This is very Sad - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Aug 25, 2004

This is very Sad

Date: Aug 25, 2004

Seeker: You are wrong. Very wrong. Your particular "spin" on recent posts seems negatively biased as far as faculty concerns. I wonder what provokes you to post in such a negative monologue. I hope that in your new position out EAST, your critical thinking skills will take hold and you will contribute to this board in a more analytical manner.

Date: Aug 25, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Emma
"Seeker: You are wrong. Very wrong. Your particular "spin" on recent posts seems negatively biased as far as faculty concerns. I wonder what provokes you to post in such a negative monologue. I hope that in your new position out EAST, your critical thinking skills will take hold and you will contribute to this board in a more analytical manner."

Emma

Certainly you can't argue the fact that any set-back the University encounters is relished like the birth of new dawn. It gives many here a reason to go on, because they have become blinded by hatred for Thames. You all know I am no fan of Thames, and wish as much as the rest that he could be ousted. But, we've all realized that is not going to happen. At least I hope you've all realized that Thames will be here until his term expires.

What is saddening is how many have reacted. Many have realized that Thames is here for the duration of his term. So, they have decided that they will relish each failure and setback. And, dare I say, in some cases contribute to those setback, becaue at the end of the day, you will encourage everyone to lay 100% of the blame at the feet of Thames. And I won't even argue that he deserves a double portion of blame, but not all.

I've never waivered from my course of thought that Thames mostly to blame for the debacle that has taken place over the past two years and that will continue for two more. Were we differ is I don't consider the faculty blameless. That's all. If that is being anti-faculty so be it. I would think that everyone here would be self-enlightened to take a self-evaluation and honestly ansewer if your are an exception to my rule.

If you can take this self-evaluation and find that you honestly don't fit into these guidelines, then obviously, I am not refering to you.

Date: Aug 25, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Seeker
"As you all probably realize I don't post here much anymore. The new job keeps me quite busy. But, I do read fairly often. What I am seeing here now is very sad. This group has taken mob mentality and morphed from being a group organized to oppose SFT, into a group that is determined to harm Southern Miss in any way possible. I was saddened to see the US News Report that has Southern Miss ranked as a Tier 4. I am sure that SFT has done things that caused this, but each member of the faculty has some level of blame as well, although I don't expect any of you to accept any of it. It's dishearting to see a group of individuals who take such pleasure in the set backs suffered by MY University. Nothing seems to give you as much joy as to see something negative happen at Southern Miss. That has only reaffirmed my notion that the majority (realizing there are some exceptions) on this board would rather see the University destroyed as long as you could blame Thames. As long as you can feel that Thames has been defeated the consequences be damned. I hope that you are happy, you've helped Thames produce another decade set-back for the University. And, by the way, within 10 days you will see either Fairly or Dupree come out in favor of the USM bond issue. The 30 pieces of silver have been paid again, but this time they weren't so cheap as to use dimes and nickles."

Seeker, your writing style has changed drastically. Your sentence structure is adequate. Your spelling would even meet Spelling Queen's criteria. Your punctionation is O.K. Your prepositions are properly placed. Your dangling whindings have disappeared. Is someone writing this for you?

Date: Aug 25, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Seeker
" Emma Certainly you can't argue the fact that any set-back the University encounters is relished like the birth of new dawn. It gives many here a reason to go on, because they have become blinded by hatred for Thames. You all know I am no fan of Thames, and wish as much as the rest that he could be ousted. But, we've all realized that is not going to happen. At least I hope you've all realized that Thames will be here until his term expires. What is saddening is how many have reacted. Many have realized that Thames is here for the duration of his term. So, they have decided that they will relish each failure and setback. And, dare I say, in some cases contribute to those setback, becaue at the end of the day, you will encourage everyone to lay 100% of the blame at the feet of Thames. And I won't even argue that he deserves a double portion of blame, but not all. I've never waivered from my course of thought that Thames mostly to blame for the debacle that has taken place over the past two years and that will continue for two more. Were we differ is I don't consider the faculty blameless. That's all. If that is being anti-faculty so be it. I would think that everyone here would be self-enlightened to take a self-evaluation and honestly ansewer if your are an exception to my rule. If you can take this self-evaluation and find that you honestly don't fit into these guidelines, then obviously, I am not refering to you."

