weeklyreports_07_16

SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE RISING COST OF EDUCATION MOUNTING DEBT TAKEN ON BY THE IHL APPROACHES $1 BILLION DOLLARS Part 2 of Speaking out about the Rising Cost of Education investigates reasons the cost of a college education continues to climb, creating a massive, unsustainable burden for students and their families. In Mississippi, "since 2000, average tuition among the eight universities increased 96 percent, an average of 8 percent a year." Why do these costs continue to mount faster than inflation? As previously reported construction has fueled much of these costs.

Dear usmnews.net, Thank you for the reports about the rising costs of education. I graduated with a master's degree from USM and nearly $30,000 in debt. I held down a part time job so that my debt wasn't any higher. I wish I had a job doing what I spent a lot of years in school getting an education to do, but I still have my part time job. That's enough of my sad story.

SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE RISING COST OF EDUCATION Creative Financing, part 3 . . . If you think a billion dollars in debt is bad, these likely do not include what is cleverly referred to by the IHL as "privatized" debt. For example, the much vaunted parking structure was:...

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.

SPECIAL REPORT SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE RISING COST OF EDUCATION THE COSTS OF CREATIVE FINANCING ... Starting in the 2009-2010 school year, long before the yellow ribbon was cut on April 7, 2011, students were handed a jump from $50 per year to a whopping $135 dollars or a roughly 250 percent increase in the cost of parking - a rather expensive photo opp for then-President Saunders.

There is Always Time, and Money, to Visit Uncle Buck A USMNEWS.net report about former USM president Martha Saunders’ use of the USM airplane indicates that the Beechcraft King Air was piloted west, to Dallas, to retrieve Saunders from a C-USA board meeting. According to information on the Interdepartmental Invoice, shown below, Saunders’ presence at the USM president’s mansion was necessary so that a National Merit Student Reception there that same evening could be carried off without a hitch.

Peyrefitte Named Interim CoB Dean HATTIESBURG – The interim administration of Aubrey Lucas announced on 18-July-2012 that the CoB’s senior associate dean Joseph Peyrefitte will assume the post of interim CoB dean at the beginning of the upcoming 2012-13 academic year. Peyrefitte, pictured below, will fill the hole left by the departure of Lance Nail, who is assuming the dean’s post at Texas Tech University.

SPECIAL REPORT SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE RISING COST OF EDUCATION KEEPING IT ALL QUIET ... However, the parking garage isn't the only instance of using contracts to conceal information from the public. In fact, the University seems to have gotten quite good at using separate companies to conceal activities...

By the Numbers A Guest Editorial Speaking out about the Rising Costs of Education has been a real eye opener. The decision to build a five story garage with 1200 parking slots, in the middle of multi-million dollar budget shortfalls facing the University and the State demonstrates at minimum seriously bad judgment on the part of University administrators who requested it and the IHL who approved it.

What Does PERS Have to Hide? Why haven't local news organizations and PERS reported details about Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. settling with PERS in litigation styled Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi v. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., 09-cv-01110, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). It would seem to be an important story for Mississippians?

Special Report Driskell Named to ADP Board As Van Arnold’s 19-July-2012 press release points out, USM’s executive assistant to the president Chad Driskell has been named to the board of Hattiesburg’s Area Development Partnership. Driskell, pictured below, fills the vacancy created by Martha Saunders’ resignation from the board in June-2012. Saunders is the former president of USM, and Driskell’s former boss.

The Days of Mincing Words are Long Gone. Jeff Greenfield doesn't mince words: "The very awfulness of this case [Sandusky/Penn State University] conceals a broader but less dramatic issue: at root, big-time college sports is a sham that exists in substantial measure to enrich a handful of schools, coaches and athletic conferences while happily exploiting the talents and bodies of young men-a disproportionate number of them African-American."

Mississippi Public Employee Retirement System A Cautionary Report from the Pew Center on States A recent report from the Pew Center on States offers facts that indicate: "The gap between the promises states have made for public employees' retirement benefits and the money they have set aside to pay these bills was at least $1.38 trillion in fiscal year 2010, according to Pew's latest comprehensive analysis on pension and retiree health care funding...".

