August 17, 2015
As students check into dorms to begin the semester, usmnews.net
received a request to repeat the letter to the editor below. This
request came accompanied by a report that we are going to see some
slippery calculations in an effort to make it appear that student
enrollment is at least holding steady. Dear usmnews.net, U.S. News
& World Report doesn't tell the whole story [of the problems at
USM].
August 19, 2015
Fifty Years Later, Part II Slavery Officially Over in Mississippi!!
Southern Miss recently announced its celebration of fifty years of
integration. Let's revisit Southern Miss' role in Mississippi's racist
past. In February 2013, The New York Post's Michael Blaustein
reported that 148 years later, slavery officially over in Mississippi.
According to the report, "The landmark event happened earlier this
month when Mississippi became the final state to officially ratify the
amendment, which ended slavery."
August 20, 2015
August 26, 2015
Dear usmnews.net, It appears that the current president at UCF is as
incompetent as Saunders. She was forced to give up the day to day
operations to Saunders and boost her already inflated salary. If they
thought they were in trouble before, just wait. Saunders is now
taking credit for all of the faculty activities on the campus.
August 31, 2015
September 8, 2015
Congrats to Brian Dozier Working on the road can be a real chore.
However, this past weekend we had the opportunity to have a little
fun. Saturday night's game between the Houston Astros and the
Minnesota Twins was a squeaker, ending in the ninth inning. Jose
Altuve smashed what should have been a game winning, bases
loaded hit. Twins' center fielder Byron Buxton ended the game with
a spectacular catch. What our local readers will be pleased to hear is
that local boy and Southern Miss alum, Brian Dozier, scored the
winning run in the 9th inning. Here are the pictures Enjoy!
September 9, 2015
Breaking News Southern Miss Still Ranked Near the Bottom Here's
something you won't see in The Hattiesburg American or on Southern
Miss' website -- a national organization has once again placed the
university near the bottom of the nationwide rankings. College Factual
has ranked Southern Miss as #1081 out of 1393 colleges and
universities. That is a drop of 54 places in a single year. In 2015, College
Factual ranked Southern Miss as #1027 out of 1394 colleges and
universities. To make the picture even worse of fifteen public and
private colleges and universities in Mississippi, College Factual ranks
Southern Miss as #8. Seven Mississippi colleges and universities are
ranked ahead of Southern Miss:
September 10, 2015
Breaking News USM Remains in Bottom Tier of U.S. News Ranking
HATTIESBURG - With the release of the 2016 edition of Best
Colleges from U.S. News & World Report, usmnews.net has learned
that USM remains in the bottom tier of national colleges and
universities with a ranking of "RNP" or rank not published.
According to U.S. News & World Report, "Rank Not Published means
that U.S. News did calculate a numerical rank and score for that
school, but decided for editorial reasons that since the school ranked
below the U.S. News cutoff - the top three-fourths of each ranking
category are numerically ranked - that U.S. News would not publish
the rank and score for that school on usnews.com."
September 11, 2015
Broken Priorities -- 2015 "'You see it on every campus-an increase in
administration and a decrease in full-time faculty, and an increase in
the use of part-time faculty,' he [Scott Carlson] said. With that trend,
along with rising tuition and falling state support, 'you're painting a
pretty fair picture of higher ed,' he continued. 'It's not what it should
be. What's broken in higher ed is the priorities, and it's been broken
for a long time.'" Administrator Hiring Drove 28% Boom in
Higher-Ed Work Force, Report Says By Scott Carlson
September 14, 2015
Dear usmnews.net, The sad news of Southern Miss' perpetual status
as a "RNP" university has once again arrived. That simply means,
Southern Miss once again fell somewhere into the bottom quarter of
ranked universities. Sadly, many of us do not see any improvement
in the offing. Why don't we see any likelihood of positive change?
September 15, 2015
SALARY AFTER ATTENDING USM The U. S. Department of
Education offers "College Scoreboard." It provides comparative
information not available from other college rankings, like U.S.