You couldn't be more right. Most on this board would like to see USM fail at this point. It is very sad.

Date: Aug 25, 2004

Troll alert. Accusations without foundation. No real points or critical thinking going on, only blame.

Date: Aug 25, 2004

We will now deconstruct this troll's scandelous screeds using the now world-famous (Whorl' Class?) Troll-O-Matic:

Artistic Merit = 0 (Our eyelids did not flutter.)

Egregious Grammer = +2.5 (This troll has improved, possibly through the use of a Ghost Writer.)

Wanton Captialization = 0 (No outlandish use of capitalization detected.)

Intelligence = -7.5 (This troll obviously does not read enough posts to know the true feelings of the faculty and staff on these issues.)

Use of Emoticons = 0 (No use of emoticons detected.)

Bigger Font = 0 (No use of larger fonts detected.)

Overall Troll-O-Matic Score = -5.0

(This translates into a negative 8.0% for you mathematical trolls.)

We recommend that this troll should begin reading the board more, and more, and more. Read, read, read - - until you eyes begin to get blurry. Perhaps then, more spelling and grammer errors will creep in and raise you score.

Date: Aug 26, 2004

Seeker:

Yet again, your blaming gun is aimed in the wrong direction.

The last time I checked, USM was a public university. That means that they are charged with being responsive to stakeholders (i.e. current faculty, staff, students, alumni, community members, state taxpayers, etc.). This means that a fair amount of criticism is warranted and should actually be invited by the administration. For as we all know, one man's decisions does not a university make. The problem is that SFT *is* that one man making all of the decision at USM, and that's just not right. How can faculty and staff members buy-in to any of his decisions when they have never been consulted? And beyond that, how can they buy-in to his administration at all when he has set it up with an "us vs. them" mentality?

As long as SFT is president of USM, it will never reach the "world-class" status that he so publicly covets. A true world-class institution is run by wise and prudent administrators who understand and embrace the concept of shared governance. Since this description does not fit SFT, I will have to say NO QUARTER until there is true change in the Dome.

If you want to point fingers and blame someone for USM's demise, blame the man who caused all of this. All I want is accountability, an end to the spin, and a new lease on life for the university that I love dearly. For these reasons, I will continue to do my part to Topple the Top!

NO FRICKIN' QUARTER (to quote Anne Wallace!)

Truth aka Andrea

Date: Aug 26, 2004

When people pay attention to things going wrong with the university, it isn't necessarily because they find pleasure in pointing out failures. Could it be that when they focus on new setbacks or possible problems, it is because they fear further damage to USM? If that's so, they must want the school to succeed, or else they wouldn't care enough to note these things.

Date: Aug 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: student
"When people pay attention to things going wrong with the university, it isn't necessarily because they find pleasure in pointing out failures. Could it be that when they focus on new setbacks or possible problems, it is because they fear further damage to USM? "

Ah, Grasshopper, does the Student not become the teacher?

Does the Seeker not finally find a spellcheck program?

Date: Aug 26, 2004

So Seeker, what the heck is your point? You say "each member of the faculty has some level of blame as well." Exactly what difference does that make, even if it is true?

I think Prof. X's level of blame is 3.26 in this event. Does that put her in position to medal? What is this, the blame Olympics?

If we just say, "Oh, you sure are right," will you stop repeating yourself? If you just want to hear confession, join the priesthood. Please join the priesthood. Take a vow of silence.

And for heaven's sake, there is no point in stating the obvious as if it is profound: Yes, this whole grisly affair is sad. Everything associated with it is sad. If we think long and hard, if we get out our dusty old thesauruses, uh, thesauri, uh, -- oh, you know, those "word books," --we might even find a stronger term than "sad."

