Reports for February 1, 2013 - February 28, 2013
usmnews.net
February 1, 2013
Mississippi Leaders Choose Secrecy and Iron Fisted Control
The Sun Herald ran a report by Donna Harris on January 29,
2013 entitled "Mississippi gets low grades for transparency on
state and local websites." "Mississippi ranked in the bottom
five states in the nation in a report released Tuesday by a
nonprofit organization dedicated to state and local government
transparency...".
Holiday Predictions for 2013 5) Frances Lucas [daughter of
current interim President and former President Aubrey Lucas]
will be named [by the IHL] as their preferred candidate for the
presidency of Southern Miss. (Editor's note: This prediction
seems to be gaining traction around the water coolers at USM.)
February 4, 2013
Dr. Bennett, IHL's "Preferred Candidate" We have all watched
the various blogs, news reports and commentary about Dr.
Rodney Bennett's status as the IHL's "preferred candidate" to
become president of The University of Southern Mississippi.
The question is Dr. Rodney Bennett qualified to be president
of the University of Southern Mississippi?
February 5, 2013
The IHL Really Needs Advice A local online chat-site
announced Dr. Rodney Bennett as the IHL "preferred
candidate" for president at USM several hours before the IHL
made its announcement. Until the IHL confirmed it,
"preferred candidate" Dr. Bennett was merely a rumor.
Dear usmnews.net Except for the laudatory, if vague,
statements by Dr. Bounds [Commissioner of the IHL], Mr.
Blakeslee [President of the IHL], and Lou Ann Poynter
[alumni, contributor, and member of the committee selecting
the "preferred candidate"], we haven't seen any details about
Dr. Bennett.
February 6, 2013
Dear usmnews.net, Did you see the WDAM TV interview
with Dr. Rodney Bennett [the IHL's "preferred candidate" for
the presidency of USM]? According to the [written] report and
the video of the interview, Dr. Bennett's announced "[o]ne of
the first items of business will be to hire a chief financial
officer. "
February 7, 2013
. . breaking news . . Bennett Visiting USM Campus Today
HATTIES- BURG – The Mississippi IHL Board’s preferred
candidate to replace Martha Saunders as USM’s next
president, Rodney Bennett of the University of Georgia, is
visiting USM’s Hattiesburg campus today. As Bennett visits
USM officials and other constituents, a number of items
related to Bennett’s candidacy have surfaced since last week.
President Bennett: "A first task ... get Southern Miss' finances
under control." On Thursday, February 7, 2013, the IHL named
Dr. Rodney Bennett president of USM. Bennett has been
reported several times over the past few days as saying his
first task at hand is to get USM's finances under control. We
have to assume he has said this in front of his IHL bosses.
Finances need to be brought under control? When did the IHL
or anyone else admit that USM's finances were not under
control?
February 14, 2013
Doty and Niroomand Joined Again See the visitor from
McKees Rocks, below. Whoever is looking for
information about Harold Doty and Farhang
Niroomand. We know who Harold and Farhang are.
Harold was the dean at USM's business college and is
better known as "Booze Account" Doty.
February 15, 2013
USM Chief Financial Officers Come and Go As Often
As USM Presidents USM's new President, Rodney
Bennett, has made it his paramount task: finding a
new CFO. Why is the selection of another new CFO so
important? Let's take a look at an example of USM's
recent history of unexpected departures of CFOs. Of
course, there were no financial problems officially
reported.
February 18, 2013
February 11, 2013
. . breaking news . . . Tornado Slams USM Campus
HATTIESBURG – The turbulent weather that is
hammering the eastern half of the United States struck the
USM campus in the form of a tornado on 10-Feb-2013. A
photo of the tornado taken by USM student Jordan
Holliman, shown below at left, is now a viral sensation.
Many news organizations, such as WDAM-TV in
Hattiesburg, are also posting photos of the damage caused
by the storm.
Editorial "Drones Unleashed Against Al Qaeda Threat
At Waterford Drive, Hattiesburg" That could have been
the news headline in a local newspaper. I guess I'm
lucky it wasn't. Several faculty at the School of
Accountancy, University of Southern Mississippi, took
years to concoct the "Virginia Tech Danger" to shut me
up. They failed-obviously-but the "Virginia Tech
Danger" ploy allowed me time to show that the
accusations were pure nonsense.
