SH, 1/8/06: Gulf Park campus in limbo - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jan 8, 2006

SH, 1/8/06: Gulf Park campus in limbo

Date: Jan 8, 2006

"When members agreed to donate the land and $500,000 to the state College Board, they stipulated that the land was to be used "for the purpose of higher education and research."

...

" It was also the intention of the (state College Board), and we trust that the present Board of Trustees will keep the commitment (made) at the time of the gift."

"According to the deed, if the land is used for any other purpose for 12 months, it would revert to the Gulf Park College Corporation, a non-profit group, or its designated recipient. But the corporation was dissolved once the college closed, so it is unclear how the stipulation would be carried out."

No problem. Just remove all buildings and call it a USM Biology Research Park, then build another campus where you want.

Words stopped meaning anything when we only have "gaming" at our casinos because Mississippi's constitution outlawed "gambling" .

Date: Jan 8, 2006

New Speak wrote:

No problem. Just remove all buildings and call it a USM Biology Research Park, then build another campus where you want.

Or remove the buildings and turn it into a roadside flower farm managed by some coastal resident who is a Mississippi State graduate with a horticultural background.

Date: Jan 8, 2006

If USM passes on Gulf Park, Mississippi State will likely move into the usable spaces

They're chomping on the bit to be on the coast.

Date: Jan 8, 2006

Even EagleTalk has a current thread going on the future of USM on the Coast:

http://southernmiss.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=1355&mid=66198475&sid=&tid=66198475&style=2&Reset=1

Date: Jan 8, 2006

Googler wrote:

Even EagleTalk has a current thread going on the future of USM on the Coast

Do they want a football team there?

Date: Jan 8, 2006

Once again what Eagle Talk has to say is rather frightening. They seem to think that SFT has worked to take this university forward, and that the IHL board is the only thing holding him back. Man if they only knew the truth from the inside. SFT is doing the bidding of the USM haters on the board and is (as the ET folks do not understand) instrumental in the downfall of USM. In SFT the IHL got the very best of all worlds -- a guy that really does love USM (in his own twisted way) and is thus in that area above reproach. However, SFT has been so boneheaded that he has brought the university in the main nothing but crisis after crisis, critical problems and setbacks -- all in the guise of "taking us to the next level." A plot worthy of a movie -- the bad guys instead of hiring a transparent bad guy hire such a doofus that he does their evil bidding withoiut even knowing it!

Date: Jan 8, 2006

"taking [whatever] to the next level" has become one of my most-hated cliches -- along with "cozy and inviting" "bringing the outside in" . . ., oh wait, those are from my decorating shows. Anyway, people who want to take us to the next level don't seem to ever say which direction that level is.

Date: Jan 8, 2006

From LVN:

Anyway, people who want to take us to the next level don't seem to ever say which direction that level is.

I LVN's wit!

Date: Jan 8, 2006

Oh, thank you,

but how, how often it's got me into trouble!

Date: Jan 8, 2006

Well, LVN, me too. But just think how much all of it has brightened the D'Lo campus!! The campus continues to thrive! D'Lo "glows, grows and flows" in 2006.

Date: Jan 8, 2006

Maybe this would be a good time to ask, just where IS D'Lo?

Date: Jan 8, 2006

It's on 49 about 12 miles north of Magee and 20 or so miles south of the Jackson southern 'burbs.

Date: Jan 8, 2006

LVN wrote:

Maybe this would be a good time to ask, just where IS D'Lo?

Simpson County

Date: Jan 8, 2006

D'Lo was recognized in Life Magazine for sending proportionately more men to serve in WW II than any city in America its size. Some 38% of all the men in town served.

Date: Jan 9, 2006

info wrote:

said he and Meredith haven't gotten that far in their talks. "We have not gotten to that point," Thames said. "The fact that we haven't tells you this has not gone nearly as far as some people would imply. We haven't discussed it at all."...

How long since the hurricane? Three months?....four months? A severly damaged campus sitting on the Gulf and they "...haven't discussed it at all"? Could it be that the Commissioner doesn't value his opinion?

Date: Jan 9, 2006

Ripper wrote:

Once again what Eagle Talk has to say is rather frightening. They seem to think that SFT has worked to take this university forward, and that the IHL board is the only thing holding him back. Man if they only knew the truth from the inside. SFT is doing the bidding of the USM haters on the board and is (as the ET folks do not understand) instrumental in the downfall of USM. In SFT the IHL got the very best of all worlds -- a guy that really does love USM (in his own twisted way) and is thus in that area above reproach. However, SFT has been so boneheaded that he has brought the university in the main nothing but crisis after crisis, critical problems and setbacks -- all in the guise of "taking us to the next level." A plot worthy of a movie -- the bad guys instead of hiring a transparent bad guy hire such a doofus that he does their evil bidding withoiut even knowing it!

Lots of posters on EagleTalk know what SFT has done to the university and are not delusional. However, EagleTalk is a rah-rah board. It is not run by the university but the people who do run it do not view negative posts about USM kindly. Therefore, most people don't even bother posting such viewpoints as they know what will follow. EaglePost.net is a more neutral board but not as active. Interestingly, no mention of the gulf coast campus issue on it. At any rate, I am very concerned about the situation. The IHL stacked with UM and MSU alumni and an incompetent USM president is about the worst case scenario.