Date: Aug 26, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: ram
"So Seeker, what the heck is your point? You say "each member of the faculty has some level of blame as well." Exactly what difference does that make, even if it is true? I think Prof. X's level of blame is 3.26 in this event. Does that put her in position to medal? What is this, the blame Olympics? If we just say, "Oh, you sure are right," will you stop repeating yourself? If you just want to hear confession, join the priesthood. Please join the priesthood. Take a vow of silence. And for heaven's sake, there is no point in stating the obvious as if it is profound: Yes, this whole grisly affair is sad. Everything associated with it is sad. If we think long and hard, if we get out our dusty old thesauruses, uh, thesauri, uh, -- oh, you know, those "word books," --we might even find a stronger term than "sad.""

Synonyms:
bad, calamitous, dark, dejecting, deplorable, depressing, disastrous, discomposing, discouraging, disheartening, dismal, dispiriting, dreary, funereal, grave, grievous, hapless, heart-rending, joyless, lachrymose, lamentable, lugubrious, melancholic, miserable, moving, oppressive, pathetic, pitiable, pitiful, poignant, regrettable, saddening, serious, shabby, sorry, tear-jerking, tearful, tragic, unfortunate, unhappy, unsatisfactory, upsetting, wretched

Source:
Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition (v 1.0.5)
Copyright © 2004 by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Date: Aug 26, 2004

What is sad is that Seeker is a selective reader who seems to have a pile of a priori assumptions that color what s/he reads. That isn't objectivity, Seeker.

Look at the thread about the USM nursing program. Rather than assuming that it's a series of potshots at the modest expansion of the program this year, look at what's really being said: people are concerned about this fine program & they want to be reassured that growth will not happen at the expense of quality. When faculty members such as USM Nursing Prof explain the situation, I see optimism & a determination not merely to "recover" from set-backs & cut-backs, but to excel in the face of them. If you read all the posts in that thread, you not find it "sad" at all.

Folks are shell-shocked at USM. When news of the "tier drop" hit, yes, there was a lot of wailing & gnashing of teeth. There should be, especially when USM has a "CEO" who talks about cutting deadwood in an institution that already had the highest student-faculty & student-staff ratios among the three comprehensive universities in the state.

I'm sure there are also those among us who view each "bad thing" that happens has hopefully the straw that breaks the camel's back. There are rumors that some people in Jackson have said, "One more blunder & SFT is history." And glee about that isn't exactly viewed as a negative in some quarters. (Or NO QUARTERS!)

Date: Aug 27, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
"

I'm sure there are also those among us who view each "bad thing" that happens has hopefully the straw that breaks the camel's back. There are rumors that some people in Jackson have said, "One more blunder & SFT is history." And glee about that isn't exactly viewed as a negative in some quarters. (Or NO QUARTERS!)
"

In sincerely hope that you are correct on Thames' term being close to it's end. Forgive me if I am skepictal. I do not believe that he will be given a second term, but I am very skepictal that he will not serve out his current one.

If this is the case, I would hope that when the search is completed for a new President, that the Faculty Senate will hold elections and place new faculty leadership into place as well, so we can start with a clean slate.

Date: Aug 27, 2004

Given their stormy board history, I was particularly amused by Truth's post in the creme de la creme sticky thread yesterday. A very unlikely fusion product!

"a TRUTH-seeker of the highest order"

Date: Aug 27, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Seeker
" If this is the case, I would hope that when the search is completed for a new President, that the Faculty Senate will hold elections and place new faculty leadership into place as well, so we can start with a clean slate."

I thought they did this every year anyway. Dr. Henry was president in the spring, and now it's someone else. Why do you think the Faculty Senate has all that power, or the faculty are some sort of group that can be controlled. You don't know very much about universities.

Date: Aug 27, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Contradiction in Terms
"Given their stormy board history, I was particularly amused by Truth's post in the creme de la creme sticky thread yesterday. A very unlikely fusion product! "a TRUTH-seeker of the highest order" "

I believe in redemption for everyone, even Seeker! May he see the LIGHT of TRUTH! Hallelujah!

