Use of University Seal - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Mar 20, 2005

Use of University Seal

Date: Mar 20, 2005

he he he...I have a "cracked dome" on my site and I definitely didn't have approval. I stole it from the USM logo page :)

http://www.geocities.com/saveusmnow

Date: Mar 20, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
"Today's full-page ad features the USM "dome" seal logo. For that matter, the AAUP-USM website features the "dome" seal logo. Does the use of this logo imply official approval by the University, or could any yahoo with a website or money for an ad slap that logo on it without an official okidokie? I've looked over the guidelines for use of the University seal at the USM website & did not find the answer to my question... (I'm not thinking of anything devious here. It's just that the seal implies official approval.) "

Invictus, I agree, I too believe that use of the seal implies official approval. I know that when a student club I was sponsor of wanted to use anything related to the university, it needed to "go" through Lisa Maders office. My opinion and that's all it is, is that use of the offical university seal is protected via copyright or trade mark and such use is granted permission via the marketing dept. As for the AAUP-USM website, I believe Amy Young can get permission to use the seal because the organization is related to the university faculty.

Date: Mar 20, 2005

Wasn't there a problem with the Eagle logo sometime ago? As I recall, USM kicked and screamed about that. Why aren't they kicking and screaming about the USM seal being used in the newspaper advertisement?

Date: Mar 20, 2005

http://www.usm.edu/pr/graphstandards/logos.html

From the site

"The university seal, which features the 1910 dome building surrounded by the words "The University of Southern Mississippi," should be used on materials of an academic nature and by organizations that are academically connected to the university"

Date: Mar 20, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Tiger
"From the site "The university seal, which features the 1910 dome building surrounded by the words "The University of Southern Mississippi," should be used on materials of an academic nature and by organizations that are academically connected to the university" "

My interpretation based on a reading of the above:

Is AAUP an organization academically connected to the university? YES

Should AAUP be able to use the USM seal? YES

Is the group that met at the paving company academically connected with USM? NO

Should the group that met at the paving company be able to use the seal? H*ll NO!

Date: Mar 20, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: No, No. A Thousand Times NO
" My interpretation based on a reading of the above: Is AAUP an organization academically connected to the university? YES Should AAUP be able to use the USM seal? YES Is the group that met at the paving company academically connected with USM? NO Should the group that met at the paving company be able to use the seal? H*ll NO!"

UNLESS............that organization has been given OFFICIAL permission to use said logo/seal.

That means to me that this was NOT just a group of private business people concerned about the university, this group was supported by LSM and SFT!

Date: Mar 20, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Green Hornet
" UNLESS............that organization has been given OFFICIAL permission to use said logo/seal. That means to me that this was NOT just a group of private business people concerned about the university, this group was supported by LSM and SFT!"

If your speculation is correct, Hornet, wouldn't this mean that USM is basically responsible for the content of the advertisement? USM would surely have to examine and approve any advertisement carrying the USM seal.

Date: Mar 20, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Pooper Scooper
"If your speculation is correct, Hornet, wouldn't this mean that USM is basically responsible for the content of the advertisement? USM would surely have to examine and approve any advertisement carrying the USM seal."

The content of the "Ad" has LSM fingerprints all over it. Do you think for a minute that the "ad" wasn't approved by Lisa Mader? Where did this organization of business people get their "facts" for this "ad"? Someone had to do the research, and Mader's office is capable of doing this. Do I know for a fact she did it?, NO. But it's strange that this information on the University of Southern Miss is made available to this outside organization of private business people/owners.

Date: Mar 20, 2005

Using the USM seal in the manner used in the advertisement, to me at least, is very much like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

Date: Mar 20, 2005

The public has a right to expect a university to be accurate insofar as possible. Without that sort of integrity the university is nothing. Was there anything in that advertisement that was not accurate?

Date: Mar 20, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Litmus Test
"The public has a right to expect a university to be accurate insofar as possible. Without that sort of integrity the university is nothing. Was there anything in that advertisement that was not accurate? "

Yes, a university is expected to be accurate. BUT, when a university administration tries to pass off this information as if it's coming from a "private group of business people/concerned supports of the university" it STINKS!

Date: Mar 20, 2005

I mean to say "supporters"

Date: Mar 20, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Green Hornet
"Yes, a university is expected to be accurate. BUT, when a university administration tries to pass off this information as if it's coming from a "private group of business people/concerned supports of the university" it STINKS!"

USM failed my litmus test long ago.