Date: Jan 9, 2006

Still an Eagle -- good points and thanks. Glad to hear that not all of the EagleTalk folks are on that same flawed wavelength. As an oldtimer and a USM fan, the reality that is the worst case scenerio really gets me in dumps from time to time. Can't wait until 2007.

Date: Jan 9, 2006

Ripper wrote:

Still an Eagle -- good points and thanks. Glad to hear that not all of the EagleTalk folks are on that same flawed wavelength. As an oldtimer and a USM fan, the reality that is the worst case scenerio really gets me in dumps from time to time. Can't wait until 2007.

Is there any way that we can INVADE the Eagle Talk board with our info? Do it if we can....

Date: Jan 9, 2006

As a USM faculty member, I was impressed by the support on EagleTalk for the coast campus. Posters there understood that it is essential for USM to have the predominant presence there. The EagleTalkers seem to know that Ole Miss and MSU are chomping at the bit to get down there.

Date: Jan 9, 2006

Qwerty, Good point. It just bothered me that they somehow saw SFT as the potential savior as opposed to him being a BIG part of the problem.

Date: Jan 10, 2006

qwerty wrote:

As a USM faculty member, I was impressed by the support on EagleTalk for the coast campus. Posters there understood that it is essential for USM to have the predominant presence there. The EagleTalkers seem to know that Ole Miss and MSU are chomping at the bit to get down there.

I will say this about EagleTalk posters, most of them sincerely care about and support the university. In fact, they are very passionate about USM-not just athletics. However, many of them are misguided and uninformed. They want the best for USM, they just don't agree on what that actually is. Many suppport SFT because a) they know him personally or b) they identify with his "real world" approach to management. For those that do not know him, they get their information from the newspapers. SFT's quotes about holding people accountable, cutting costs, etc. seem to make sense in the abstract and they just don't understand why he has so much opposition from faculty. I've been on EagleTalk since about 1997 and I have seen the good and the bad. They are mostly good, although they are often a little pollyanna like in their views. This is a generalization and as Mark Twain said "Every generalization is dangerous, even this one."

Date: Jan 10, 2006

StillAnEagle wrote:

they identify with his "real world" approach to management.

If I adopted his "real world" approach to managing my own business I'd go bankrupt.

Date: Jan 10, 2006

Chapter Eleven wrote:

StillAnEagle wrote: they identify with his "real world" approach to management.

Chapter Eleven wrote: If I adopted his "real world" approach to managing my own business I'd go bankrupt.

Or spend most of the time in court spending the stockholders money on defense attorneys.

Date: Jan 10, 2006

StillAnEagle wrote:

I will say this about EagleTalk posters, most of them sincerely care about and support the university. In fact, they are very passionate about USM-not just athletics. However, many of them are misguided and uninformed. They want the best for USM, they just don't agree on what that actually is. Many suppport SFT because a) they know him personally or b) they identify with his "real world" approach to management. For those that do not know him, they get their information from the newspapers. SFT's quotes about holding people accountable, cutting costs, etc. seem to make sense in the abstract and they just don't understand why he has so much opposition from faculty. I've been on EagleTalk since about 1997 and I have seen the good and the bad. They are mostly good, although they are often a little pollyanna like in their views. This is a generalization and as Mark Twain said "Every generalization is dangerous, even this one."

I believe that StillAnEagle is correct in his assessment, not just of the Eagle Talkers but of the "educated" public in general. There is a strong need to believe that those who have been given positions of authority are deserving--that they are wiser, harder working, and more visionary than the rest of the world. That is why political appointments can be so very, very dangerous. And if anyone believes that an IHL board appointment is not political, I have some swamp land to sell you.

As many others have said earlier, it is the responsibility of the university administration and particularly that of the president, to lead the public in understanding the work of the faculty and the mission of the university, historically and particularly.

Date: Jan 10, 2006

Far Away Alum wrote:

it is the responsibility of the university administration and particularly that of the president, to lead the public in understanding the work of the faculty and the mission of the university

If that's a president's primary responsibility, then USM has had more than one failed presidency.

Date: Jan 10, 2006

Here come the judge wrote:

Chapter Eleven wrote: StillAnEagle wrote: they identify with his "real world" approach to management. Chapter Eleven wrote: If I adopted his "real world" approach to managing my own business I'd go bankrupt. Or spend most of the time in court spending the stockholders money on defense attorneys.

I agree with both of your statements. I didn't say his "real world" approach was technically sound or legally acceptable. Most of the general public doesn't know what good management looks like anyway. It just sounds good to them-especially when they think that professors are lazy, egotistical, egg heads who just don't want to put in an honest days work. BTW-I am a professor, so I certainly don't hold that view either.

Date: Jan 10, 2006

StillAnEagle wrote:

I agree with both of your statements. I didn't say his "real world" approach was technically sound or legally acceptable. Most of the general public doesn't know what good management looks like anyway. It just sounds good to them-especially when they think that professors are lazy, egotistical, egg heads who just don't want to put in an honest days work.

Thank you, StillAnEagle.