Editorial Unexpected Resignations Jack-In-The-Box
Surprises at USM A recent Chronicle of Higher
Education report, entitled "Lost in Transition" by Gene
C. Fant, Jr. resonates for us at the University of
Southern Mississippi. Mr. Fant begins by noting: One
of the most difficult things about the job search is the
monkey wrench that appears out of nowhere,
upending what had been a smooth process. There is no
bigger monkey wrench than the unexpected
resignation of a campus leader.
Dear usmnews.net, While I have to admit I was
impressed by Dr. Bennett's "can do" attitude after the
tornados, I have to wonder why the University didn't
send Air Farce One to Atlanta to pick him up? It seems
to me it would have been quicker than driving. Any
ideas?
February 19, 2013
Dear usmnews.net, Your report about Mississippi
ratifying the 13th Amendment [abolishing slavery] 148
years late should have embarrassed every citizen of
Mississippi. Apparently, The Hattiesburg American
was only embarrassed that someone reported on it. A
few hours after your [breaking news] report, The
Hattiesburg American proudly proclaimed, Mississippi
ratified 13th Amendment in 1995 [instead of 2013].
February 21, 2013
From the Archives of Academic Administrative
Yackety-Yak, Blather, Prattle, Jabber, and-for the
Sophisticated Among You-Confabulation Part 2 Part 2 of
our series that highlights academic administrative
yackety-yak, blather, prattle, jabber, or confabulation
continues with Past USM President, Martha Saunders'
"Innovation (Creative, Bold, Determined)." (To catch up,
see Part 1.)
In the category of still looking Lost Horizons In June
2008, Mary Morgan Anderson claimed an Accounting
Horizons publication for her vita. Under the CoB
journal rankings, Accounting Horizons is an A-level
pub... Did Anderson tell the “whole truth” about her
academic research record in the testimony above?
Reporters at USMNEWS.NET sought to investigate that
very question as it relates to he illusory Accounting
Horizon’s article. A diligent search of Accounting
Horizons has not identified a single publication under
Dr. Morgan’s name. (For more, click here.)
February 22, 2013
Will the Real USM Please Stand Up? A GUEST COLUMN
As WDAM-7 reporter Karrie Leggett-Brown discovered
when she interviewed new USM president Rodney
Bennett on 7-Feb-2013, USM’s financial situation is not
near the rosy picture painted in April-2012 by then-USM
president Martha Saunders. Those in the USM family
were surely surprised to see Bennett explain to
Leggett-Brown ¯ “I’m not going to be hesitant at all to cut
programs, or to do what we need to do to get the enterprise
back on stable footing.”
February 25, 2013
From the Archives of Academic Administrative
Yackety-Yak, Blather, Prattle, Jabber, and-for the
Sophisticate Among You-Confabulation Part 4 Part 4 of
our series that highlights academic administrative blather
continues with former USM President Martha Saunders'
"Innovation (Creative, Bold, Determined)." (To catch up,
see Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.) In Part 3, we left readers
with two questions: What, then, does Saunders mean by
her discovered "five forces of innovation"
February 13, 2013
Dear usmnews.net, Like the folks at usmnews.net, the
secrecy surrounding university activities has always
troubled me. As [United States Supreme Court] Justice
[Louis D.] Brandeis wrote "Publicity is justly
commended as a remedy for social and industrial
diseases. Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants;
electric light the most efficient policeman." However, the
University of Southern Mississippi has just named
Rodney D. Bennett as its tenth president. What do we
really know about Dr. Bennett? The answer is very little.
February 26, 2013
From the Archives of Academic Administrative
Yackety-Yak, Blather, Prattle, Jabber, and-for the
Sophisticate Among You-Confabulation Part 5 Part 5 of our
series that highlights academic administrative blather
continues with USM President Martha Saunders'
"Innovation (Creative, Bold, Determined)." (To catch up,
see Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.) In Part 4, we ended
with the hint of a particularly disgusting habit of public
relations practitioners: rewriting history.
Dear usmnews.net, Gossip around the water cooler
has it that Dr. Bennett has not signed a contract to
become the next president at Southern Miss. Do you
have any information whether that is true or whether it
portends any glitches in his arrival?
February 27, 2013
Another Peculiar Behavior From the IHL and USM We,
again, have several Mississippi Open Records Act
requests with the Institutions of Higher Learning and the
University of Southern Mississippi. As our policy at
usmnews.net says, a goal is to reduce the ridiculous
secrecy of tax supported educational institutions like
USM.