Date: Aug 27, 2004

Uuuuugggghhhhhh......

Pass the Prozac - Seeker the self-righteous human buzzkill is back on board.....

And this time, he's armed with a spell-checker.....

Date: Aug 28, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: The Rock
"Uuuuugggghhhhhh . . Seeker the self-righteous human buzzkill is back on board..... And this time, he's armed with a spell-checker..... "

Any maybe with a ghostwriter also.

Date: Aug 28, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Seeker
"... I was saddened to see the US News Report that has Southern Miss ranked as a Tier 4. I am sure that SFT has done things that caused this, but each member of the faculty has some level of blame as well, although I don't expect any of you to accept any of it...."

Seeker, you may have something here with which you and I can finally agree. All you need to do is supply the missing steps in logic. I will help you.

"The faculty has some level of blame" because the U.S. News and World Report's rankings of colleges and universities is an evaluation of the quality of universities of similar size and function based on a number of factors, ranging from peer assessment, retention of students and faculty resources, admission standards, test scores and graduation rates.

So the faculty is to blame because their peers do not think well of USM, USM faculty flunk out too many students (Ha!), they don't write enough grant proposals to generate resources the state didn't supply, USM admission standards are too low (Ho, Ho!), and finally student test scores are too low and faculty need to graduate more students.

Is this your argument Seeker? If not how do you see the faculty to blame for USM's tier 4 ranking?

Date: Aug 28, 2004

Otherside, I commend you for asking specific questions of Seeker and giving him a chance to respond in kind to the points you raised. But if past behavior is any predictor of the future, Seeker will only reiterate his clean slate mantra and avoid elaboration in any detail whatsoever. I have no idea what motivates Seeker to repeat that faculty ought to assume a part of the blame for the turmoil at USM- it would seem logical that some rational thought process would be behind his postings- but so far I remain as befuddled about what he thinks as the next person.

Come out and play, Seeker! Give us the opportunity to learn why you want us to believe your position! Oh well. Maybe he's just hoping we'll come around after the 40th or 50th time he vaguely repeats himself.

Date: Aug 28, 2004

Originally posted by: Student

"Come out and play, Seeker!"

And when you do come, Seeker, bring your proof reader and your ghost writer. We'll bring our straight man.

Date: Aug 28, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: student
""

Thanks Student. I hate to say it, but I really enjoy hearing from Seeker. For me Seeker represents all those who have an opinion, which everyone they associate with takes for granted to be true, but never question the particulars of the logic. The hard part is reading Seeker's longer posts looking for that magic statement "the faculty also share the blame".

Date: Aug 29, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Seeker
"As you all probably realize I don't post here much anymore. The new job keeps me quite busy. But, I do read fairly often. What I am seeing here now is very sad. This group has taken mob mentality and morphed from being a group organized to oppose SFT, into a group that is determined to harm Southern Miss in any way possible. I was saddened to see the US News Report that has Southern Miss ranked as a Tier 4. I am sure that SFT has done things that caused this, but each member of the faculty has some level of blame as well, although I don't expect any of you to accept any of it. It's dishearting to see a group of individuals who take such pleasure in the set backs suffered by MY University. Nothing seems to give you as much joy as to see something negative happen at Southern Miss. That has only reaffirmed my notion that the majority (realizing there are some exceptions) on this board would rather see the University destroyed as long as you could blame Thames. As long as you can feel that Thames has been defeated the consequences be damned. I hope that you are happy, you've helped Thames produce another decade set-back for the University. And, by the way, within 10 days you will see either Fairly or Dupree come out in favor of the USM bond issue. The 30 pieces of silver have been paid again, but this time they weren't so cheap as to use dimes and nickles."

You are right in every aspect. You have a keen eye for the truth. Here are some additional thoughts. The majority of the posters here are not only losers, they are has-beens that seek only revenge for some perceived wrong they feel have befallen them. Thankfully the Varsity Voice will help balance some of the comments from these deluded people and I believe the new, more modern faculty will help get USM back to tier 3.

Date: Aug 29, 2004

"Thankfully the Varsity Voice will help balance some of the comments from these deluded people and I believe the new, more modern faculty will help get USM back to tier 3."

Now there's a worthy goal! In what way is the "new" faculty more "modern" than the present faculty? They got their degrees from the same good schools, where ideas like "shared governance" and "academic freedom" and "scholarship" are still alive. We hope the new faculty brought these "old" ideas here with them.

Date: Aug 29, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: finder
" You are right in every aspect. You have a keen eye for the truth. Here are some additional thoughts. The majority of the posters here are not only losers, they are has-beens that seek only revenge for some perceived wrong they feel have befallen them. Thankfully the Varsity Voice will help balance some of the comments from these deluded people and I believe the new, more modern faculty will help get USM back to tier 3. "

Finder, I'd catalogue the "perceived worngs" but the history of the Fire Shelby website and this one make that unneccessary for those who can read. I'll only say two names:

Gary Stringer and Frank Glamser.

Every sneator who voted 40-0 and every faculty member who voted "no confidence" understands the lesson we were expected to learn.

If you are a faculty or staff member I'll disagree but respect your opinion because you are in the frontlines. If you are neither of these who hold an administrative rank above chair, you don't know what you are talking about.

Date: Aug 29, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: finder
"Thankfully the Varsity Voice will help balance some of the comments from these deluded people and I believe the new, more modern faculty will help get USM back to tier 3. "

Varsity Voice? finder, it sounds like you've confused that rag with the Village Voice as it was during the 60's. It also sounds like you feel you can't trust anyone over 30.

Date: Aug 29, 2004

Let's think about this a minute. This message board is a powerful enough influence that VV had to be published as a counterweight? Wow! You folks should be proud and honored. I was amazed by the whole VV concept. At what other school does the administration have to publish its own newspaper to counter the "real" student paper? What does that tell us?

And Stephen Judd, I don't always respond to your posts, but I read every one. You are emerging as one of the best and strongest voices on this board. Thank you.

Date: Aug 29, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: New Adjunct
"
And Stephen Judd, I don't always respond to your posts, but I read every one. You are emerging as one of the best and strongest voices on this board. Thank you."

Pay no attention to Stephen. He's one of those deluded, old fashioned faculty members (said with dripping sarcasm).

Date: Aug 29, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: finder
" You are right in every aspect. You have a keen eye for the truth. Here are some additional thoughts. The majority of the posters here are not only losers, they are has-beens that seek only revenge for some perceived wrong they feel have befallen them. Thankfully the Varsity Voice will help balance some of the comments from these deluded people and I believe the new, more modern faculty will help get USM back to tier 3. "

What are you talking about? I know most of the faculty who post here on a regular basis. I assure you that they are not deluded or losers. Most just want fair treatment and a reasonable say in the institution's activities, resources, and mssion.

Finder-Tier 3 is not the Promised Land, and USM never had a Golden Age where we had a reputation as being a bastion of high-powered scholarship across the board. As a former (retired) colleague used to say, our function was to be a "directional" university that "educates the boys and girls of Mississippi."

In the better part of the past decade, I have seen sure but steady improvement in the overall scholarship and training at this university (the pockets have gotten much larger). This has occurred because of the efforts of faculty and staff, both new and gray-hairs. Both here and departed. They have earned their due, and deserve some respect from outside posters such as yourself. As I have noted on previous posts, there are systemic reasons why we we will face significant challenges in attaining higher rankings (USNWR, NRC, and so forth). These include virtual open admissions, an unfriendly legislature, too many mouths to feed at the institutional table, poor development and endowments, no affiliated and established professional school (e.g., medical, law, or vet), a low tax base, modest (but somewhat better) external funding, comparably low salaries, relatively high teaching loads, a confused IHL, and so on.

I have not seen the Varsity Voice yet, so I'll withold judgment as to its purpose and the elegance of its contributions. However, there is much wisdom on this site if you know how to look for it.