division of Public Safety and Security is still searching for its new, permanent leader. U-M Police Chief Joe Piersante is currently the interim director of the division and has been leading it since its inception last fall. The chiefs of every branch of the division — the Police Department, Housing Security, Hospital Security and Security — report to the head of the division, who reports directly to the university president.

Other universities, such as Ohio State University, follow a similar model.

In the wake of the Jenson case, university General Counsel Suellyn Scarnecchia resigned her post and was eventually replaced by Timothy Lynch. Fitzgerald said at the time Scarnecchia’s departure was not related to the Jenson controversy. Debra Kowich took over as the interim general counsel until Lynch was hired, and Kowich now serves as interim director of the Health System Office of the General Counsel, which is looking for a permanent director.

Fitzgerald said officials are working every day to make sure an incident like the one involving Jenson doesn’t happen again.

“We took full responsibility right from the beginning that this wasn’t handled properly,” he said. “We’ve made tremendous progress moving forward over the last two years.”

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.

“It was a long hard road, but (screenwriting) was and is what I’ve always wanted to do,” Scott Reynolds said during the morning commencement ceremony. “And that’s what you want to say about your life, right? Achieving your dream? Not just living for the weekend. Getting the desires of your heart.”

Scott Reynolds, story editor for the Showtime thriller "Dexter," speaking at Eastern Michigan's commencement address Sunday.

Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com

Reynolds’ path to success was a story of perseverance. After graduating from Eastern with a degree in English literature and theater and a minor in film studies, Reynolds moved to Los Angeles to pursue his dream to become a screenwriter. Seven years later, Reynolds said he still hadn’t sold a screenplay or been staffed on a show and began to watch his friends start to give up on their dreams and move back home.

But Reynolds said he couldn't give up because he didn't have a backup plan. It was then when he got his first break working for “Touched by an Angel,” a show he joked he’d never seen before but his grandmother enjoyed. That project was short-lived but was the start of a series of assistant jobs for different shows.

“I was one of the first ones in (to work) and one of the last to go,” he said. “I made sure the coffee was hot, that the water was always full. I did all these things, these menial jobs that had nothing to do with my degree, in the hope that I would become a screenwriter.”

That effort eventually paid off. After working as a staff writer on the short-lived military drama “E-Ring,” Reynolds was hired as a writer’s assistant for “Dexter,” a move he described as a step backwards. But Reynolds continued working hard at his “menial” tasks while continuing his screenwriting work, eventually writing his own script in season two and becoming part of the writing staff.

Reynolds advised graduates to make time every day to do what they love and to take chances on their path to fulfilling their dreams.

“Don’t make safe decisions,” he said. “I’ve never heard of anyone I know who has had big success that didn’t decide to forge a new path, rather than the safe, well-trod one.”

Reynolds also told graduates to remember to serve others and not be a “pooper.”

“Never, if possible, be the one who just trashes ideas,” he said. “If you must trash an idea, then always come with a solution. People want to work with people who bring solutions to the table. Not with the person who tells people why you can’t do something.”

Graduates said they enjoyed the speech and found it inspiring.

“I don’t really know who he is, but he definitely won me over,” said Michelle Paul, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. “It was really interesting and it was a lot more fun than I expected.”

Kimani Jeffrey, who graduated with a master’s degree in public administration, said he liked the speech because it was about hope.

“He started out of college and it’s perseverance that he actually made it,” he said. “It’s what he loves to do and he’s fulfilled his dreams.”