Reports for August 1, 2012 - August 15, 2012
usmnews.net
August 1, 2012
What would Tattoo Say? NEW DOCUMENTS ON USM
PLANE REVEALED One of the large document dumps,
all pursuant to a Mississippi Open Records request of
USM by USMNEWS.net, concerns 2012 expenses related
to the USM airplane, a popular subject here on this
website. The table inserted just below summarizes what
we know, by category, about the 2012 expenses related to
former USM president Martha Saunders’ 2008 lease
(from the USM Foundation) of a Beechcraft King Air.
Dear usmnews.net, Your recent series about the money
wasted on public relations for a fourth tier public
university has been a real public service. It is disgusting
to think that woman (former-President Martha D.
Saunders) was allowed to waste three quarters of a
million dollars on PR with apparently no accountability
while tuition continues to climb. Speaking of which,
where was the IHL when all of this was going on?
August 2, 2012
Special Report Fuel for Thought The report presents
some of the document scans recently obtained from USM
by USMNEWS.net via a Mississippi Open Records Act
request. These scans relate to the airplane leased by
USM president Martha Saunders in the fall of 2008.
Much of the information concerns recent expenses (2012)
associated with that plane.
August 3, 2012
An Editorial: Does Evil Lurk in Our Community? ... As
you read this editorial, did you notice how many times
Ms. Munn based her accusations on facts? If you say
zero, you are absolutely right. She said her accusations
came from second-hand, third-hand, or worse
information. Ms. Munn said she trusted these people,
which translated to her belief that gossip is to be
accepted -- without a shred of proof -- as objective
evidence. In fact, she had observed nothing herself to
support the allegations she made to fire me.
August 6, 2012
Dear usmnews.net, Reading the Does Evil Lurk in Our
Community series has made me ______________. I'm not
sure what word to fill in the blank with. Appalled.
Horrified. Sick at heart. Disgusted. All of them apply as
well as some that you probably wouldn't print.
August 7, 2012
Right Up to the End New Documents Reveal Idgroup
Largesse Continued through June-2012 More documents
received by USMNEWS.net from USM via open records
legislation reveals that Mona Amodeo’s public relations
firm Idgroup continued to benefit from its relationship
with Martha Saunders’ USM right up until the end of
Saunders’ reign as president of USM. The invoice below
was signed by Saunders on 25-June-2012, and was quite
possibly her final act as USM president.
August 8, 2012
President Saunders' Last Days Squandering Students'
and Taxpayers' Money Part 3 2012 "We're entitled, that's
why. And you're not." On March 10, 2012, N777AQ was
flown round trip from Hattiesburg, MS to Memphis, TN.
Passengers as reported in USM's Interdepartmental
Invoice were "Chad Driskell-Executive Assistant to
President Martha Saunders, Doug Rouse-Member,
Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, Evan
Dillard-Chief Executive Officer, Forrest General Hospital,
. . . breaking news . . . Source: IHL Board Member to
Resign over USM Flap HATTIESBURG – An anonymous
source contacted USMNEWS.net stating that IHL Board
member Doug Rouse is expected to resign his IHL post
this month (Aug-2012). According to the tip, Rouse
received an opinion from the Mississippi Ethics
Commission relating to his business (medical practice)
relationship with the USM athletics department. A copy of
the MEC’s opinion, dated 16-July-2012, was provided to
USMNEWS.net and is inserted at the end of this report.
August 13, 2012
August 14, 2012
Special Report Phone Records Reveal Influence Records
of Rouse’s Communications with Saunders Made Public
Ed Kemp’s 12-Aug-2012 report for The Hattiesburg
American reveals what appears to be an attempt by IHL
Board member Doug Rouse to influence the 2011-12
hiring of a new athletics director at USM.
Editorial What We Learned as Children The Mississippi
Ethics Commission recently issued Advisory Opinion No.
12-058-E. The question MEC considered was: "May a
member of a state board of trustees and/or businesses in
which he holds a material financial interest provide
services to an institution governed by the board?"
