You are cordially invited to the

Ann Arbor International Group’s

1^st Benefit Performance!

Proceeds will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Thursday,   3/11/2010,    7:30pm

Opera On Tap

Kerrytown Concert House

$10 General Admission

Make a Reservation Now By Calling

Kerrytown Concert House at 734-769-2999,  Ko Kaiden

Event Details

The Opera On Tap performers of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti give a contemporary twist to the traditional concert format. Led by Ko Kaiden, the ensemble performs selections from operas in a fun, relaxed environment.

This concert is organized by Suzi Naguib and the Ann Arbor International Group.
All net proceeds will benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Participate in a raffle and enjoy complementary appetizers, as well as drinks from the Wolverine Brewing Co. (www.wolverinebeer.com, www.a2beerwench.com) prior to the concert at 7:30p.m. The performance starts at 8 pm.

The Ann Arbor Palestine Film Festival will offer 4 days of films about Palestine and by Palestinian directors this March 10-13 “to encourage audiences to discover the complexity of Palestinian culture and the pressing issues concerning the Palestinian people through a medium (the screen arts) that is easily accessible, informational, and entertaining.”

This film festival, on its second year is an independent and non-secretarian organization organized by a group of undergraduates and recent graduates of University of Michigan.

You can check out their website at http://www.a2palestinefilmfest.org/films.html
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Ann Arbor police are investigating the two burglaries that are possibly related Tuesday on the south side of the city according to Lt. Renee Bush.

The burglaries happened at around noon in the 1500 block of Kensington Drive and 1400 block of Jewett Avenue, police said.

Bush said that in the two incidents, the doors were forced open and money was stolen. A TV was also stolen from the Kensington Drive home, police said.

According to Bush, they are interested in talking to the man who was seen leaving from the area of Jewett Avenue home. The man was said to be black, between 5′11″ – 6′ tall, about 50 years old with a medium build. He was wearing an olive-colored jacket and dark-colored stocking cap. He left in an older-model tan, four-door car, Bush said.

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There is a study in Ann Arbor where the lead suthor, Dr. Lena Chen, says that not because you are paying less for health care means that you are getting low quality care. Dr. Chen is a clinical lecturer at University of Michigan Health System. She said that they would like to find out why there is a “huge range” between hospitals.

Below is the transcript taken from http://www.wbur.org/npr/123979339

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Does paying less for hospital care mean that you get lower quality care? Well, according to a new study in the archives of internal medicine the answer is not necessarily. Dr. Lena Chen is a clinical lecturer at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. She was the lead author of that study and she joins us now from member station WUOM. Dr. Chen, welcome to the program.

Dr. LENA CHEN (Clinical Lecturer, University of Michigan Health System): Hi.

SIEGEL: Your study examines the records of care for congestive heart failure patients – all of them Medicare patients – in more than 3,000 hospitals. Tell us what you found.

Dr. CHEN: Well, we found that the cost of caring for a patient does not necessarily correlate with the quality of care delivered. So, for same conditions such as congestive heart failure, higher-cost hospitals provided higher quality care. But for other conditions such as pneumonia, the converse was true.

SIEGEL: You mean, that actually lower cost hospitals for some conditions in the end provided better care than higher cost hospitals.

Dr. CHEN: Yes. Although the differences were very small in terms of quality differences between the high and the low cost hospitals.

SIEGEL: Some of the ranges in price for treating the same ailment are pretty stunning here. For example, for congestive heart failure, you have a range of what was the cheapest and what was the most expensive?

Dr. CHEN: For congestive heart failure, the cheapest was $1,522, and the highest was $18,927.

SIEGEL: Eighteen thousand?

Dr. CHEN: Yes, it’s definitely a huge range and we’d like to understand why there is such a range between hospitals.

SIEGEL: But what’s driving that difference? Is it how many days you spend in the hospital? Is it how many people are checking up on you, medication, what’s doing it?

Dr. CHEN: In part, it is probably the length of stay so – we found that the higher cost hospitals did have longer length of stay meaning the patient was in the hospital for a longer period of time. But beyond that we were unable to identify the specific reasons why high-cost hospitals cost more. Some of the reasons could be what you mention, such as different testing patterns.

SIEGEL: Does part of the country figure in it? I mean, are there just places where medical care is much more expensive because of, you know, real estate or utilities cost for the hospital?

