Kicking it up a notch!! BAM - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Nov 1, 2004

Kicking it up a notch!! BAM

Date: Nov 1, 2004

Okay, I'm game. what do you suggest?

Date: Nov 1, 2004

We've got to be careful. I want to talk to someone who is not immediately invested in this current all-enveloping USM issue, so we can find another forum where we can actually seek change, rather than merely talk about it. By the same token, please believe that disucssion is SO important - and we want the discussion to continue. With that said, I want to find a way that those of us who can forge beyond the usual borders can find a way to make this far more political. It is an environment that is much needed. Are you with me? We'll find a way to meet.

Date: Nov 1, 2004

The appropriate contacts for reform are the AAUP and faculty senate. These two groups have been relatively successful in presenting faculty concerns to the university community. Off campus efforts should look to community and alumni leaders.

Date: Nov 1, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: emeril
"We've got to be careful. I want to talk to someone who is not immediately invested in this current all-enveloping USM issue, so we can find another forum where we can actually seek change, rather than merely talk about it. By the same token, please believe that disucssion is SO important - and we want the discussion to continue. With that said, I want to find a way that those of us who can forge beyond the usual borders can find a way to make this far more political. It is an environment that is much needed. Are you with me? We'll find a way to meet."

With all due respect, this post sounds remarkably like someone who used to lurk on FireShelby and try to arrange meetings/contacts off-line. There is reason to believe that person is now on-board. Be cautious.

Date: Nov 1, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Sourdough
"The appropriate contacts for reform are the AAUP and faculty senate. These two groups have been relatively successful in presenting faculty concerns to the university community. Off campus efforts should look to community and alumni leaders."

An even better response, thank you.

Date: Nov 1, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: 9 Lives
"With all due respect, this post sounds remarkably like someone who used to lurk on FireShelby and try to arrange meetings/contacts off-line. There is reason to believe that person is now on-board. Be cautious. "

Too bad. I was hoping to get a good meal out of this. . . .

Date: Nov 1, 2004

Never was on the Fire Shelby Board. The Faculty Senate and AAUP serve extremely useful roles - prominent and important. This needs to go, on a state level, beyond IHL and the A.G. -- the lawsuits are stacking up and these wise voices on the board need to help with figuring out how to kick it up a notch. I'm not a dreamer, I'm a realist who wants to represent those who are about to go under the gun and I am no attorney, and I don't think I have what it takes to head this thing up. But there are attornies out there willing to go the extra miles because they do care about this state and institution. This MB might not be the correct forum for a talk about REAL change, but I respect the members of this community to reach out to them for some ideas concerning out how we kick this impropriety up to the Governor's level or beyond. Please do not take this post lightly. How do you, my respected fellow posters, feel we can do this.

Date: Nov 2, 2004

Emeril:

The point is that you can contact the faculty leadership directly to have an off-line discussion without appearing to desire a clandestine unmasking of the posters. The faculty leadership can point you in the right directions if you are legitimate. Meanwhile, these discussions are ongoing in every circle that most of us touch - academy, university, political, religious, community, social, legal, medical, business, education...

What is it, exactly, that you are offering?

Date: Nov 2, 2004

What I'm offering is not an exposure of any of us but we do know that this is an open board where many people have many ideas to offer from a wealth of backgrounds and experiences. But there has got to be a way to go beyond Shelby, the A.G., and the IHL Klumbfest. We all agree that what has occured at USM is tragic. Does anyone know how we can go beyond them to the Governor, or should we go to someone else. Some of us are definitely on the hit list. I am one of them. I can understand that everything is suspect and everyone. But how long can we honestly allow this prez and the IHL to drain this state? And the IHL are a group of people and USM is so much more than those people, and SFT and his henchcrew. I keep hoping there are some people out there who might have the means and knowledge to make that happen - I know of one who can help but enough people need to be on board.

