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(December 28, 2007) 2007 Christmas Gifts Martha Saunders New USM President, Martha Saunders, was greeted with a number of Christmas goodies in 2007. After firing long-time football coach Jeff Bower, Saunders was blasted by a number of college football's national analysts. This was particularly the case throughout USM's 31-21 defeat at the hands of Cincinnati in the PapaJohns.com Bowl. Lou Holtz and Mark May, analysts for ESPN, took Saunders to task before a national audience.

(January 9, 2008) Saunders Like Thames, Doty by Duane Cobb After watching all of the new Student Powered Videos at usm.edu, it was interesting to see that USM chose to air (on local television) one featuring new President Martha Saunders playing piano and continuing to wear out the borrowed .ride all the rides. phrase. The "USM family" got a steady dose of such self-promotion from former President Shelby Thames, so it seems now as though nothing much has changed.

(January 14, 2008) 31st & Pearl Saunders–Amodeo Relationship Should be Examined After reading the drivel that Mona Amodeo's consulting firm produced in response to USM's recent "Core Dialogues," it's clear that the University got hosed by its contractual relationship with Amodeo. For a report which barely presents any coherent thoughts, and includes some classic, oxymoronic management-speak, such as the oft-referenced "collective individualism," Mississippi's taxpayers had to part with $40,000 of hard-earned cash. Because of that, it's not surprising to hear than some taxpayers did a quick cyberspace search about Amodeo's consulting firm, and the results were surprising.

(February 1, 2008) CoB News, 1 February 2008 A Saunders Segue For more on how much Saunders’ administration resembles that of former USM President Shelby Thames, see Saunders’ 31-Jan-08 blog about employing Noel-Levitz, a consulting firm, based in Colorado, Iowa and Massachusetts, that specializes in assisting colleges and universities with “enrollment management” issues. Whether it’s the mega-consulting Noel-Levitz or the small consulting shop, idgroup – run by Mona Amodeo out of Pensacola, Saunders appears to be as adept as Thames at creating consulting boondoggles. However, some would say that at least Thames’ consulting connections were largely Mississippi-based enterprises.

(February 6, 2008) CoB News, 5 February 2008 “President Saunders, Come on Down!” On Monday, 11-Feb-2008, USM President Martha D. Saunders will be attending the CoB’s reception honoring Interim CoB Dean Alvin Williams’ successful effort to have the College’s AACSB accreditation renewed until 2012. The celebration will be held on the 3rd floor of Joseph Greene Hall, and all faculty and staff are invited to attend.

(February 13, 2008) Dear USMNEWS, The report that the college's accreditation came through finally reached the newspaper this week. The article said that USM has the only accredited business school in south Mississippi.