August 15, 2012
Dear usmnews.net, Can we expect more in the "Does Evil
Lurk in Our Community" series? The warnings are
welcome. By the way, I have printed copies on my home
computer and have been quietly circulating them to
colleagues.
August 16, 2012
August 20, 2012
. . . breaking news . . Idgroup Now Feeding at the MUW
Budget Trough HATTIESBURG – Documents obtained
by USMNEWS.net from the Mississippi University for
Women via a Mississippi Open Records Act request
indicates that Mona Amodeo’s Idgroup is now feeding at
the MUW budget trough. The insert below shows e-mail
communication between Amodeo and officials at MUW,
including MUW president Jim Borsig, regarding Core
Dialogue sessions that Idgroup is preparing for MUW this
fall (2012).
August 9, 2012
President Saunders' Last Days Squandering Students'
and Taxpayers' Money Part 4 2012 "Dumb, dumber, or
dumbest. It's hard to decide." Looking back on last week's
reports arising from usmnews.net's recently obtained
documents through a Mississippi Open Records Act, we
are challenged to identify which report-Part 2, Part 3, or
today's report, Part 4-is dumb, which is dumber, and
which is dumbest. Granted, Part 2, which reported that
the purpose of using USM airplane N777AQ was to
"Discuss [USM's] School of Nursing and attending NCAA
finals" at a cost of $21,678.57 is in contention for the top
honor.
update to 31st & Pearl Whatever Happened to the
"Campus Dialogues"? usmnews.net has received many
comments concerning the recent series about $700,000
plus paid to idgroup during former-President Saunders'
tenure as president of the University of Southern
Mississippi. Not too surprisingly, none of the comments
concerning the expenditures have been particularly
favorable.
August 21, 2012
Peyrefitte Hauls in $50,000 Raise STILL GOOD TO BE
AN ADMINISTRATOR AT USM At its 16-Aug-2012
meeting, the Mississippi IHL Board raised Joseph
Peyrefitte’s salary from $125,000 per year to $175,000 per
year. This $50,000 difference equates to a 40% raise for
Peyrefitte, who has served as the CoB’s associate dean
since April-2007, when former CoB marketing professor
Alvin Williams was elevated to interim CoB dean after the
resignation of Harold Doty from that post.
An Editorial, Does Evil Lurk in Our Community? Charles
Jordan A recent breaking news report, "Another
(Dangerous?) USM Professor Steps Forward," published
at usmnews.net, reminded me of the apparent ease with
which University of Southern Mississippi faculty are
accused of being dangerous. Apparently, there's an
epidemic at USM of "dangerous people." All too often
hidden in the background are the mobbers, the
"colleagues" who lurk behind the scenes and act in an
effort to destroy the lives and careers of colleagues with
whom they disagree. In Patty Munn's deposition, she
insisted that a colleague must be a "person who views the
world in the correct manner."
August 22, 2012
Is the CoB’s SoA a Twilight Zone? A Guest Viewpoint The
USM business college’s (CoB’s) two newest accounting
faculty, Kirby “Skip” Hughes and Michael Dugan, were
said to be big-time researchers. Hughes came to USM
from LSU, while Dugan came in from Alabama – both top
tier national universities. However, a recent perusal of the
CoB’s School of Accountancy’s (SoA’s) journal articles
webpage reveals that these two scholars are now
publishing in the same types of low-level journals in
which so many of the CoB’s long-time accountants have
been, and are still, publishing.
August 23, 2012
August 10, 2012
August 24, 2012
An Editorial Does Evil Lurk In Our Community? And
Transfer to the University of South Alabama? ... A final word
-- a warning from someone who has been there: You need to
exercise caution around Alvin Williams. If he doesn't think
you are collegial, if he and others don't like what you have to
say, and if people like Patty Munn and he decide you are not
a "person who views the world in the correct manner," he
may join a mob who will make vile, unfounded accusations
in an effort to destroy your career.