business group lunch - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Sep 26, 2005

business group lunch

Date: Sep 26, 2005

Perhaps if they each got big raises in the latest round of stealth raises, they'll get another next year.

Amy Young

Date: Sep 26, 2005

This is exactly what I've been afraid of. The faculty, frankly, is pooped and understandably so. SFT, on the other hand, has a stable of minions to help carry out his every wish, so he's raring to go. In the chaos and fatigue following this horrible disaster, SFT, the incomparable manipulator, will be maneuvering to extend his "reign" till the end of that second term. All the sacrifices that have been made will be for naught, and USM will lose any slim chance she might have had to achieve some semblance of prominence.

I hope someone can tell me I am wrong, but right now it seems inevitable. Even the bravest of folks can lose heart and get bone tired.

Date: Sep 26, 2005

nano wrote:

He singled out a few administrators as being integral to the recovery (Lassen, Paul, etc.).

Surely he acknowledged the faculty's role as being integral to the recovery. Didn't he? Tell me that he didn't ignore the faculty.

Date: Sep 26, 2005

All the President's men wrote:

nano wrote:
He singled out a few administrators as being integral to the recovery (Lassen, Paul, etc.).
Surely he acknowledged the faculty's role as being integral to the recovery. Didn't he? Tell me that he didn't ignore the faculty.

Couple of things:

1. For the two weeks that USM was closed, 99% of faculty did nothing to advance the status of the university. Most worked on their own homes and properties or left town. In fact, many faculty who stayed chose to work against reopening, openly questioning the logic of reopening "so soon." By contrast, administrators, the public safety department, dining services, etc., worked to get USM back open. Some USM-Hattiesburg faculty did work on committee assignments, etc., but they were a small fraction of both the faculty and the total USM workforce that put the campus back on track. The administration had to worry about dorms, classroom buildings, and other physical plant while faculty generally worried about only their offices. This is not to say that faculty were lazy or shirkers, just that they actually played little role in the recovery. Faculty are now doing the jobs for which they are paid: teaching, research, and service. These are facts that are indisputable (unless you're delusional).

2. In response to GWTW?'s post: What else did you expect? SFT is much better organized and has much greater resources and focus than faculty/AAUP/whatever group you want to name. He has nothing but time to think up little schemes to advance his agenda. Faculty have to teach, do research, and serve on committees. Faculty are splintered. Also, SFT doesn't have a "victim" attitude. He isn't concerned with how badly the hurricane treated him, his family, or his property (though he did have some substantial damage to property AND a cast on his foot). He isn't wallowing in self-pity. He is focused on his agenda and doesn't waver unless it is absolutely necessary. If SFT were 10 years younger, he would never have gotten a "short" contract renewal. He may still get another extension. A younger SFT would outwork and wear down USM faculty until he got his way. Right now, I'd call it a draw, which could be interpreted as a win for faculty, as the faculty is outmanned on this fight.

Date: Sep 27, 2005

Lunch Buddy "If SFT were 10 years younger, he would never have gotten a "short" contract renewal. He may still get another extension. A younger SFT would outwork and wear down USM faculty until he got his way. "

Let's don't let this happen colleagues.

Date: Sep 27, 2005

Gone with the wind? wrote:

This is exactly what I've been afraid of. The faculty, frankly, is pooped and understandably so. SFT, on the other hand, has a stable of minions to help carry out his every wish, so he's raring to go. In the chaos and fatigue following this horrible disaster, SFT, the incomparable manipulator, will be maneuvering to extend his "reign" till the end of that second term. All the sacrifices that have been made will be for naught, and USM will lose any slim chance she might have had to achieve some semblance of prominence.
I hope someone can tell me I am wrong, but right now it seems inevitable. Even the bravest of folks can lose heart and get bone tired.

What the H--- is the faculty pooped from? The golf courses closed? Curfews at the bars? Please,no absurd posts.

Date: Sep 27, 2005

Trolls, trolls, and more trolls.

Apparently Shelby's minions have time to write on this message board as well.

Date: Sep 27, 2005

First there was monitoring of emails and now it appears we have monitoring of faculty activities during the hurricane when school is not in session. This gives new meaning to the term "Eye of the storm."

Date: Sep 27, 2005

Big Brother wrote:

First there was monitoring of emails and now it appears we have monitoring of faculty activities during the hurricane when school is not in session. This gives new meaning to the term "Eye of the storm."

This post is a bit ridiculous. If faculty weren't seen around campus, I'm sure it's easy to guess what they were doing. I hope you were being sarcastic.

Date: Sep 27, 2005

Well, I know what at least two profs were doing, because I visited them. They were sheltering refugees and trying to figure out how to make it from one day to the next just like everybody else. I didn't notice any golfing.

Date: Sep 28, 2005

Gone with the wind? wrote:

This is exactly what I've been afraid of. The faculty, frankly, is pooped and understandably so. SFT, on the other hand, has a stable of minions to help carry out his every wish, so he's raring to go. In the chaos and fatigue following this horrible disaster, SFT, the incomparable manipulator, will be maneuvering to extend his "reign" till the end of that second term. All the sacrifices that have been made will be for naught, and USM will lose any slim chance she might have had to achieve some semblance of prominence.
I hope someone can tell me I am wrong, but right now it seems inevitable. Even the bravest of folks can lose heart and get bone tired.

I'm not sure that a private occasion of mutual backslapping is terribly predictive.

Historically, catastrophes have weakened existing power structures, not strengthened them. The Black Death brought about considerable social change, because it decimated the underpaid work force, and the survivors could demand higher wages.

There was a story on NPR a few days back about the similarly inflated wages available in the area. The commentator pointed out that the situation can't last, but that the experience of making, say, $17 an hour for a few months might well raise second thoughts among those people who are used to getting far less.