Date: Mar 20, 2005

http://www.usm.edu/licensing/enforcement.html

From the site:

Any suspected misuse or unlicensed use of the university's name or trademarks should be reported immediately to the licensing department.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Litmus Test
"The public has a right to expect a university to be accurate insofar as possible. Without that sort of integrity the university is nothing. Was there anything in that advertisement that was not accurate? "

How about the alleged savings from the reorganization?

Robert Campbell

Date: Mar 21, 2005

The reorganization savings? Is that what the economists refer to as the multiplier effect?

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Let them use the eagle. They already share it with Iowa.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Green Hornet
" Invictus, I agree, I too believe that use of the seal implies official approval. I know that when a student club I was sponsor of wanted to use anything related to the university, it needed to "go" through Lisa Maders office. My opinion and that's all it is, is that use of the offical university seal is protected via copyright or trade mark and such use is granted permission via the marketing dept. As for the AAUP-USM website, I believe Amy Young can get permission to use the seal because the organization is related to the university faculty. "

Actaully Amy and I talked about this just this morning -- she got permission to use the logo originally, as the AAUP-USM Chapter is a uUNiversity organization.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

You folks are chasing rabbits down holes right now. If an entity uses the seal without permission, it is up to the administration to decide whether or not to pursue it legally. My guess is that AY needs to dig up the piece of paper giving her permission to use the seal on this website before another word is said about the seal being used on that ad.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Big Blue
"You folks are chasing rabbits down holes right now. If an entity uses the seal without permission, it is up to the administration to decide whether or not to pursue it legally. My guess is that AY needs to dig up the piece of paper giving her permission to use the seal on this website before another word is said about the seal being used on that ad."

My original question had less to do with AAUP-USM than with the "privately-sponsored" ad. (Why AAUP-USM would want to use the USM "dome" seal logo is another question entirely.) My question, which seems to be how most folks took this thread, was whether the use of the "dome" logo implies official approval of the ad by the university, which in fact it does. Oh, I'm sure that "influential" private sector personalities paid for the ad, but it might be interesting to find out whether it was Bob Mixon or Doug Rouse who did the layout.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Big Blue
"You folks are chasing rabbits down holes right now. If an entity uses the seal without permission, it is up to the administration to decide whether or not to pursue it legally. "

Yea verily. This discussion is a complete waste of time and energy. So what if the seal was used without proper authority. Does anyone actually think this revelation, if true, would do anything at all to undermine Thames? Hell no! The only importance of this thread is that it is instructive as regards the ease with which anti-Thames forces are distracted from real issues, those which might actually hasten his removal from the dome.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

That was my point, however muddled.

It was posted on another thread that a consulting firm has been hired and that firm is the one that did the ad. The firm is supposedly paid by USM. I guess Mixon and Rouse paid for the copy.

Anyway, it doesn't matter. Mixon can pay for another full-page ad stating that faculty members are stupid and lazy and slap the dome seal on there and nobody can do anything about it except the administration.

This whole thread is like debating how long a human takes to freeze to death in Cancun, Mexico -- it makes no sense and has no benefit.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

What this thread illustrates is that faculty (which I am presuming "Big Blue" to be) are oblivious to the administration's wanton spending to prop up a person (SFT).

Once you take the SACS consultant's paycheck, the money spent on overcoming the probation, the fees paid to an outside firm to doctor this year's USN&WR survey, as well as what appears to be obvious university support for the full-page ad & you have a lot of little drops filling up a big bucket. This is all money that did not need to have been spent. Thames seems to have no compunctions about wasting money to do damage control -- to fix things that could have been avoided by competent administration to begin with.

How much was your "raise" this year? And how likely is that raise to be rescinded when the governor calls down the mandatory 5% budget cut?

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Big Blue
" This whole thread is like debating how long a human takes to freeze to death in Cancun, Mexico -- it makes no sense and has no benefit."

Dear Mr. Blue,

Please cease and desist from suggesting what we should or should not debate in this forum. Whether or not the matter at hand makes sense or has any present or future benefit is irrelevant. We will not be told what to do.

Protocol Patti

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Protocol Patti
" Dear Mr. Blue, Please cease and desist from suggesting what we should or should not debate in this forum. Whether or not the matter at hand makes sense or has any present or future benefit is irrelevant. We will not be told what to do. Protocol Patti"

Webmaster,

I did not post the above. Whomever is using my name will kindly stop.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Invictus,

We need a better source for the consulting firm story than caterer and his or her chorus. It's in character for Thames to call in a consulting firm... but I'll believe he's actually done it when I see the evidence. There's a ton of dezinformatsiya being dispensed on this board.

Meanwhile, BB has claimed to be in the business community, not on the faculty.

Robert Campbell