Mar2015

It Just Keeps On Going, And Going, And Going ... Mississippi bureaucrats never seem to recognize waste, misconduct, miscreant behavior. Result: It just keeps on going and going and going ... It's amazing how bureaucrats conveniently forget the many instances of absolute waste of state taxpayer funds. Maybe they think that since citizens are not reminded with follow up reports from traditional local news organizations, no one will remember. They may be right.

Is PERS Playing a Fool's Game? CNBC reported the thoughts of Warren Buffett, the "Oracle of Omaha", on "public pensions, colleges and the like: Stop pouring money into expensive, high-end money managers." If you have any doubt Mississippi PERS is doing just that, take a look at Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi v. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., 09-cv-01110, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Can We Expect the NCAA Investigation to Get Worse? The February 18, 2015 Mississippi Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning DRAFT BOARD BOOK offers a telltale sign that the NCAA investigation is is going worse than expected. "3. USM - APPROVAL TO MODIFY CONTRACT WITH LIGHTFOOT, FRANKLIN & WHITE, PLLC, AS OUTSIDE COUNSEL"

Dear usmnews.net, While Southern Miss is worried over the ongoing decline in student population, William Carey [University] just announced that its Education program has grown by eight percent this year. Southern Miss' enrollment has dropped for the past two years, while William Carey's [overall enrollment] has increased. What's going on?

How Far Will a University Go to Be Rid of a Troublesome Faculty? Anyone interested in integrity in higher education should read the "Declaration of LaShondra Peebles:

Dear usmnews.net, I would like to suggest a contest for your readers. Identify any Southern Miss administrator who has acted with even a small measure of the integrity shown by LaShondra Peebles?

What do you believe? PERS is secure? Funding shortfalls put pensions in peril by John W. Schoen puts those questions in perspective. As the article says "These days, a pension just isn't what it used to be."

The Absurdity of Accreditation An interesting article from The Chronicle of Higher Education, March 25, 2015 by Eric Kelderman.
"U.S. Appeals Court Backs Accreditor's Decision Against a Massage School In January 2014 a federal judge in Virginia reversed an accreditor's decision to revoke the accreditation of a massage school in Missouri, ...".

Dear usmnews.net, Few old timers have forgotten that the IHL unceremoniously showed [former President] Martha [Saunders] the door shortly after extending her contract. Wonder if [current President Rodney] Bennett feels secure with his contract extension?

Tyndall Out as Head Coach of Tennessee What does the future hold for Southern Miss' Basketball Program? Numerous sources have confirmed that Donnie Tyndall will not be returning as head basketball coach for the University of Tennessee. Not content with discretely easing Tyndall out the door, ESPN reports that "[Tennessee] athletic director Dave Hart says the university never would have hired him if they knew the details of his unethical conduct at Southern Miss program during his tenure there."

Must Reading Anyone who hasn't seen The Chronicle of Higher Education interview of Mary Willingham should stop what they're doing and spend a few minutes viewing it. The report that accompanies the video is as follows: "'The Athletic Machine Is in Charge of the University' Mary C. Willingham, Former Learning Specialist at Chapel Hill Mary C. Willingham, a learning specialist who blew the whistle on academic fraud at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ...".