News and World Report. For example, "salary after attending"
provides a rough measure of what a student might earn with a
degree from a particular college. For example, compare the "salary
after attending" USM's four year degree program with two year
degree programs from Normandale Community College or Southern
Maine Community College. Kind of takes your breath away, doesn't
it.
September 16, 2015
Dear usmnews.net, The University's PR machine just released a
carefully misleading report proclaiming University of Southern
Mississippi Celebrates Record-Breaking Freshman Class. While I'm
not going to pick apart the details of this report, I do want you and
your readers to note a carefully buried fact: "[a] preliminary total of
14,579 students are currently enrolled at the University, down
slightly from the final enrollment count of 14,792 last year." The
undisputed fact is that the University student body has become
smaller once again, and with it the income stream that supports the
University.
September 17, 2015
USM's Sleight of Hand Re: ACT Scores USM, its PR personnel, and
anonymous advocates have gone all out to rationalize the steep
decline in student population over the past several years. They're
desperate to say all's okay, we planned the declining student
population, we're on target and expect the same wonderful outcomes
in the future, etc. They boast over and over that USM has
intentionally increased student ACT scores-historical highs-and
Mississippians must understand that its decline in student
population must be expected. This is typical USM slight of hand.
Let's look at the facts. The IHL reports that USM ACT scores are
actually below average in Mississippi institutions of higher
education. UM and MSU have much higher ACT scores.
September 24, 2015
USM a "Politically Biased College" or Worse? The Chronicle of
Higher Education recently quoted President Obama on the issue of
colleges and free speech. During the question-and-answer session, a
student asked the president about an unnamed Republican
presidential contender's proposal to defund "politically biased
colleges." In his answer, Mr. Obama touched on issues of sensitivity
and free speech on college campuses.
September 25, 2015
Looking for Roderick Posey Here's what recently showed up on
usmnews.net's visitor list:
Alabama State University (192.111.112.81) [Label IP Address]
Montgomery, Alabama, United States
https://www.google.com/ (Keywords Unavailable)
24 Sep 16:54:19
www.usmnews.net/posey5.html
That got us wondering where Rod Posey is these days. A quick
internet search showed he's working at Alabama A&M University:
September 28, 2015
"Virginia Tech Danger!" This week we begin a series taken from
"Virginia Tech Danger!" Echoes of Mississippi Supremacists at the
University of Southern Mississippi by Chauncey M. DePree, Jr.,
DBA, a longtime professor at USM. Introduction A recent breaking
news report at USMNews.net, "Another (Dangerous?) USM
Professor Steps Forward," reminds me of the apparent ease with
which University of Southern Mississippi (USM) faculty are accused
of being dangerous. All too often forgotten are the mobbers, the
"colleagues" who lurk behind the scenes to destroy the lives and
careers of colleagues with whom they disagree.
September 29, 2015
"Virginia Tech Danger!" Part 2 We continue a series taken from
"Virginia Tech Danger!" Echoes of Mississippi Supremacists at the
University of Southern Mississippi by Chauncey M. DePree, Jr.,
DBA, a longtime professor at USM. "Secrecy In the case discussed in
this booklet, the mobber-lurkers hiding in the shadows had secretly
petitioned various USM presidents at least four times to fire me
[DePree]. (Keep in mind, all the while I successfully passed through
early tenure and promotion to be a full professor because of my
teaching, research, and service performance.)
September 30, 2015
"Virginia Tech Danger!" Part 3 We continue a series taken from
"Virginia Tech Danger!" Echoes of Mississippi Supremacists at the
University of Southern Mississippi by Chauncey M. DePree, Jr.,
DBA, a longtime professor at USM. [If you've missed Part 1 and Part
2, they're reported below.] A Nightmare Begins The nightmare of
being mobbed begins in earnest when administrators, like
then-President Martha Saunders [currently provost at University of
West Florida], overreact, scurry to a hiding place, and stick their
heads in the sand.
usmnews.net
August 17 - September 30, 2015