Date: Nov 2, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: emeril
"What I'm offering is not an exposure of any of us but we do know that this is an open board where many people have many ideas to offer from a wealth of backgrounds and experiences. But there has got to be a way to go beyond Shelby, the A.G., and the IHL Klumbfest. We all agree that what has occured at USM is tragic. Does anyone know how we can go beyond them to the Governor, or should we go to someone else. Some of us are definitely on the hit list. I am one of them. I can understand that everything is suspect and everyone. But how long can we honestly allow this prez and the IHL to drain this state? And the IHL are a group of people and USM is so much more than those people, and SFT and his henchcrew. I keep hoping there are some people out there who might have the means and knowledge to make that happen - I know of one who can help but enough people need to be on board."

One of the greatest travesties that has occurred is the complete usurping of the academic governance of the university. I will repeat the advice already provided that if you are for real, then contact the academic leadership - faculty senate president and AAUP president. To do otherwise is to exacerbate the core problem.

Date: Nov 2, 2004

I agree and am doing that. I never meant to usurp any power - only to get really vocal about it again in complete support of the AAUP and the Faculty Senate. Another group is interested in helping. Time to hang up the cloak and put away the dagger (that's a joke, folks! Literalists please realize that!!!) Thanks for your response.

Date: Nov 2, 2004

Emeril:

I am on board with you. But, this is not the forum at all. Most of what takes palce here is bashing and making unsupported allegations. In other words I am for it but it needs to be in a more mature enviornment.

Date: Nov 2, 2004

Hey Mr. Wonderful, here is a quote from Otherside to N2ME from the summer; somehow it seems appropriate.

Academics collectively, not individually, are the experts in questions of higher education. They are the ones who established the principles of shared governance, academic freedom, etc by which real universities run.

Date: Nov 2, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Doc Roberts
" Most of what takes palce here is bashing and making unsupported allegations. In other words I am for it but it needs to be in a more mature enviornment."

Dear Dr. Roberts,

Thank you for having the courage to speak out in condemnation of the sophomoric antics evidenced here. I could not agree with you more. Most who patronize this message board are petty and mean-spirited malcontents. They persist in pursuing a transparent agenda centered upon mocking our long-suffering president, Dr. Thames. I would urge you and all other fair-minded individuals to seek another, more mature forum. Perhaps you should consider the new Varsity Voice campus newspaper. If you are affiliated with USM, I can arrange for a seat on the President's University Council. Stop by my office at your convenience and I will be pleased to explore these options with you.

Very truly yours,

Joseph Goebbels, Ph.D.

USM Minister of Truth

Date: Nov 2, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Groupie #1's (Immature) Research Assistant
"Hey Mr. Wonderful, here is a quote from Otherside to N2ME from the summer; somehow it seems appropriate. Academics collectively, not individually, are the experts in questions of higher education. They are the ones who established the principles of shared governance, academic freedom, etc by which real universities run. "

Thanks for your diligence, RA. The eligibility of appropriate historical postings, when later cited during the current 7-day time frame, will be discussed by the selection committee.

Date: Nov 2, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: 9 Lives
"With all due respect, this post sounds remarkably like someone who used to lurk on FireShelby and try to arrange meetings/contacts off-line. There is reason to believe that person is now on-board. Be cautious. "

Ah, but "Emeril" hasn't once told us that we don't know beans about IP addresses or that ActiveBoard is "well known" for its security vulnerabilities.

That said, I don't think there is a level to kick this up to. Given Haley Barbour's recent statements about increasing accountability for education while decreasing funding, I don't see IHL's actions as particularly out of line with the guv's views.

If "Emeril" does know of lawsuits that haven't become "stories in the press," I personally would like to hear about them. If s/he were to post them here, it might be useful -- a fair number of news articles seem to have spun out of this particular swamp.

Right now. though, I think it would take a criminal investigation to break the impasse & frankly, that requires someone to decide that a crime has been committed. Phil Bryant ain't going nowhere & Jim Hood has decided USM-as-an-issue won't get him elected the next governor.

What's that Hee Haw song?

Gloom, despair, and agony on me! (WOE!)
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery! (WOE!)
If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. (WOE!)
Gloom, despair, and agony on me!