When I first arrived at USM a few short years ago, a neighbor told me department "X" was the best in the Southeast. Another said it was best East of the Mississippi River. Yet another said he had heard it was the best in the nation. None could identify how they had come to that conclusion,  only they had heard it from somewhere and that is what they believed. I knew their assessment was not correct, because I was joining deparment "X." I thought I department was pretty good and had excellent potential, but I knew it had not yet arrived. Pretty soon I began to hear the same thing about departments "Y" and "Z" at USM. As I began to meet new and prospective students and asked them an abridged form of my favorite question ("What brought you here to Memphis Poltech?) I heard pretty much the same thing. As time passed I began to hear other statements from members of the community as well as from current and prospective students who told me with pride that department "A" and department "B" have the only major in their particular disciplines in the entire country. These affirmative statements were frequently accompanied by praises of the faculty who were described as tops in their fields, caring, hard working, and great teachers.

Suddenly the lepoard has changed its spots. Today I hear that we are a bunch of lazy, whining freeloaders who go to the office late and leave early. I need not repeat the other things I have heard and read as they are a matter of public record in the newspapers and elsewhere.

Why has the community leopard changed its spots?