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(May 28, 2009) Another Million The Asbury Foundation has just given William Carey University, USM's cross-town academic rival, another $1 million donation. According to Ed Kemp's article in The Hattiesburg American, the AF has now given WCU $2.4 million since 1984. This gift essentially puts WCU on par with USM's recent $6 million gift from the anonymous donor who supported a number of female-led American universities a few months ago. According to USM officials, about $5 million of that gift will go to student scholarships. Sources tell USMNEWS.net that these student beneficiaries will most likely come from the existing USM student body, meaning that 5/6 of the gift will be used in a way that fails to give USM any competitive boost. That leaves $1 million, which president Martha Saunders stated will be used for squishy and mostly undefined strategic initiatives (related to retention). Sound like pillaging to you?

(May 31, 2009) 60 Scary Alcorn State University just cut 60 personnel positions from its budget, all in response to the dire economic/budgetary situation facing Mississippi's 8 public institutions of higher learning. Some of ASU's cuts were in faculty contracts that were not renewed for the 2009-10 academic year, and these cuts occurred at ASU's main campus in Lorman. There is no news yet as to whether or not any of Mississippi's other 7 institutions will be cutting faculty positions, but it is known that they all face similarly bad budgetary situations. USM has not yet cut any occupied faculty lines, though lines for new hires have been frozen. However, USM president Martha Saunders' decision to lease a company airplane put the 99 year old institution in a precarious financial situation.

(June 2, 2009) Extravagance Grounded Using the type of analysis offered by a USMNEWS.net reader, the April-09 Air Farce One trips to Columbus and Madison cost MS taxpayers $15,750 each, not including the salary and fringes of the pilot or the cost of fuel. The May-09 trip to Macon, GA, cost MS taxpayers an additional $31,500, again not including the salary and fringes of the pilot or the cost of fuel. USM provost Robert Lyman can stutter and stammer before the USM Faculty Senate all he wants, but the USM plane that president Martha Saunders decided to lease (at $31,500/month) is an extravagance, plain and simple.

(June 8, 2009) Palmer by Land, Saunders by Air Outgoing coach Corky Palmer and his 2009 USM Golden Eagles are to be congratulated for winning the Atlanta Regional (over host Georgia Tech) and heading to the school's first-ever Super Regional. A large contingent of USM fans met the conquering heroes at the baseball stadium upon their return, and rightly so.

(June 8, 2009) The Mermaid President USM president Martha Saunders had some bad news to deliver USM faculty at the 5-June-09 Faculty Senate meeting. There she told those gathered that USM has many "underwater endowments" that will remain a problematic issue into the near future. Of 739 scholarship endowments at USM, Saunders told the Faculty Senate that 435 (or 58.9%) are underwater endowments at the current time. She also stated that the USM Foundation awarded 620 academic scholarships during 2008-09, but that in 2009-10 it would be able to award only 200 scholarships. This drop of 420 represents a fall of 67.7% from 2008-09.