1. The Citation de le Semaine selection committe will be functioning without a full deck next week because Groupie #1 will be "on holiday" during much of that period. She picked up that term during her extensive European travels and she previously used it on-the-job when her immediate supervisor was unavailable to take a phone call: "I'm sorry but my supervisor is "on holiday" she  proudly told a caller. The phrase must work better in Europe than at USM because Groupie #1 is no longer employed with the university.
 
2.The Citation de la Semaine selection committee spent a great deal of time discussing this morning's editoral by Eric Stringfellow. He can't be the recipient of any of today's awards because his statements were not made on the message board (except by hotlink on another thread). If there was a Hero-of-the-Week award, however, this week's recipient would undoubtedly be Erik Stringfellow for statements made in this morning's  Clarion-Ledger editorial entitled "Klumb trips as College Board spokesman."  The Hattiesburg American would have also been a contender also - for their not covering up the truth in their print edition report of the US News data. Mr. Wonderful's selection committee hopes some poster(s) out there will consider establishing such an award (call it the Creme de la Creme award or some such title) which recognizes the Hero of the Week as refleced by non- message board statements or non- message board activities. Had such an award been established earlier there is little doubt that past recipients would have been those such as Gene Saucier, Drs. Marcia and Geoffrey Hartwig, and D.C. Berry to name only a few  of the non- message board heroes. There may be some weeks when that type of award, if established, would remain vacant. Mal 'n Vict 'n Miss Information: Are you up to it? Are there other takers?
 
 
THIS WEEK'S CITATION DE LA SEMAINE RECIPIENTS:
 
An analysis of this week's postings suggests that the general theme was one of pessimism.  Not surprising, this week's winners reflect that pessimism.The Committe believes that several events contributed to the pessimistic attiude: (1)  USM's drop from 3rd tier to 4th tier in the US News ratings, (2) the spin with which the US News data  was evidently presented to the press (although not always reported in that manner by the press), (3) a bit of iatrogenic-generated pessimism (Groupie #1 looked up the term iatrogenic when she saw it used by another poster) such as postings by foot soldier, Educator, and  LVN  which were related in some way to either (a) the perception that the USM Alumni Association might not maintain an updated Alumni mailing list or regularly contact USM graduates even if not members of the Association, or (b) former USM faculty members' welcome at their new universities in a manner they never experienced at USM; and (4) the extravagant meeting of the IHL board on Alabama's Redneck Riviera. Even some of the pseudonyms used this week reflected an aire of pessimism  (e.g., Wednesday's Child)  but Mal 'n Vict 'n Miss Information are the psuedoymn experts so we will not touch upon it here except for that one example to make our point (please forgive us, Mal 'n 'Vict 'Miss Information -  citing one example was the  way the committee could figure out how to make its point).
 
With that Preamble we now proceede to the awards:
 
Honorable Mention - FOOT SOLDIER: "A brief anecdote which might suggest something about school reputation vs. the individual. This week, in my new faculty orientation (at a school to remain unnamed), a vice-provost asked where I had come from. When I said USM, he said, "You must have done really well to have come from there to here." He didn't say "oh, that must be a good school if we hired someone from there."
 
3rd Place - BAGHDAD BOB:     "If USM would simply change its name to "AWhirld Class University" then it could be at the top of the 4th tier (because they list alphabetically). We could honestly call ourselves "top of the class."
 
2nd Place - INTERESTED: "  Mississippi has neither the resources nor the will to promote a truly outstanding university. It's more than money, it's a culture that embraces learning and some sense of shared, common fate. Great state universities come from places where there is a core constituency for the use of state monies for the public good. Mississippi does not have this. I wish it did."
 
1st Place - BLUE COLLAR: This poster provided supporting data for the assertions made in the posting (e.g., Alabama may have Mercedez-Benz, but Mississippi has Nissan; Mississippi has overtaken Atlantic City in casino revenue; major shipbuilding industry in Pascagoula;  remnants of WoldCom (MCI) remain in Clinton;  the tobacco money settlement;  Mississippi as a leading commercial catfish producer (e.g., Delta Pride);  major chicken processing plants (e.g., Saunderson Farms, Miss Goldy); Mississippi has more furniture factories (but smaller ones) than in North Carolina; and  timber farming as big business in Mississippi (Roy Klumb mentioned here).  Blue Collar failed to mention that more bananas enter through the great Port of Gulfport than through any other port in America but the Mr. Wonderful Committee would like to add that to Blue Collar's data-filled posting which projected the following conclusion:  "Mississippi is not as poor as it pretends to be . . .The problem, figuratively, is the plantation system. The man who runs the plantation is the one who has the money . . . USM Is a prime victim . . . There is no valid reason why Mississippi shouldn't spend as much money on higher education as Louisiana spends on LSU and its public universities or Alabama spends on the University of Alabama or Auburn, and its other public universities. Do not let the plantation owner tell you there is no money for new indoor plumbing because the cotton crop was bad this year."
 
Finally, on behalf of the selection committee, I would like to extend our appreciation to all of those posters whose writings suggest that they love to eat watermelon and catfish (fried or almondine) before and after attending the International Ballet Competion in Jackson. You clearly have your souls in Mississippi and your hearts at USM! Thank you for reminding us.