Whoa. Sorry, ma'am. 

I was kidding with the reference to Bobby Zimmerman, the real name of Bob Dylan. He actually hails from Hibbing, Minnesota, I believe.

Loved your letter.  I expect it has always been the job of PR to issue statements that put USM in a positive light, but you were quite correct to point out the misleading aspects of the latest bogus utterances.

Thanks.

quote:

---

Originally posted by: ram
"http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/stories/20040828/opinion/1130774.html Way to go Miz Zimmerman.  Are you any kin to Bobby?"

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by: Please explain
"Interesting how those of you on this board are taking great pleasure in the tier 4 US News rating.  I seem to recall threads posted when USM was ranked a tier 3 school denigrating the US News ranking system.  I guess now that the ranking more suits the purpose of this board, the US News rating system is no longer suspect."

---

There is hardly any joy watching USM descend. What you are finding is some comfort in the confirmation that once again the USM publicity mill runs true to form: it lies.

I spend my days telling my students not to pad their resumes. I'm very clear about the ways in which resumes can be made to be misleading, and why it is both ehtically wrong and practically risky. I spndsa a lot of time teeling them about personal and institutional credibility, and why it is importantand how hard credibility is to get back once you have lost it.

I have to do this because they live in a world where bending the truth into a pretzel is now the norm rather than the exception. And when I watch a university public relations office spin distortions and mislead the public in the same way that commercial and political advertising do, it not only signifies to me how far the university has come from a vision of itself as a place where the highest value is truth, but it has lost the war without ever having fought the battle.

And a reminder -- despite accusations to the conrtrary, there are various points of view on this board. Please don't cite one or two claims made by writers that you cannot even be exact about and then use that to accuse the whole board of inconsistency. Tha's really the kind of smear that we've seen all too muchout of the dome recently.

And one more reminder -- the people on this board have no power except their wits. We do not run the university or the IHL or the government. Discussion (which really often becomes a form of brainstorming) is one way we can not only continue to miaintain sa sense of vigilence, but it is critical to our self-defense. There are very few people at this university right now who don't look around before they speak; who don't go off reocrd to tella reporter the abolute truth; who don't know friends or colleagues who have been punished for speaking too openly. I'm not going to questuon the intentions of the administration any more -- there is no need to do so. Whatever the intentions might have been, the result has been grievious losses of key faculty members including some international and national scholars who cannot be easily replaced; searches that have been manipulated; and an atmosphere if intitmidation. I won't say that this is universal in this university -- but I can definitely say it is very true in certain areas.

"By their actions ye shall know them."

Yep.

quote:

---

Originally posted by: New Adjunct
"Please Explain -- what threads are you talking about? This board's predecessor, the FireShelby board, only came into being this past spring, and this board came along at the end of May.  Maybe I haven't been around long enough, but when was there comment about LAST YEAR's ranking? And I'm with Emma.  If you think any of us take pleasure in the decline of our school, you really haven't been paying attention.  It's just that we've heard one lie after another and the newspaper never challenges or investigates, only letter writers contradict the lies.  Both Ms. Zimmerman's and Dr. Ower's letters were excellent without being negative or disparaging."

---

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/updates/8440.html

The link above talks about the fire that claimed three lives at Ole Miss.  The reason I bring this up, is that a year ago last summer we had a student try to start a fire in a campus fraternity house and the Mader spin machine down play what could have been a serious incident with the death of some of our students.....................Does anyone know "how" this played out and was the student ever charged with anything??????

quote:

---

Originally posted by: stinky cheese man
"lamont--i'm not quite sure what you mean when you say 3rd tier status data is attributable to Fleming's administration.  for some data, they use 6 year averages, so current rankings are dependent on data from the Fleming administration.   if we were slipping then, his administration contributed to the decline."

---

People see me all the time and they just can't remember how to act
Their minds are filled with big ideas, images and distorted facts.
Even you, yesterday you had to ask me where it was at,
I couldn't believe after all these years, you didn't know me better than that
Sweet lady.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth,
Blowing down the backroads headin' south.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth,
You're an idiot, babe.
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

quote:

---

Originally posted by: Please explain
"Interesting how those of you on this board are taking great pleasure in the tier 4 US News rating.  I seem to recall threads posted when USM was ranked a tier 3 school denigrating the US News ranking system.  I guess now that the ranking more suits the purpose of this board, the US News rating system is no longer suspect."

---

There is hardly any joy watching USM descend. What you are finding is some comfort in the confirmation that once again the USM publicity mill runs true to form: it lies.

I spend my days telling my students not to pad their resumes. I'm very clear about the ways in which resumes can be made to be misleading, and why it is both ehtically wrong and practically risky. I spndsa a lot of time teeling them about personal and institutional credibility, and why it is importantand how hard credibility is to get back once you have lost it.

I have to do this because they live in a world where bending the truth into a pretzel is now the norm rather than the exception. And when I watch a university public relations office spin distortions and mislead the public in the same way that commercial and political advertising do, it not only signifies to me how far the university has come from a vision of itself as a place where the highest value is truth, but it has lost the war without ever having fought the battle.

And a reminder -- despite accusations to the conrtrary, there are various points of view on this board. Please don't cite one or two claims made by writers that you cannot even be exact about and then use that to accuse the whole board of inconsistency. Tha's really the kind of smear that we've seen all too muchout of the dome recently.

And one more reminder -- the people on this board have no power except their wits. We do not run the university or the IHL or the government. Discussion (which really often becomes a form of brainstorming) is one way we can not only continue to miaintain sa sense of vigilence, but it is critical to our self-defense. There are very few people at this university right now who don't look around before they speak; who don't go off reocrd to tella reporter the abolute truth; who don't know friends or colleagues who have been punished for speaking too openly. I'm not going to questuon the intentions of the administration any more -- there is no need to do so. Whatever the intentions might have been, the result has been grievious losses of key faculty members including some international and national scholars who cannot be easily replaced; searches that have been manipulated; and an atmosphere if intitmidation. I won't say that this is universal in this university -- but I can definitely say it is very true in certain areas.

"By their actions ye shall know them."

Yep.