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(March 25, 2010) HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT MARTHA SAUNDERS After usmnews.net reprinted an editorial by Duane Cobb entitled What do We Really Know about USM President Martha Saunders? a colleague provided a copy of Dr. Saunders’ vita. The vita is undated, but has clearly been updated as recently as 2008. At the request of a colleague, one of our contibutors researched Dr. Saunders' most recent scholarly effort --

(April 1, 2010) Centennial Week in the CoB by Duane Cobb This week, 29-Mar through 2-Apr of 2010, USM reached the 100-year mark. Of course, there was a lot of pomp and circumstance, and USM president Martha Saunders pranced around campus as much as expected (if not more). Though the week had more to do with USM administrators, private donors, and other constituencies, some of it did meet the CoB. This week’s column reports on some of these examples.

(April 1, 2010) Aunt Martha’s Seasons A Look at How USM’s Prez is Managing Athletics The “Banner Year” series here at USMNEWS.net has pointed out that USM’s varsity sports programs appear to be slipping under USM president Martha Saunders’ stewardship. This report examines how Saunders has been managing, or as the data below suggest, mismanaging, the fall and winter athletics programs at USM. The numbers in Table 1 below make the case that USM’s fall and winter sports programs have been awash in mediocrity since Saunder’s arrival back in spring of 2007. The win percentages range from a low of 31.8% in soccer to a high of only 59.4% in volleyball. USM’s football program (53.8%) has even fallen below its lackluster men’s basketball program (54.5%) under controversial head coach Larry Eustachy.

(April 8, 2010) GTL Baby! A Guest Editorial by Victoria Tyler Some people are famous for famously doing nothing. Such is the case with the cast of one of America’s hottest reality television shows, Jersey Shore (see insert below). Their rise to famously doing nothing has even added to the American urban lexicon, via the initials “GTL,” which stand for “Gym, Tan & Laundry.” To hear these Jersey “Guidos” and “Guidettes” explain it, their day typically consists of waking up and going to the gym to work out (G=Gym), then heading to the tanning bed (T=Tan), and finishing up by doing laundry (L=Laundry). Of course, the nights are reserved for partying.

(April 12, 2010) Why LE? Many USM sports fans are wondering why USM president Martha Saunders is hanging on to men’s basketball coach Larry Eustachy (LE). After six years on the job, LE’s record is 95 wins against 94 losses, for a win percentage of 50.3. Only this season, 2009-10, has LE’s crew made the postseason, and that came via an invitation (possibly paid for) to the underwhelming CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT).