news from the Mansion - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Mar 21, 2005

news from the Mansion

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: caterer
"This weekend's President Mansion gathering had lots to cheer about. * Ms. Mader passed out copies of what were called "advance draft galleys" that she got from US News and World Report. They showed that USM will climb back into Tier III in the upcoming issue of America's Best Universities magazine. Dr. Thames told the gatherers that the school climbed a whole tier in 1 year, and that he would repeat the feat for 2006, meaning that USM will be in Tier II by then. * Several business sector representatives were there and they passed out copies of the full-page ad. Dr. Thames thanked them for getting the word out, and blamed the HA for poor coverage of those and other successes at Southern that go unreported "

If these "advance draft galleys" were passed out, then I'd think there would be a number of them in circulation, thus easy to scan and post here. I'd like to see what they're crowing about. I remain skeptical. How in the hell can a university that's mired in turmoil and SACS probation assure prospects that probation will be lifted and Tier III attained....with a straight face. If this proves true the next thing we'll see is Mixon and his henchmen raising funds to erect a statue of Thames in front of the dome. Arrrrgh

Date: Mar 21, 2005

DON'T FEED THE TROLLS!!! CATERER IS A TROLL. JUST REMEMBER THE FALSE INFO PRESENTED BY THIS TROLL LAST WEEK.

The administration and friends are trying to take over this board. Lies, lies, and more lies.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Yes, Caterer is providing false information. USM is moving to Tier 1 status. That is best of the worst universities in the nation. There is no way USM would have advance copies of next year's rankings.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

I was at Dr. Thames' Jamestown home this weekend as an invited guest. Ms. Mader never said she had proofs from U.S. News and World Report, she said she had advance copies of what USM's scores should look like in the next version. She had projections that added up to USM getting back to Tier 3 status. This is not BS. I was there and saw the presentation myself. By the way, the numbers for the projections were created with the help of some consulting firm from Atlanta. No copies were distributed, because they are preliminary goal-setting instruments that Dr. Thames' enemies could use against him if they misinterpreted the data.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Considering that the "tier drop" was attributed to a general failure to file the complete USN&WR survey, it would make sense that filing a completed survey might move USM back into Tier 3. This doesn't mean that instruction or services are necessarily any better, just as the drop to Tier 4 never really meant that instruction was worse than in the past. The basic bottom line with the tier drop was that the administration wasn't TCOB. And it looks like in order to TCOB, the administration has had to outsource a job that would have been easily accomplished had there been one iota of continuity in the institutional research office.

In other words, for the Thames administration to accomplish routine administrative tasks it appears that consultants must be brought in.

For USM to move up beyond Tier 3, it is going to have to seriously up its admissions standards as that is a major component of the USN&WR rankings. MSU & UM are finding that the constraints of the Ayers settlement make this virtually impossible.

How much was the Atlanta group paid, BTW?

Date: Mar 21, 2005

I don't know how much the consultants were paid, but they are on USM's payroll to turn the anti-Thames PR around and to raise visibility of the "good" things. I was told that the consultants are responsible for the design of the full-page ad in Sunday's HA.

As far as TCB (in a flash), that's exactly the message SFT wants to send. He harped on that at the Jamestown reception this weekend. Things are under control. Look at what the SACS consultant said. Look at this USN&WR projection created by this outside consulting group. Look at enrollment under bad conditions.

From the tone at Jamestown this weekend, Thames will get an extension sometime late next school year, after the dust has settled. It's apparently a done deal.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

I believe this thread is b.s. If there were good things happening, you'd better bet your bippy that the press would be the first to hear these things. I can't imagine anyone wasting their breath telling it to a group at a private stuff-your-mouth weekend fest.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Every damn bit of this is pure FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt). Several posters seem to be specializing in it lately. It isn't proof that Thames is done for, but a definite indication that he and his handlers are running scared.

caterer's brand is also extremely unsophisticated FUD.

Several of the statements made by caterer (who has been consistently inaccurate in the past) have the taint of bogosity about them.

For instance, if USM turns in its paperwork on time to US News, that will help its rating. But if its academic reputation score declines further (and USM dropped into the fourth tier when its reputation score had gone down by 0.1 on a 5 point scale) it will stay firmly mired in Tier 4. With the kind of publicity Thames has brought USM over the past year, what do you think is going to happen in the next US N&WR ratings?

What's more, even Lisa Mader would have to be delusional if she envisioned USM vaulting into Tier 2 in 2 years. Ole Miss and Miss State are in the middle of Tier 3.

If Thames gets another 4-year-term, the only place USM will be going is down the toilet. Even the IHL Board now seems to understand that.

