Reports for November 16, 2012 - November 30, 2012
Click here for reports and editorials from November 1, 2012 - November 15, 2012
usmnews.net
November 16, 2012
Next Stop New Orleans? A GUEST EDITORIAL BY Victoria Tyler A recent visit to an internet cost of living comparison calculator points out that an income of $156,012 per year in New Orleans is necessary, should one move there from Tyler, TX, to maintain the same standard of living that a salary of $150,500 in Tyler provides. Why these salary numbers, and these particular cities?

For those interested in the announcement that Martha Saunders will become provost at UWF, please click here and here.
. . . breaking news . . . Saunders Named Provost at University of West Florida HATTIESBURG – Public relations officials at the University of West Florida announced late in the afternoon on 16-Nov-2012 that Martha Saunders, the former president of USM, is now the new provost at the Pensacola-based institution.
November 19, 2012
The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 19-November-2012 Anonymous Insider Predicts Tough Times Ahead for UWF, Saunders According to predictions from a USMNEWS.net reader, tough times may lie ahead for the University of West Florida and its new provost, Martha Saunders, the former USM president. This particular reader’s past opportunities to closely observe Saunders as a university president makes the reader more of an insider when it comes to Saunders’ leadership capabilities. According to this anonymous insider, “. . . Saunders . . . enters into the [U]niversity [of West Florida] with considerable baggage. A provost is the chief academic officer[, and someone] who should be conversant [in the institution’s] policies and procedures . . . [However,] she is not a thinker .
Interesting visitors and What They're Looking For
Too Much Joye in Mudville A Guest Editorial by Susan Green-Lewis Since coming to “lead” USM’s women’s basketball program back in 2004-05, head coach Joye Lee-McNelis has struggled to rebuild that program to the level that former coach Kay James provided throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Last week’s blowout loss in Hattiesburg at the hands of Hampton actually shows how Lee-McNelis’ problems run deeper than building a power, as James did before. Just winning more games than she loses has proven a nearly impossible task for Lee-McNelis. That first season produced a dismal 9-19 (0.321) record, and it was followed by a modestly better record of 14-15 (0.483) in 2005-06. 2004-05 on the dismal scale.
November 20, 2012
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The Saunders Sweepstakes by Duane Cobb With the hiring of former USM president Martha Saunders as the new provost at the University of West Florida, a number of individuals are in a position to win a sweepstakes of sorts. First and foremost among these is, of course, Mona Amadeo, the owner of Idgroup, the Pensacola-based consulting firm that benefitted, to the tune of almost $1 million,
November 21, 2012
Martha’s Podium An Editorial Cartoon Series from USMNEWS.net I realize that I was just named provost of our fine university only five days ago, but I have been very hard at work since then. I really want our students to ride all the rides. I also want them to realize that we have a fine university here. In that spirit, I have entered into a multi-year agreement with a local consulting firm to develop what we’re calling a “core campaign” to heighten the visibility of UWF.
November 26, 2012
The Farm News Briefs from Southern Miss 26-November-2012 Saunders to Earn $220,000 Salary as UWF ProvostAccording to Ed Kemp’s 24-Nov-2012 report for The Hattiesburg American, former USM president is on the books to earn $220,000 per year as the new provost (effective Jan-2013) at the University of West Florida. Still, as Kemp reports,
Editorial IHL and USM Bureaucrats Live With Speculation Because it works to their advantage. You can speculate all you want but you don't know for sure. The IHL and Saunders walk away from accountability, again. A result: they can do the same inefficient, ineffective, and possibly corrupt behavior again and again. Here's today's version:

November 27, 2012
Updated 27-Nov-2012 HELP WANTED A Look at Business Dean Openings from Around the Country With four current/former CoB deans moving around in the academic world, some USMNEWS.net readers have requested an ongoing report that tracks current b-school dean openings. Long-time readers of USMNEWS.net are aware that Joseph Peyrefitte is the current interim dean of the CoB, having replaced Lance Nail, who is now the business dean at Texas Tech University.
Dear usmnews.net, Have you looked at The President's Blog lately? It still shows Martha proclaiming "I am a university president." Well, as we know, she's not -- at the moment. People who know Martha pretty well say she started campaigning for her next president's job within hours after being forced to tender her resignation. The word around the water cooler is that given the mess she left at Southern Miss (and at UW-Whitewater) she was having a problem moving on.
November 28, 2012
. . . breaking news . . . Ellis Johnson Fired After One Season at USM HATTIESBURG – Multiple news reports out of Hattiesburg on 27-Nov-2012 informed the USM community that its first year football coach Ellis Johnson has been fired after just a single season at USM.
The Three Stooges: Saunders, Giannini, and Johnson Commenters on BigBoldNation believe they have identified the cause of the current abysmal condition of USM athletics: "He's (Giannini) the bleeping idiot that is responsible for USM sitting where they are.....with a bunch of unheard of second rate programs. USM had a chance at one time to make strides towards a much better future, ...".
November 29, 2012
. . . breaking news . . . Star Quarterback Arrested on Aggravated Assault HATTIESBURG – Local media outlets are reporting that star freshman quarterback Anthony Alford was arrested on the USM campus and charged with aggravated assault.
EDITORIAL The Hattiesburg American: "2012 a year of change at Southern Miss" Wrong: No Change Here. Just the Same Ol' Blather The Hattiesburg American reporter Ed Kemp wrote in a recent article ("2012 a year of change at Southern Miss") bemoaning, "In just over a year, Southern Miss has waved goodbye to a longtime athletic director, two head football coaches, a head basketball coach, a provost and, most importantly, a president." Mr. Kemp pulled his punches by not pointing out details that some of the departures were in the wake of corruption, incompetence, or waste of taxpayers' and students' money.
November 30, 2012
. . . breaking news . . . DEADSPIN.com Paints Ugly Picture of Past Year at USM HATTIESBURG – A 29-Nov-2012 story by Barry Petchesky for DEADSPIN.com paints what sources are calling an ugly picture of the past year at USM. Sources also add that this story is “a must read” for members of the USM community, particularly faculty and staff on both USM campuses in Hattiesburg and Long Beach. The story chronicles USM’s “debt-ridden athletics department” and how USM athletics director Jeff Hammond recently “sold” USM’s upcoming home game against Nebraska back to those same Cornhuskers. As it now stands, USM’s AD will be paid $2.125 million by Nebraska for the venue change, just enough to cover the $2.1 buyout of recently-fired USM coach Ellis Johnson.
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December 3, 2012
Bo’s Cost Overrun Final Printing Cost of Centennial History 50% Higher than Originally Stated Documents obtained by USMNEWS.net indicate that the cost to Mississippi taxpayers and USM students of the USM centennial history book, Treasured Past, Golden Future, ultimately rose from $40,000, as stated in the original contracts, to almost $60,000 by the time production of book was closer to completion. The insert below – the first page of a letter from Craig Gill, the editor-in-chief at the University Press of Mississippi, to Robert Pierce of USM