Dear usmnews.net, The folks I have talked to are a bit surprised that usmnews.net has not published some theory why Martha Saunders stepped down as president. Since a couple of months have passed since her resignation, do you have any thoughts about the reasons?

. . breaking news . . Cost of Centennial Video Revealed HATTIESBURG – USMNEWS.net is currently receiving copious document dumps – all as a result of public information requests – from multiple institutions, including USM. As a result of this process, readers can now anticipate a string of reports on various subjects over the next several weeks and months. This particular report begins that series by examining records obtained from USM regarding payments to Idgroup of Pensacola for production of the centennial video – The Southern Miss Story – that became part of the institution’s year-long centennial celebration in 2010.

Special Report Amodeo’s Idgroup Paid $8,300 Per Month Documents obtained by USMNEWS.net via a Mississippi Open Records request indicate that Mona Amodeo’s Idgroup was signed to an $8,300 per month contract by the Martha Saunders administration (2007-12) of USM. The insert below is a “Letter of Agreement” which was written on 28-May-2008 and effected by Idgroup and USM 4-June-2012.

One Thing Leads to Another: How USM’s Relationship with Idgroup Often Morphed Recent reports here at USMNEWS.net have shown how lucrative having Martha Saunders sitting atop USM from 2007 to 2012 was for Mona Amadeo, head of the Pensacola-based consulting firm Idgroup. This report takes the next step in that process by looking into how the consulting contract for $8,300 per month

. . . breaking news . . . Another (Dangerous?) USM Professor Steps Forward HATTIESBURG – According to Jesse Bass’ 26-July-2012 report for The Hattiesburg American, former USM professor Scott Klingler has filed suit against USM, and in particular former USM president Martha Saunders and former USM provost Robert Lyman, for what he alleges “are violations of his [employment] contract and his civil rights.”

. . . breaking news . . . Mo’ Money, Mo’ Projects HATTIESBURG – USMNEWS.net reporters continue to wade through stacks of newly-acquired documents pertaining to USM’s, and former USM president Martha Saunders’, relationship with Idgroup of Pensacola, a consulting firm headed by long-time Saunders associate, Mona Amodeo. As this new report was being put together, documentation indicating that USM had spent more than $500,000 in Mississippi taxpayers’ dollars on Idgroup services has been made public via USMNEWS.net reporting.

An Editorial Does Evil Lurk In Our Community? A recent breaking news report, Another (Dangerous?) USM Professor Steps Forward, published at usmnews.net, reminded me of the apparent ease with which USM faculty are accused of being dangerous. All too often forgotten are the mobbers, the "colleagues" who lurk behind the scenes and act in an effort to destroy the lives and careers of colleagues with whom they disagree. They don't just disagree with co-workers, they are so furious and intolerant they conspire with like-minded "colleagues" to destroy lives and careers.

Special Report Cutting to the Core . . . Dialogues Much of the relationship between Martha Saunders’ USM and Mona Amodeo’s Idgroup during the 2007-12 period of Saunders’ presidency of USM went unknown, at least until the past several days (of reports from USMNEWS.net), to members of the USM community. What was widely known, however, is that Idgroup had planned and facilitated what was referred to as the Core Dialogues (involving break-out sessions among USM constituencies, etc.), which began in the fall of 2007 and formed the basis of the new strategic plan for Saunders’ presidency.

Rock Me Amodeo Mississippi Taxpayers Pay for More Branding from Idgroup of Pensacola Recent reports here at USMNEWS.net have provided loads of new evidence regarding the relationship between USM, under former president Martha Saunders (2007-12), and the Pensacola-based communications/public relations firm Idgroup, headed by long-time Saunders associate Mona Amodeo.

An Editorial: Does Evil Lurk in Our Community? ... Steven Jackson, at the date of his deposition, was an Associate Professor (untenured) and interim director of the School of Accountancy, College of Business, University of Southern Mississippi. From 1992 through 1996, Jackson was an assistant professor at USM...

More from the Core . . . and Elsewhere Idgroup’s Boondoggle in USM Grew Almost without Bound Documents surrounding Pensacola-based public relations and consulting firm Idgroup and USM continue to emerge. This report adds to that by presenting new documents involving USM student and Mississippi taxpayer funds sent south by former USM president Martha Saunders to Mona Amodeo, the long-time associate of Saunders and head of Idgroup.