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(September 25, 2008) USM Grants Procurement Declining Under Saunders USM President, Martha Saunders, may have stepped to the podium on 24-September-08 and audaciously stated that USM faculty/staff had procured more external grant monies than faculty/staff at both Texas Tech University and the University of Alabama, but sources tell USMNEWS.net that her Fall 2008 Convocation speech did not recount all of the sordid details about USM’s own grant procurement efforts.

(September 26, 2008) From the Cheap Seats: Lowlights from Fall '08 Convocation by Duane Cobb Take it from someone who heard every word, there are quite a few lowlights from the USM Fall 2008 Convocation last Wednesday. It all started with the introduction video, which contained a number of oddities. For one, the video behind the narrative of USM's new Saunders-Amodeo mantra "Creative . . . Bold . . . Determined" was carelessly put together. When the narration got to ". . . Bold . . .," the football video in the background was from USM's 27-34 loss to Marshall just last Saturday. One wouldn't ordinarily associate USM's first-ever loss to Marshall, and its first-ever loss in a Conference USA opening game, as a bold statement. Just sloppy.

(September 28, 2008) Special Report Oh No She Didn't!? A Look Back at Unnecessary Statements from Fall '08 Convocation David Tisdale's 25-September-08 presser, entitled "Saunders Urges Southern Miss to Use its Strengths to Move University Forward," indicates that USM President Martha Saunders' Fall 2008 Convocation speech included the statement that the "core dialogues" from 2007-08 have given USM "a compass and a guide" for achieving its mission as the premier research university for the Gulf South.

(September 30, 2008) The Tale of the Tape A Wider Comparison of USM, Alabama and Texas Tech In the middle of her 2008 fall convocation speech, USM president Martha Saunders made a point of noting that USM’s grants procurement total ($91.0 million) for 2008 was greater than that at both Texas Tech University ($48.7 million) and the University of Alabama ($68.9 million). In doing so, Saunders was clearly attempting to show USM constituents in attendance that the institution that she governs “outperforms” other notable institutions in what some believe is an important battleground.

(October 6, 2008) Martha, Martha, Give Us the News September 29 Heartwalk 2008 September 29, 2008 5:27 AM | Permalink The last post – yet another mostly social event – earned another low M.O.B. Index score of 2. Perhaps in the future these evaluations may have to be artificially altered to reflect the weeks of no news at all: is hot air and sunshine better than nothing at all? If Martha spoke in the woods, would anyone know it?

(October 7, 2008) CoB News, 7 October 2008 Aunt Martha’s Maalox Moments With the recent home loss to the University of Texas at El Paso, Larry Fedora’s USM Golden Eagles have fallen to 2-3 on the season and a #88 ranking by Jeff Sagarin. At #88 in the U.S., Southern Miss is ranked behind no fewer than four 1-AA football teams. These are James Madison, McNeese State, Villanova and New Hampshire. The double-overtime loss to UTEP also has the Golden Eagles in unchartered territory, at 0-2 in Conference USA play. Now, with a game against Boise State looming over the horizon,USM’s 14 consecutive winning seasons, all under former coach Jeff Bower, is in serious jeopardy.