Katrina may have blown a good bit of the plantation away.

Jameela

Date: Sep 28, 2005

Jameela Lares wrote:

Date: Sep 28, 2005

Jameela Lares wrote:
I'm not sure that a private occasion of mutual backslapping is terribly predictive.

Historically, catastrophes have weakened existing power structures, not strengthened them. The Black Death brought about considerable social change, because it decimated the underpaid work force, and the survivors could demand higher wages.

There was a story on NPR a few days back about the similarly inflated wages available in the area. The commentator pointed out that the situation can't last, but that the experience of making, say, $17 an hour for a few months might well raise second thoughts among those people who are used to getting far less.

Katrina may have blown a good bit of the plantation away.

Leaving aside the Black Death, however apropos it may be metaphorically for the USM "situation," I think you're onto something, Jameela. Katrina may have blown a good bit of the plantation away. Consider the student floundering in that nebulous hinterland called the junior year who suddenly finds himself faced with the possibility of $17 an hour doing "disaster recovery work." Speaking from my own perspective -- which admittedly isn't "university education" -- I can see how Katrina has prevented some students from continuing their educations, while she has lured others away from theirs.

It ain't over until it's over & all I can figure at the moment is that we've been cursed to live in "interesting times." Yes, Katrina is going to change a lot of things, some for the better & some for the worse.

Date: Sep 28, 2005

A real estate agent on the coast said on NPR (of all places) a few afternoons ago that there were a lot of investors from California interested in buying relatively cheap beachfront as soon as they could get enough hotel space to come to the Coast.

MS could use some more "foreign" investors. These folks usually make hamburger meat out of the local elites. I got to watch the process at a different time and place. It was both fun to watch and good for the welfare of the average citizen of that city.

Date: Sep 28, 2005

nowhere man wrote:

.... a lot of investors from California...... These folks usually make hamburger meat out of the local elites.

If they're from California, it's difficult to tell what they make their hamburger from

Date: Sep 28, 2005

nowhere man wrote:

A real estate agent on the coast said on NPR (of all places) a few afternoons ago that there were a lot of investors from California interested in buying relatively cheap beachfront as soon as they could get enough hotel space to come to the Coast.
MS could use some more "foreign" investors. These folks usually make hamburger meat out of the local elites. I got to watch the process at a different time and place. It was both fun to watch and good for the welfare of the average citizen of that city.

That's exactly what we don't need. California ownership will mean more jobs for illegal immigrants and fewer jobs for Mississippians. If this happens, look for South Mississippi to resemble South Texas and Southern California in short order.

Date: Sep 28, 2005

NAFTA the fact wrote:

nowhere man wrote: A real estate agent on the coast said on NPR (of all places) a few afternoons ago that there were a lot of investors from California interested in buying relatively cheap beachfront as soon as they could get enough hotel space to come to the Coast. MS could use some more "foreign" investors. These folks usually make hamburger meat out of the local elites. I got to watch the process at a different time and place. It was both fun to watch and good for the welfare of the average citizen of that city. That's exactly what we don't need. California ownership will mean more jobs for illegal immigrants and fewer jobs for Mississippians. If this happens, look for South Mississippi to resemble South Texas and Southern California in short order.

Brownsville = San Diego? Ok you win.

Date: Sep 28, 2005

nowhere man wrote:

NAFTA the fact wrote:
nowhere man wrote: A real estate agent on the coast said on NPR (of all places) a few afternoons ago that there were a lot of investors from California interested in buying relatively cheap beachfront as soon as they could get enough hotel space to come to the Coast. MS could use some more "foreign" investors. These folks usually make hamburger meat out of the local elites. I got to watch the process at a different time and place. It was both fun to watch and good for the welfare of the average citizen of that city. That's exactly what we don't need. California ownership will mean more jobs for illegal immigrants and fewer jobs for Mississippians. If this happens, look for South Mississippi to resemble South Texas and Southern California in short order.
Brownsville = San Diego? Ok you win.

Maybe I should have said "look for Spanish to be the unofficial-official language of South Mississippi, just like it is in South Texas and Southern California."

Date: Sep 28, 2005

Maybe some of this influx of new people will break the deathgrip on wages that several large local employers, including USM, have had for a long time. Maybe people here will realize that capable workers are worth a living wage. It would be about time.

Date: Sep 29, 2005

nowhere man wrote:

A real estate agent on the coast said on NPR (of all places) a few afternoons ago that there were a lot of investors from California interested in buying relatively cheap beachfront as soon as they could get enough hotel space to come to the Coast.
MS could use some more "foreign" investors. These folks usually make hamburger meat out of the local elites. I got to watch the process at a different time and place. It was both fun to watch and good for the welfare of the average citizen of that city.

It was already happening in Hattiesburg long before Katrina, even more so now.

Date: Sep 29, 2005

NAFTA the fact wrote:

nowhere man wrote: NAFTA the fact wrote: nowhere man wrote: A real estate agent on the coast said on NPR (of all places) a few afternoons ago that there were a lot of investors from California interested in buying relatively cheap beachfront as soon as they could get enough hotel space to come to the Coast. MS could use some more "foreign" investors. These folks usually make hamburger meat out of the local elites. I got to watch the process at a different time and place. It was both fun to watch and good for the welfare of the average citizen of that city. That's exactly what we don't need. California ownership will mean more jobs for illegal immigrants and fewer jobs for Mississippians. If this happens, look for South Mississippi to resemble South Texas and Southern California in short order. Brownsville = San Diego? Ok you win. Maybe I should have said "look for Spanish to be the unofficial-official language of South Mississippi, just like it is in South Texas and Southern California."

No es una problema, mano.