"Rufus McCoy and Profiteers in the Ivory Tower", a novel, is about the calamity overtaking American higher education. Rufus tells an insider's story, which is entirely different from the rosy picture portrayed by the university lobbying and public relations juggernaut. See right column for details.

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Academic Research
Over the past several years, usmnews.net has published literally thousands of reports from current and former faculty who share my belief that USM has ineffectively and inefficiently employed far too much of its resources, both in terms of money and people. The purpose of usmnews.net is not to provide a public relations view. That is amply supplied by The University of Southern Mississippi's public relations department.

Chauncey M. DePree, Jr. Editor
marcdepree@gmail.com (Click here for editorial policy.)
Fiction
"TobaccoPharm, A Divine and Deadly Green Factory"

If you had the knowledge to put an end to the plague of diseases caused by cigarettes and tobacco, would you use it? Given the current knowledge of transgenic use of tobacco plants, TobaccoPharm will leave you wondering when, not if, the plague of tobacco will end. Click here for preview.

Purchase at:

Barnes & Nobles

or

Amazon

Current research by Chauncey M. DePree, Jr., DBA can be downloaded free from SSRN (several projects are Top Ten downloads on SSRN):

"A General Theory to Test Social Reality"

"Is Accreditation a Reliable Authority on Academic Quality?: Testing Social Reality"

"University and AACSB Diversity: Testing Social Reality"

"A Sound Foundation: The FASB Got Its Conceptual Framework Right, The IASB Didn't"

"An Evolution of Form and Content: A Practical Guide to Use of the FASB's Conceptual Framework"


usmnews.net
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"The fun money is private money. At Southern Miss, I've got state dollars and I've got Foundation dollars. It's real easy to tell them apart. I tell people I've got two checkbooks. I've got my booze account and my non-booze account. Out of the state money I'm pretty constrained what in I can do. ... Foundation dollars, that's when I take my money out of my booze account, I can pretty much do anything I want with it." D. Harold Doty, former Dean, College of Business, University of Southern Mississippi, current Dean, University of Texas at Tyler
In August 2011, Martha Saunders smiled as she presented Galaxy Tabs to selected students. Now, three senior adminstrators have been suspended. Will Saunders be next? (For more reports re "Tabletgate", click here.)
February 21, 2012, Noon
President Saunders: Inefficient and Ineffective Use of Students' and Taxpayers' Money,
Part 2, 2011 Costs and Use of King Air N777AQ: Boy's Night Out
Click here for reports from January 19 - February 8, 2012
Click here for reports from January 19 - February 8, 2012
February 9, 2012
Rest for the Weary A Closer Look at Russ Willis’ Resignation as Vice President for Administrative Affairs A Guest Column from C. Anna Hall The ink on Russ Willis’ Jan-2012 resignation as vice president for administrative affairs at USM is still drying, and was on 27-Jan-2012 when USM faculty senate president Timothy Rehner addressed the matter to open the senate’s monthly meeting. Rehner stated:
Saunders’ King Air . . . By the Numbers Airplane Facts USM Officials Might Not Want Out in the Public Several analyses of USM president Martha Saunders’ lease of, and use of, the USM airplane can be found in the President Saunders' Extravagance, Dr. Saunders' AirPlane, MS Opens Records Request Reveals USM's Actual Costs of President Saunders' Plane, and A Brief History of Dr. Saunders' "Lease" of Airplane pages here at USMNEWS.net.
For readers who have requested quicker access to reports about Dr. Saunders' airplane, please click here. A good place to start is Cost Per Flight Hour which includes links to the detailed cost and usage data obtained through open records requests.