Dr. CHEN: We did try to factor in the wages of a particular area. So, for example, a hospital in New York City versus a hospital in a small town, their wages might be slightly different. So, we adjusted for that in our in defining what was a high-cost hospital.

SIEGEL: But the range that you just cited to us for the cost of congestive heart failure, I mean, you’d have to find the highest labor market in the world versus a very, very cheap one to account for that.

Dr. CHEN: That’s true. Definitely, it’s in part driven by what the hospital does. But we don’t have an answer as to what that is. Some of it may also be driven by differences in patients seen by different hospitals. We did try to adjust for that. But there maybe some residual differences that we could not account for.

SIEGEL: When we say that the outcomes at hospitals that cost less, that charge less are no different or essentially no different than at the more expensive ones per hundred patients, I mean, how many more have a really bad outcome at the loser in that comparison?

Dr. CHEN: Yeah, I mean the mortality rates for congestive heart failure in the lowest cost hospital was 10.8 percent and in the highest-cost hospital it was 9.8 percent.

SIEGEL: So you’re saying the ranges, whether 10 people or 11 people did not make it through treatment – which does sound pretty small – and the range of cost can be what you described as eight or nine fold in terms of cost?

Dr. CHEN: Right, there’s a much bigger difference in dollars.

SIEGEL: So, if people are prone to think that, you know, some hospital must be good because people pay a lot to go there and be treated, that would be misguided, and to think that because that hospital is cheap doesn’t mean you’re going to some low-rent medical facility.

Dr. CHEN: That is true. And I think that when you’re going to a hospital, if you have the luxury of looking at the cost that it would be important to look at their quality measures as well, not just cost as a predictor of the type of care you’re going to get.

SIEGEL: Dr. Lena Chen, clinical lecturer in the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, thank you very much for talking with us.

Dr. CHEN: Thank you very much. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

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According to an Ann Arbor research, treadmill training can help infants who have complications before birth be able to walk earlier and better.

Injuries during the prenatal period can be corrected but there are times that toddlers can be diagnosed with serious disorders such as cerebral palsy according to Rosa Angulo-Barroso, associate professor of movement science at the U-M School of Kinesiology. She said that some of those diagnosis may come later while some mild cases may never come.

Angulo-Barroso and colleagues studied 15 infants who are at risk for neuromotor delays for two years. They tested the changes in physical activity and treadmill stepping.

The researchers observed the frequency of steps and the decrease in toe-walking over the two-year period. For those infants who were still not walking, the researchers followed-up if the child is walking at the age of 3.

They found out that those who have neuromotor delays who are using the treadmill are on the same stage as normal kids. Out of the 15 children, 6 were diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

“We found that in those with neuromotor delays, the pattern of development through time was parallel (but less) than normal kids.” said Angulo-Barroso, who is also a research associate professor at the U-M Center for Human Growth and Development. “We also found less toe-walking, so foot placement improved.”

The study also suggests a critical intervention window. Both children without a diagnosis and kids with cerebral palsy improved the most between 10 months and 18 months.

“We are putting words of caution here,” Angulo-Barroso said. “This is a feasibility study only and the results show it seems viable to do treadmill intervention.”

“Early interventions are really, really critical, so at this point I wouldn’t tell them to go find a treadmill, but I would say make sure you get a good physical therapist and work with the physical therapist to see if your kids would be a good candidate for that kind of (treadmill) intervention,” said Angulo-Barroso, who noted that the next study is a randomized sample of children to see how they respond to a formal treadmill intervention.

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Domino’s Pizza based in Ann Arbor said that they have surpassed the $1B sales online. To celebrate this occasion, Domino’s Pizza is offering free Chocolate Lava Crunch Cakes to customers who will enter the promo code “HUG” during their online order on Feb 14.

“We are thrilled with how our innovative online ordering system has been doing since day one, and we owe that success to our customers,” Domino’s Chief Marketing Officer Russell Weiner said in a news release.

“It’s clear after $1 billion in sales online that consumers are taking full advantage of the convenience and efficiency of our online ordering process, and we want to thank them for that.”

Online sales comprises 20% of Domino’s orders and they have surpassed their competitors Pizza Hut and Papa John’s.

