USM's Business Supporters to Meet Again

Robin Moss, Special to the American

Even with the recent announcement of the phased resignation of USM President Shelby Thames, the local business community has planned a second meeting to support both the university.  According to the group's organizers, the second meeting will also be one of support for the continuation of the Thames presidency, a goal the group denied both before and after its last gathering.

"We are holding a second gathering to make clear our wish to have Dr. Thames continue," said Bonnie Drews, one of the group's organizers.  "We are also bringing some new 'members' on board this time, as well as taking stock of our recent media efforts."  When asked what constituted the group's media efforts, Dews denied comment, but did go on to say that the group would address the media after the second gathering, which she hopes to schedule in mid June. 

One of the group's new "members" is Jim Ware, a local retiree from Louisiana.  "They [the group] wanted to hear about my experience with the girl from the LSU faculty that I hired when I was a very important executive for a utility in Louisiana.  Some [members of the group] sounded interested in how someone so incompetent could teach at LSU, while others expressed fascination about how faculty can just take 2 years off of work," Ware pointed out.  "I told them I would be glad to speak to the gathering about these things, as well as share my views on sabbaticals and tenure," Ware stated.

Knowledge of the LSU faculty member that Ware hired comes from a letter he wrote to the editor of The Hattiesburg American.  Ware's letter is but one in a recent spate of what many characterize as "anti-USM faculty" letters that have appeared in newspapers statewide since Thames' resignation announcement about two weeks ago.  Mathematics professor and former faculty senate officer, Myron Henry, expressed concern at the growing resentment of USM faculty in the community.

"We [the faculty senate] think he [Thames] should step up and address this issue.  It's not good.  The community should have a better understanding of what we [the faculty] do, and Dr. Thames has the pulpit to provide that understanding," Henry point out. 

"If Dr. Thames doesn't speak out in defense of faculty, people on campus will continue to believe that he [Thames] might actually be behind it all," stated Amy Young, professor of anthropology and current president of USM's chapter of the AAUP. 

In response, Thames stated that he often defends certain members of the faculty when he addresses public gatherings, like the local business group, and the media.  "We have some on the faculty that pay themselves through external monies they attract to USM.  We call these [faculty] 'profit centers' --- I defend them all the time," Thames countered.  Thames also addressed the letter-writing campaign.  "As for the letters, I know they get monotonous, they do sound alike.  I have contracted with the Godwin Group to replace Lisa [Mader].  We'll be getting some new letter templates out to the community soon," Thames stated.

Bob Mixon, one of the local group's organizers, explained that a new publication is being printed that will explain how little the faculty has done at USM.  "These will be companions to the full color magazines we distributed at the last meeting.  These new ones highlight less positive aspects of things on campus, like the faculty, and they will be black-and-white instead of full color," Mixon indicated.

The first brochure was titled "USM: A Work in Progress," and university officials indicated that about $15,000 has been spent producing and distributing the magazine (since April) that highlights positive aspects of Thames' presidency.  The new brochure is currently untilted, but Drews indicated that a contest to name the magazine is currently being held among USM athletics supporters.  "The winning entry will get 2 season football packages.  We should know soon," Drews indicated.