miscellaneous41

(September 14, 2010) Crack in the Foundation? USM Associate Provost William Powell Separates Himself from the Rest As The Hattiesburg American’s higher education reporter Ed Kemp makes clear in his 14-Sept-2010 news story about the budget cuts, USM associate provost William Powell appears to be distancing himself from the finger pointing being done by his boss, USM provost Robert Lyman, and that of Lyman’s boss, USM president Martha Saunders.

(September 30, 2010) Former IHL Board Member Describes Bleak Future for USM Bill Crawford, a former Mississippi IHL Board member and Mississippi legislator from Meridian, penned an eye-opening editorial for The Hattiesburg American on 29-Sept-2010. That editorial, which is inserted below, details recent enrollment trends and future funding equations for Mississippi higher education. As you will see, it quite capably speaks for itself.

(October 12, 2010) . . . breaking news . . . New Website, usmlite.com, Launches HATTIESBURG – A new, anonymous weblog, usmlite.com, has launched, and it is covering events at USM in a unique fashion. Suggesting that USM is becoming a “64 calorie” university, USMlite, which is not affiliated with USMNEWS.net, specializes in a satirical approach to commenting on issues facing the 100-year old institution.

(October 21, 2010) Dear usmnews.net, Thanks for an explanation of what happened in the editor’s litigation [against Dr. Saunders, et al.]. I realize it is only one side of the story, but I have asked around, listened to some of the longtime faculty in the CoB, and have been able to confirm a lot of what the editor said. I have another question that I hope you will answer. Why continue with usmnews.net? Many of us don’t understand why a fourth tier school with delusions of being an academic institution is worth the trouble?

(October 26, 2010) 31st & Pearl Lots o’ Laughs Regular followers of USMNEWS.net who haven’t yet visited usmlite.com should do so after reading this column. The anonymous weblog specializes in a satirical take on the issues of the day at USM, which under current president Martha Saunders are many.

(October 31, 2010) USM Campus Decorated with ‘Impeach Saunders’ Graffiti USMPD Seeking Three White Males A breaking news update on 29-October-2010 from The Hattiesburg American entitled “Three sought in campus vandalism” indicates that the USM police department is seeking “three white males” who are accused of “early morning vandalism” on the same day. USM police chief Bob Hopkins informed THA that 10 locations on the Hattiesburg campus were “marked with graffiti,” as the suspects used “chalk” and “water soluble shoe-polish” between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. to make what sources refer to as a political statement regarding the Martha Saunders administration of USM.