I know that many faculty are working hard to try help USM maintain its re-accreditation and to get off the current probation. I am very doubtful that there is anything that faculty can do that will change the outcome. SACS knows that the faculty are not the problem. SACS knows that the problem is the IHL Board and SFT. Hence, they will have no interest in letting USM off the hook until SFT is gone and the Board has acknowledged in word and deed that SACS is the meanest son-of-a-bitch in this valley. By now the leadership at SACS understands that they have a rouge board on their hands and that the problems that plague USM will pop up elsewhere in the system. SACS has been challenged and maligned by SFT and the Board. Those in the leadership at SACS, being human, will want to slap SFT and the Board around. Second, other universities and colleges coming up accreditation on the same cycle as USM has been working diligently for three years or more to make sure they have covered all of the bases and have properly prepared the paper work. If SACS should reaccredit USM with its late and incomplete report, it sends a signal to other universities that they do not need to take SACS as seriously as they had thought. USM played chicken with SACS and won, so can we too. There is support for my contention when one reviews the Auburn situation. Auburn fired their President and restructured their Board. Part of that restructuring was to reduce considerably the influence of Lowder on the Board. Lowder was a bigger hitter at Auburn than any of the members of the IHL Board. Indeed, Lowder probably had more influence in Alabama than the whole IHL Board has in Mississippi. There are mighty hard times ahead for SFT, the Board, and probably many of SFT's supporters. The folks meeting next week to save SFT's fat butt would do well to rethink their position. They will be on the losing side and those who depend on the Hattiesburg community to support them economically will find that the dollars will not flow as before.