Who Incites Violence? - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Mar 14, 2005

Who Incites Violence?

Date: Mar 14, 2005

Let us hope that all visitors to this message board, including Hattiesburg business and professonal leaders, realize that faculty have not made threats of violence. Let us hope that the attempt to demonize the faculty by the very few local business leaders has backfired.

Personally, I understand the anger on the part of the faculty, made even worse by the ridiculous accusations of threats of violence. It has been particularly hard for me to remain calm when I recall, on a daily basis, how my colleages Frank Glamser and Gary Stringer were treated. They did nothing wrong and they were locked out of their offices and called criminals. I also saw the effect on Glamser's students and on our department. And now, after a year, Thames seems to continue to get away with his schemes that are damaging this university, the students, and the faculty.

I simply cannot believe that the entire business and professonal community think of us a thugs, or lazy inmates. I think it is obviously a very few Thames supporters who are making these unfounded accusations.

Amy Young

Date: Mar 14, 2005

Let's never forget that the only person who is realistically alleged to have made a threat of serious violence is Shelby Thames's right-hand man, and that this person has never tried to deny the report (which would be VERY easy for him to do if it were untrue), nor has he ever been questioned about it by the media (a fact I find astonishing).

Date: Mar 14, 2005

Sympathizer, who among the press would ask such a question? Kevin Walters is the only one who has consistently pursued the USM story, and he's too professional to stoop to Malone's (purported) level.

NO QUARTER
Anne Wallace

Date: Mar 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Anne Wallace
"Sympathizer, who among the press would ask such a question? Kevin Walters is the only one who has consistently pursued the USM story, and he's too professional to stoop to Malone's (purported) level. NO QUARTER Anne Wallace"

Good citation of excellence about KW Anne . . .

Date: Mar 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Angeline
"Violence = "Unjust or abusive use of power" -American Heritage Dictionary"

Violence? Dang. I thought they said Violets!

Date: Mar 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Anne Wallace
"Sympathizer, who among the press would ask such a question? Kevin Walters is the only one who has consistently pursued the USM story, and he's too professional to stoop to Malone's (purported) level. NO QUARTER Anne Wallace"

Well, a number of possibilities occur to me: (1) KW's editors, who should not be pleased that one of their reporters has been threatened; (2) a reporter assigned by KW's editors; (3) a journalist for The Independent; (4) someone from the CL (I have written to them urging them to look into this story); (5) someone from one of the state press associations (I have written to at least two of these urging them to look into this story); (6) the reporter for the Sun Herald who has done a generally fine job in the articles she has written about USM; a reporter for The Chronicle of Higher Education (I have written to them urging them to look into this story). I agree with Robert Campbell that widespread attention to the alleged lynching remark would elevate the whole USM story to a new level.

I continue to remain astonished, by the way, that KM has not simply issued a clear denial that he ever said such a thing. Issuing such a denial would be very easy to do. It is this failure to issue a denial that makes the story seem very credible to me.

Date: Mar 14, 2005

I think the SH reporter is an SFT supporter. I wrote her also, urging her to give equal say from SFT's critics and received no response and have seen no action on her part to do so. ???

Date: Mar 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: SaveUSM
"I think the SH reporter is an SFT supporter. I wrote her also, urging her to give equal say from SFT's critics and received no response and have seen no action on her part to do so. ???"

Her story on the Putsch was, I thought, quite good; in fact, there was something in it (I can't now remember what) that really surprised me in its implied skepticism about the Putschers.

Date: Mar 14, 2005

Don't think I read that one...is there still a link around here somewhere?

Date: Mar 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: SaveUSM
"Don't think I read that one...is there still a link around here somewhere?"

Here's the link; in a moment I'll post some of the phrasing I thought was especially interesting.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/local/11105769.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

Date: Mar 14, 2005

Here's some of the phrasing I found interesting; it would have been very easy to write this story without using some of this phrasing and without reporting some of these facts (although it would have been inaccurate to neglect the facts):

". . . a carefully orchestrated meeting . . . . The university has endured a number of controversies since Thames took over as president nearly three years ago, and many faculty members blame Thames. . . . Attendance at Thursday's meeting was by invitation only through one of the 10 members of the committee that organized it. A list of invitees was printed, and several people stood at the entrance to the parking lot to ensure that those who entered were on the list. . . . The media was not invited but members were given a packet of information after the meeting that also was handed out to participants. Mixon also spoke after the meeting and said the group agreed no one but him would speak to journalists."

I think this report may have been even more hard-hitting than the one that appeared in the HA.

Date: Mar 14, 2005

By the way, re-reading this report, and being reminded of all the secrecy involved in what was, after all, mostly an inept pep rally, makes me think that this event retroactively qualifies for the award as

THE LAST STUPID THING

I wonder what TNST (The Next Stupid Thing) will be.

Date: Mar 14, 2005

This one was a little better than the one on Thames a few weeks ago. Wow, Mixon really is an idiot. I can't believe some of the stuff that guy said..."other threats"...wonder how serious people would take him if they knew he took jokes/metaphors...on an internet message board literally.

I guess they are just really grasping at straws.

Date: Mar 14, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: USM Sympathizer
"I think this report [in the Sun-Herald] may have been even more hard-hitting than the one that appeared in the HA."

USM Sympathizer,

This was also my impression. And the Sun Herald initially refused to run stories about USM being on probation with SACS!

The advantage that Kevin Walters had in the Hat Am was being able to quote Bob Mixon's comments at greater length than Melissa Scallan did in the Sun Herald. But now that we've seen Mixon's prepared statetment, we know that he stayed close to it when he answered KW's questions.

Robert Campbell