Robert Campbell

PS. Webmaster/mistress, maybe it's time to apply the troll-zapper to anything that caterer posts.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

The only time I post to a caterer introduced thread is to point out to readers that caterer has posted lies in the past. I don't believe anything caterer says. Some day he/she/it may post a true statement, but I won't believe it until a respected poster comfirms it.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

Robert,

Do you have any idea how, exactly, USN&WR determines academic reputations of schools? Do they send out a survey, and, if so, to whom? I have always been mystified by these particular rankings, especially in the cases of small colleges that have very tiny libraries and other less-than-ideal academic facilities (such as access to good databases) and faculty who do little research and in many cases lack Ph.Ds, yet which often rank highly in terms of reputation.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Reporter
"The only time I post to a caterer introduced thread is to point out to readers that caterer has posted lies in the past. I don't believe anything caterer says. Some day he/she/it may post a true statement, but I won't believe it until a respected poster comfirms it. "

I agree with Reporter. Actually, I went past the Jamestown residence several times over the week and over the weekend and it appeared largely empty and dark.

Amy Young (happy spring)

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Amy Young
" I went past the Jamestown residence several times over the week and over the weekend and it appeared largely empty and dark. Amy Young (happy spring)"

What's this? The manse was empty and you failed to inform us? We've missed out on a perfectly great opportunity to TP the trees, or better yet, cover all the exterior windows with those lovely Michael Jackson USM banners that are now wasting away in some dark warehouse. Shelby would have been so delighted to see the old place spruced up a bit.

Irv

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Irvin Instigator
" What's this? The manse was empty and you failed to inform us? We've missed out on a perfectly great opportunity to TP the trees, or better yet, cover all the exterior windows with those lovely Michael Jackson USM banners that are now wasting away in some dark warehouse. Shelby would have been so delighted to see the old place spruced up a bit. Irv "

Great Instigator! Now the business folks can quote your post and said "USM faculty" are instigating vandalism against private property and it's all being aided by the AAUP message board. Surely we have better things to discuss.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

What banners have actually been removed? The ones on TAD and Elam Arms are still up.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: USM Sympathizer
"Robert,
Do you have any idea how, exactly, USN&WR determines academic reputations of schools? Do they send out a survey, and, if so, to whom? I have always been mystified by these particular rankings, especially in the cases of small colleges that have very tiny libraries and other less-than-ideal academic facilities (such as access to good databases) and faculty who do little research and in many cases lack Ph.Ds, yet which often rank highly in terms of reputation. "

Sympathizer,

The academic reputation ratings come from a survey that is sent out to presidents and provosts of other universities.

It's an extremely crude system. Reputation scores are often based on someone's memory of the way a university used to be, instead of the way it is now. Or based on very little real information at all.

That's why USM's academic reputation score isn't already 1.2 or 1.3 (1.0 is the bottom of the scale). Don't worry, if Thames stays in power reputation will soon enough catch up with reality.

Robert Campbell

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: LeavingASAP
" Great Instigator! Now the business folks can quote your post and said "USM faculty" are instigating vandalism against private property and it's all being aided by the AAUP message board. Surely we have better things to discuss. "

You have just made the point advanced by Big Blue and Media Advisor earlier today. I commend to you the thread entitled "See More #55," which still occupies the first page of this message board. Quoting Jameela Lares, do you not "have enough smarts to sort out humor in context?" Or, paraphrasing others on that thread, do you not appreciate satire? How could you possibly suggest that one's preferred style of humor be mitigated in order to accomodate members of the Hattiesburg business community? This was the position taken by Jameela, Frowny, Offended Eagle, and others only this morning.

I happen to agree with you, and with Big Blue and Media Advisor, that we should be very careful with our "humorous" posts from here forward, knowing that there are outside readers who may be prone to misinterpret intent or worse yet, not grasp the humor at all. I took the opportunity, in my post concerning Shelby's house, of illustrating my point by example, and I wasn't disappointed.

Thanks,

Irv

Date: Mar 21, 2005

I repeat. "Surely we have better things to discuss."

Date: Mar 21, 2005

There are, of course, those of us who visit the board who do have the ability to discern humor from serious statements. I'm pretty sure some of us have been offended by the idea that we can't understand what's going on.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Third Witch
"What banners have actually been removed? The ones on TAD and Elam Arms are still up."

Didn't someone report the removal of those banners months ago. How many were hung to begin with? Have any of them been removed? I thought there were a number of complaints registered by dorm residents relating to blockage of sun light.

Date: Mar 21, 2005

quote:
Originally posted by: Out Of Towner
"Didn't someone report the removal of those banners months ago. How many were hung to begin with? Have any of them been removed? I thought there were a number of complaints registered by dorm residents relating to blockage of sun light."

AFAIK only the banner covering the dorm windows was removed.