Domino’s is building their own IT staff instead of contracting with an outside source.

“We’re offering Silicon Valley jobs in Ann Arbor,” Christopher McGlothlin, Domino’s chief information officer, told AnnArbor.com in December.

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The said scholarship will be able to help Dr. Leong in financing and completing her masters in periodontics.

It was in 1975 when Dr. Benson Duff (now deceased) got his bachelor’s biology degree in UM. He then went on to get a degree in dentistry 5 years later and masters in periodontics in 1988.

Dr. Duff worked in private practice and at the same time he acted as the associate of Michigan Periodontal Alumni Board and the Dean’s Faculty before he passed away in 2008.

His wife, Sheree, an associate dental dean set up the scholarship with a $60,000 donation. This was matched by the University of Michigan’s Donor Challenge Program which was able to raise more than a million dollars.

Dr. Leong has been in UM since July 2007 and she is just overwhelmed when she had been awarded the scholarship. She plans to complete her masters and become an expert in her chosen career.

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On Saturday, February 6, the first ever Ann Arbor Winter Warrior event will be held. This is organized by the Main Street Area Association. The even twill take place from 12pm – 6pm in downtown Ann Arbor. Winter Warrior aims to encourage people to get outside despite the not-so-inviting cold weather.

Restaurants and cafes that are participating in the said event will bring out their sidewalk furniture. If you are a Winter Warrior and sit outside, you will be able to enjoy special discounts such as a $1 hot drink like tea, coffee, soda or a $2 draught beer. Some restaurants may also offer food specials.

All participants in the Winter Warrior event will receive a stamp on their receipt. Just present this stamped receipt at participating establishments and get special discounts!

Participating restaurants, bars & cafes:

• Arbor Brewing Company

• BD’s Mongolian BBQ

• Blue Tractor

• Cafe Felix

• Grizzly Peak

• Jolly Pumpkin Cafe and Brewery

• Mighty Good Coffee

• The Arena

Participating retailers:

• Salon XL – 20% off products

• Moosejaw – 20% off any one, regular priced item

• Salon Vox – 20% off products

• Schakolad – discounts on hot drinks and prebooked Valentine’s orders

• Sole Sisters – an additional 10% off sale items, 15% off regularly priced items.

• Cupcake Station – free regular coffee with a $2 purchase

• Crazy Wisdom – 15% off one item

• Acme Mercantile – 20% off regularly priced merchandise

• Elmo’s T-Shirts – a FREE Michigan bumper sticker($4.95 value) with the purchase of any t-shirt at regular price (not already on sale) and a FREE tin lunch box ($9.95 value) with the purchase of a second t-shirt. (Saturday & Sunday)

• Carillon Chocolates – BOGO ice cream cones or BOGO coffee (Saturday & Sunday)

• Ann Arbor Art Center – 10% off in gift shop, 20% off for members

What are you waiting for? Save the date: February 6. Go out and brave the cold and become a Winter Warrior!

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After years of allowing dogs to enter their establishment, Ann Arbor Borders bookstore no longer allow dogs. They have decided to enforce the company-wide policy that prohibits the entry of pets.

“We prioritize the safety and happiness of our customers,” Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis said. “We think that it’s important to put this particular store in line with our other stores, which currently only allow service dogs.”

According to AnnArbor.com, the general manager of the store has received a number of complaints about the dogs. Some complaints were described as “nasty.”

Borders did not identify as to the nature of the complaints. But there was one that was made to the county health authorities who pointed out the coffee shop of the store makes it a licensed food service establishment.

Some customers were sad over the new no-dog policy.

“My dog has never fought with another dog or eaten a book or a person,” said Marcia Polenberg, who was standing outside the store with her dog, Caravaggio. “I don’t know that this is a good policy. I will be much less inclined to shop here.”

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There are at least 5 Ann Arbor hotels that can be booked for $50 or less, all located within the City of Ann Arbor, MI

Cheap Hotel Ann Arbor is owned by an Ann Arbor local who uses the proceeds to pay for kids education.  The site is powered by Expedia.

Anyone looking for a hotel in Ann Arbor for Art Fair, U of M football games, U of M Hospital visits, University of Michigan campus visit or to vacation in Ann Arbor can find many cheap hotel and motel options in Ann Arbor, MI.

Cheap Hotel Ann Arbor