(February 8, 2011) President Saunders Continues to Squander Student and Taxpayer Money on Her Airplane
PART 1
We at www.usmnews.net, recently received another set of information related to President Saunders’ airplane, N777AQ. We now have two years of actual costs of N777AQ. As you may recall, it is owned by the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation in name only because all costs are paid by University of Southern Mississippi. That is, taxpayers and USM students pay all costs associated with President Saunders’ airplane. (See, lease agreement obtained through a Mississippi Open Records request.)
(February 8, 2011) Saunders’ King Air . . . By the Numbers Airplane Facts USM Officials Might Not Want Out in the Public Several analyses of USM president Martha Saunders’ lease of, and use of, the USM airplane can be found in the President Saunders' Extravagance, Dr. Saunders' AirPlane, MS Opens Records Request Reveals USM's Actual Costs of President Saunders' Plane, and A Brief History of Dr. Saunders' "Lease" of Airplane pages here at USMNEWS.net. A number of these analyses present copies of actual invoices showing how much USM is charging itself (i.e., USM’s Airplane Operations charging Saunders’ office) for various trips.
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ARTICLES CONCERNING
HOW MONEY IS SPENT
(February 10, 2011) Dear usmnews.net: I have been following the information about Martha’s airplane with great interest, but I have to ask a question. You are making these numbers up … aren’t you? If your numbers are right or even close to right, her behavior is beyond reprehensible. If your numbers are right, she is betraying the trust of every faculty and student. If your numbers are right, IMPEACH SAUNDERS!!!
(February 13, 2011) President Saunders Continues to Squander Student and Taxpayer Money on Her Airplane
PART 2
www.usmnews.net recently received another set of documents related to President Saunders’ airplane, N777AQ, through Mississippi Open Records Act (MORA) requests. MORA documents, USM’s own records, provide verification of misrepresentations made by President Saunders and Provost Lyman about N777AQ.
(February 15, 2011) President Saunders Continues to Squander Student and Taxpayer Money on Her Airplane
PART 4
As reported in PART 1, actual cost per flight hour is $5,971.11. (Please note that when the $907,053.85 balloon payment, which is due at the end of the five year lease, is amortized over the five years of the purchase/lease, the cost per flight hour is $8,910.28.)
(February 14, 2011) President Saunders Continues to Squander Student and Taxpayer Money on Her Airplane
PART 3
We now have two years of actual costs of N777AQ. Although the airplane is owned by the University of Southern Mississippi Foundation, all costs are paid by University of Southern Mississippi. That is, taxpayers and USM students pay all costs of President Saunders’ airplane.