Good morning! This is my week to do the honors.

The week started at a snail's pace but ended like gangbusters. The four major issues that emerged during the seven day posting period kept all members of the Citation de la Semaine selection committee hopping just to keep up with the increased number. #1 Groupie initially thought that it would be a week of love, peace, and joy when Emma said "Robert, I am in love with Stephen, to which Monique de Guerre responded, "Emma, I am sorry, but I am planning to marry Stephen . . ."  Wow! Was #1 Groupie wrong about the love, peace, and joy thing. O Henry almost exhausted his entire supply of Flit on a superabundance of trolls. Further, the message board virtually exploded when one academic disaster after another surfaced. Because of the unusually large number of great posts, and the difficulty in selecting from among them, the committee decided to narrow its task by limiting this week's awards to one specific issue.

HONORABLE MENTION: Old Hattiesburg -  "The very idea that a bunch of local business people could determine the strategic plan and leadership of a major state university is evidence of how deeply insular and provincial USM is becoming.
 
Do the soft drink vendors of Tuscaloosa determine the future of the University
of Alabama? Do the car dealers of Athens call the shots at the University of Georgia? Do
the dentists of Oxford map strategy for Ole Miss? Do the print shop
owners of Starkville pull the strings at Mississippi State?
 
It's hard to believe that a group of people barely known north of D'Lo, Hot Coffee, or Magee are the power brokers at USM."

HONORABLE MENTION: V-8 The car, not the beverage - "Does this mean that the USM faculty will hold a similar meeting to determine if the local Ford dealer will continue to sell Fords or switch over to selling DeSoto FireDome Eights, Hudson Hornets, and Nash Metropolitans? If the faculty holds two such meetings, maybe there should be a discussion of whether the local coke plant should continue to market Coca-Cola or switch over to Double Cola, Orange Crush, and Oh-So-Grape. The topic of a third meeting might be whether the streets in Hattiesburg should continue to be paved or switched over to Oyster Shell topping as was the case in Louisiana. If USM's mission and structure is the business of these people, then surely the USM faculty should be able to determine what automobile a dealer sells, what soft drinks are produced, and what kind of surface is to be used on our roads.

FIRST RUNNER UP: Amy Young - "If statements attributed to a select group of wealthy Hattiesburg-area business and professional leaders are correct in the local print media, USM continues to head for trouble.  This small group believes they have the right to dictate the future direction of USM. USM is still a state institution, supported by tax dollars from all Mississippians, many who are not wealthy and depend on USM to provide affordable quality higher education for themselves, their children, and grandchildren.  Further, the statements about liberal arts faculty setting the direction of USM for the past 25 years are not only inaccurate, but are a slap in the face to Dr. Aubrey K. Lucas. 

THE WINNER: Old ALUM - I had the privilege to be part of the Honors College during my years at USM.

Since graduating from USM I have attended three other Universities. I got degrees at two, both higher tier than USM. Few students at the other universities had part time jobs, at USM that was a given. The students at USM know much more about the real world than SFT&Co. think.

I hope USM can continue to provide opportunities to the students of today it provided to me many years ago.

There was an old advertisement for USM, "A Distinguished University." Don't let it become "An Extinguished University."

Congratulations to the recipients. And thank you, LVN, for spotting and nominating the WINNER! Be assured that the selection committee gave serious consideration to your eloquent statement (which was Mr. Wonderful's personal favorite): "If the faculty decides to REALLY give a day's work for a day's pay (since that's about half as much as they actually do) then USM is screwed."

For the selection committee,

Delta Dawn