A fair number of comments have been posted on this message board about the town-gown relationship in Hattiesburg. Those comments particulary flourished during the bond issue flap. This morning I read an Associated Press item pertaining to the town-gown relationship between other communities and their universities.  The article initially describes a current conflict between The University of California at Berkely and the city of Berkeley. The city has taken the university to court in hopes of blocking UC-Berkeley's 15-year growth plan arguing that campus administrators didn't adequately evaluate the consequences to the city. The article goes on say, "The flap is the latest in a series of town-gown spats across the country as modern-day budget constraints intensify age-old friction between schools and their surrounding communities.' Further, other UC campuses are involved in town-gown controversies. (Take no heart, EagleTalk, because a UC graduate who was on the starting team of UC's1959 Rose Bowl is among those suing UC). The article also describes a dispute between officials at Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) and the surrounding community (they settled a lawsuit in 2004). USM needs to tred softly with it's surrounding community. The community holds the big stick as the most recent bond issue defeat demonstrates. We often read that the community is beholding to USM. USM should not forget that it is a two-way street.

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