Reports for March 20 - April 9, 2012
Click here for reports and editorials from March 1 - March 19, 2012
usmnews.net
March 20, 2012
March 21, 2012
Dear usmnews.net, As a long-time member of the faculty, I can't tell
you how painful the charges of racism involving the Pep Band have
been, particularly coming so close on the heels of last year's black
face incident. However, the claims that our students are ill-educated,
with a clear inference that they are too stupid to be taught, is beyond
hurtful.
Reprint King Air & Queen Martha An Essay by Victoria Tyler Shortly
after the beginning of what has become known as The Great
Recession, USM Queen (president) Martha Saunders signed a $2
million lease for a Beechcraft King Air airplane.
March 22, 2012
March 23, 2012
Martha’s Podium An Editorial Cartoon Series from USMNEWS.net I
am here to announce that we have taken action against the pep band
members. In addition to losing their scholarships, we are sending
them down to Porto Rico to help the citizens of that country recover
from the earthquake that hit there in 2010.
March 26, 2012
How does unethical behavior seep and creep into a college of
business? Take a look at "Daily Practice: Ethics In Leadership" to gain
an understanding how it actually happened at the College of
Business, University of Southern Mississippi. "...universities, colleges,
and business accrediting agencies prominently represent their ethics for
all to see in standards, codes, handbooks, and advertisements. They seem
to promote ethical conduct at their institutions. But how do faculty and
administrators actually behave? And if not ethically, what are the
educational lessons new professionals take to the workplace?" And, the
misconduct of faculty and administrators did not get better with age.
Dr. Becker, Is it Okay to Scream and Swear at Staff? Readers
question whether violent and threatening conduct is tolerated at the
College of Business . . . Dr. Saunders was present when this sworn
testimony was given in Federal Court during Fall 2007. Dr. Saunders
subsequently supported Dr. Becker's application for tenure. Dr.
Becker received tenure during the May 2011 IHL meeting.
March 27, 2012
2012 NCAA Basketball Tournament Central Issue 5, 27-Mar-2012 Are
Eustachy’s Eagles Ready for Big Time? Since the USM Golden Eagles
fell to Kansas State in their first game of the 2012 NCAA Men’s
Basketball Tournament, a number of other pieces of the puzzle have
fallen into place. The string below summarizes what has happened
on USM’s side of the bracket.
March 29, 2012
Will Doty be the Man for UNO? FORMER COB DEAN
MAY SOON REUNITE WITH FORMER SUPERVISOR A
recent report about new University of New Orleans
president Peter Fos hiring former USM AD Richard
Giannini as a consultant who will help UNO maintain its
Division I intercollegiate athletics status highlights the
web of former USM administrators around the South. Fos,
who was hired in Dec-2011 as the top official at UNO,
arrived there from the LSU Health Sciences Center, where
he had been for only seven months. Before that, he served
a number of years as provost at the University of
Texas-Tyler.
March 30, 2012
update -- Who Reads usmnews.net?
April 2, 2012
Martha’s Podium An Editorial Cartoon Series from
USMNEWS.net, part 14 Our VP of Admin Affairs, Chad
Driskell, has completed his audit of the USM airplane,
and preliminary results indicate that the time savings
from having our own plane has spared us tens of
thousands of dollars annually. Unfortunately, much of
this benefit was lost in the time we spent stuck in traffic
jams between campus and the local airport. So, it is with
much excitement that I announce that we will be
leasing this helicopter from the USM Alumni
Association.
April 3, 2012
April 4, 2012
April 5, 2012
Martha’s Podium An Editorial Cartoon Series from USMNEWS.net I
have spoken to members of the Kansas State administration about
our pep band’s behavior during our game against KSU. I let them
know I was deeply upset about what was chanted about Angelo
Ramirez, and that band scholarships were revoked.
Participating in the Athletics Facility "Arms Race" From "Optimism to
Shortfalls" President Saunders or other USM officials from time to
time announce the expenditure of tens of millions of dollars of capital
construction for athletic facilities like the expansion of M.M. Roberts
Stadium and Pete Taylor Park. They obligate USM students and
Mississippi taxpayers to pay with borrowed money, bonds. They are
in effect participating in the athletics construction "arms race" and
hope, let me repeat, hope, that there will be a return on investment.
The sad truth is that these very expensive debts are very risky and,
for schools like USM, are big losers.
March 28, 2012
Special Report Still Think ‘Nothing to See’ There? At its
recent Mar-2011 meeting, the Mississippi IHL Board
approved salary changes for USM’s Chad Driskell and
Russ Willis. The aforementioned approval came
through acceptance of the Feb-2012 meeting minutes.
During the Feb-2012 meeting, the IHL voted
unanimously to go into “Executive Session,” as the
Board Book insert below indicates, to discuss
“personnel matters at one of the public universities
under the Board’s purview.”
April 9, 2012
Closing on Big Donations, Again? . . . rather than drag
the airplane from Hattiesburg to Charlotte, then to New
Orleans, then back to Hattiesburg, wouldn't it have been
cheaper and easier on everyone, except Dr. Saunders, to
just catch a commercial flight from Charlotte to New
Orleans? . . . Odd as it seems, President Saunders
charged the USM Foundation for her donor trip we
reported in Part 4. This time she charged the "President
Office." This calls into question whether this trip was in
fact a donor trip.