February 10, 2012
Dear usmnews.net, I don't know why Russ Willis stepped down from a high level administrative job [Vice President for Administrative Affairs], but I'd be surprised if it was overwork as suggested during a recent Faculty Senate meeting.
The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 10-February-2012 Round-Trip Ticket According to new paperwork obtained via the Mississippi Open Records Act by USMNEWS.net regarding the USM Beechcraft King Air, the lease between USM and the USM Foundation for the Beechcraft airplane appears to have been extended through 2019. The lease was originally set to expire in 2014 with a sizable balloon payment.
February 13, 2012
Hey June Ancillary Expenses from USM’s Beechcraft King Air for June of 2011 The ancillary expenses associated with USM’s airplane are largely unknown to the USM and Hattiesburg communities. USMNEWS.net is working to change that. This report examines some of the June-2011 expenses.
Dear usmnews.net, I read last week's The Farm. I have two questions. How did Martha sneak the extension for her toy airplane past everyone without the usual round of bad publicity? What were the changes in the lease terms?
February 14, 2012
Did Byxbe Smell the Tabletgate Smoke? Left Contracts Office Just Weeks before Scandal Broke Based on information recently provided to USMNEWS.net, it appears that John J. Byxbe left the USM contracts office just weeks before details of the Tabletgate scandal at USM became public.
The CoB's Brain Drain Compilation, 2003-Present An Illustrated Account There is little argument with the notion that the College of Business at USM has been severely diminished by the faculty flight that has occurred since former CoB dean, Harold Doty, assumed the reins of management. Doty's tenure began in 2003, when he was hired by former USM President, Shelby Thames, to lead the newly reorganized College of Business & Economic Development.
February 15, 2012
Cost Per Flight Hour Costs and Uses of King Air N777AQ At the University of Southern Mississippi The purpose of this report is to show readers how to calculate cost per flight hour and use it to determine the cost of flights of N777AQ. We will also show why, in detail, cost per flight hour changes through time, but has in fact remained from beginning of the lease/purchase of N777AQ to the current time, over $5,500, not the $800 as claimed by President Saunders.

All My Children? USM Sports Programs not Treated Equally, at Least not by Gender A number of USMNEWS.net readers have commented about their perception of how USM’s sports programs are being supported, or not, on the basis of gender by the upper levels of athletics administration at USM. This is a subject that USMNEWS.net reporters and editorial writers have touched on in the past. This report examines this perception by way of the 2010-11 data.

February 16, 2012
Dear usmnews.net, Thanks for the reports on Martha's airplane. I'm sure all of our students are overjoyed to pay higher and higher tuition and fees so that she can fly in her private plane. For someone who claims to be an expert in public relationship, it is difficult to believe Saunders is really so stupid and self-centered that she does not understand or care
. . . breaking news . . . Hudson a Chancellor Finalist at Arkansas State
HATTIESBUR
G – Former USM provost and former University of Houston-Victoria president Tim Hudson was recently named one of three finalists for the job of Chancellor of Arkansas State University.
February 17, 2012
Reprint CoB News 30-November-2010 Hudson Out as UHV President; Has Niroomand Lost His Protector? Former USM provost Tim Hudson resigned his position as president of the University of Houston at Victoria just before the beginning of the current academic year (2010-11) in order to become Special Assistant to the Chancellor (of the UH System) for International Programs and Initiatives.
The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 17-February-2012 Where else is Your Money Going? The following two inserts are found in the Feb-2012 Board Book from the Mississippi IHL Board. They provide information about how USM’s budget is being used to employ the services of the Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens & Cannada law firm in a case being brought against USM by the University of Iowa. One payment is a relatively small $675. The other is a more substantial $13,054.05. The two total $13,729.05, a considerable sum.
Rufus McCoy and Profiteers in the Ivory Tower, a novel, offers an insider's view of the calamity overtaking American higher education. It tells an insider's story, which is entirely different from the rosy picture portrayed by the university lobbying and public relations juggernaut.

It's FREE to Amazon Prime members. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007AOU33S

February 20, 2012
Dog Days in the Sky: Ancillary Expenses from USM’s Beechcraft King Air for Summer of 2011 The ancillary expenses associated with USM’s airplane are largely unknown to the USM and Hattiesburg communities. USMNEWS.net is working to change that. This report examines some of the summer-2011 expenses.
The Dean’s List, 2012 by Duane Cobb Ranking all things USM and all things CoB has become a tradition here at USMNEWS.net. This particular column revisits a past ranking endeavor – ranking past CoB deans. Since USM has had a formal business college, there have been only a handful of deans. So, this task is not made difficult by the number of administrators to consider. Interestingly enough, the disparate performances of the CoB’s deans also makes this particular effort a little easier. Let’s begin.
February 21, 2012
President Saunders: Inefficient and Ineffective Use of Students' and Taxpayers' Money Part 2 2011 Costs and Use of King Air N777AQ: Boy's Night Out usmnews.net reports part 2 of President Saunders' costs and uses of a multi-million dollar airplane, King Air N777AQ, in 2011.You have a right to know. Your money is paying for it.