Garrett, Ricki < 1. member of the IHL Board; 2. Seemed to hold sway over the original decision to hire Thames as USM’s president. After the original IHL Board vote on Thames reportedly resulted in a deadlock — rumored to be a result of concerns Garrett and others had about Thames’ past indiscretions at work — Ricki Garrett is said to have called a meeting with Thames and the other IHL Board members, wherein she asked the famous question of him: "Are you a bootyologist?" When Thames replied, "Negatory..," she and a few other members fell in line supporting Thames’ candidacy. The rest is, as we know, history. 3. given the aforementioned story about Garrett, it’s clear she should never make any more big life decisions without consulting the advice of a much more sophisticated person (see Virginia Shanteau-Newton); 4. should hire fellow IHL Board member Virginia Shanteau-Newton as her "life coach" asap.

Halstead, J. Phillip < 1. newly-hired figure head of the ADP, which is evidently now being run by Shelby Thames; 2. old friend of Shelby Thames; 3. polymers specialist, wants the ADP to work closely with USM, but only so with its Polymer Science Department, to grow Hattiesburg.

Hamer, Fannie Lou < 1. famed Mississippi civil rights leader; 2. made famous the phrase, "I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired"; 3. phrase getting renewed popularity in current crisis through speech by USM history professor Doug Chambers at first anti-Thames rally.

Kinney, Terry < 1. professor of human performance and recreation at USM; 2. given terminal contract in late October of 2003; 3. is suing Shelby Thames and other USM administrators in U.S. District Court for violating a prior agreement to award him tenure (seeking $2 million in damages).

preserving the integrity, credibility, and stability of [an] institution < 1. for a functional president or chancellor, this is best done by providing adequate processes for granting tenure and providing academic freedom, allowing shared governance, hiring faculty/administrators through national job searches, and getting out of the way; 2. for a dysfunctional president or chancellor, this is accomplished by firing two esteemed/accomplished scholars with tenure in the middle of the semester, thereby eliminating all sense of academic freedom on the campus, without ever having considered (even for a second) who would teach their classes, thus making it necessary to conduct a Thames job search for a replacement after two weeks of missed class meetings.