The April 13th edition of the Student Printz contains a response to a letter of mine that the paper published last week.  Since I doubt that the Printz would have the space or inclination to publish my response to the response, please permit me to post them here.  Here is the student's response to my letter:

Letters to the Editor

Students shouldn’t listen to outsiders for judgment

In response to Professor Robert C. Evans letter to the editor regarding the 'problems' Southern Miss faces (“Crisis damages USM’s academic reputation,” April 8), a couple of issues should be addressed.

First of all, Mr. Evans says he is an outside observer following this issue from a distance, yet he almost immediately provides an 'anti-Thames' Web site to back the 'allegations'. I don't need someone from another state telling me what is important for Southern Miss. And I hope you do not let anyone else tell you as well.

Secondly, I would hope that the current students at Southern Miss would look at what Mr. Evans is saying. He is basically saying your education is not worth as much as it was before this 'scandal' erupted because people around the academic world now consider USM's reputation damaged. He also mentioned that other graduate schools will look down on us because of this incident. A president holding people accountable for their actions is NOT something to look down upon.

I take my degree from Southern Miss very seriously and I hope that the current students do not let some 'outside' source let them believe that their degree is not worth anything. Do not cast your opinions on this matter based on what some Web site says. You are attending a top-notch university. Don't forget it!

You should, as a student, voice your opinion on matters of importance. However, do not do it on emotion. Truth and facts are amazing things. If you are looking to a Web site for answers to questions, you are looking in the wrong place. Seek the truth without bias and with dignity; there you will find your answers.

One point I remember from a management class back in 1991(Dr. Bushardt, I believe) is that our behavior determines our success, not our attitude. Regardless of these current circumstances, let us all lose our selfish attitudes and model our behavior like proud Southern Miss family members and pray for our university, our president, our professors, our students and our future success.

Southern Miss to The Top!

Jay Leverette
Madison, MS

   
MY RESPONSE TO THE RESPONSE:

1.  I recommended that readers of my original letter consult the "Fire Shelby" website because I have found that this website provides THE most comprehensive coverage of the entire crisis, offering a forum for both pro- and anti-Thames comment (as long as it is civil and not obscene, as some of the pro-Thames comment, by such posters as "Eatme," has been).  The "Fire Shelby" website provides links to all relevant documentation, including articles in newspapers in Mississippi and elsewhere.  Moreover, the website offers much original and significant reporting of its own.  Indeed, news reporters have been "scooped" by the site on more than one occasion, and I suspect that some of the best of them now read it regularly to keep up with the latest developments.  If Jay Leverette is not reading the "Fire Thames" website, he is doing a disservice to his own intelligence and to his own obligation to stay well informed, even if he disagrees with many of the opinions expressed on the site.
 
2.  Jay Leverette next writes, "I don't need someone from another state telling me what is important for Southern Miss."  This attitude is both parochial and self-defeating.  If outsiders have useful comments to offer, Jay Leverette would be foolish to ignore them simply because they are offered by outsiders.  The comments should be judged on their merits, not on their source.  According to Jay Leverette's logic, any sensible idea that does not originate within the boundaries of the state of Mississippi should be ignored.  (Does Jay Leverette not realize that USM is accredited by people who mainly consist of outsiders?)  Taking this Leverettian logic to its absurd conclusion, any idea not originating with Jay Leverette should be ignored.  I would hate to think that this is how Jay Leverette actually runs his life!

3.  Jay Leverette next writes, "A president holding people accountable for their actions is NOT something to look down upon."  This perception of the events is, of course, Jay Leverette's perception (see point 2).  The point of my original letter was that among the vast majority of "outsiders" who will be judging the academic credentials of USM students, perceptions will be radically different.  The main point of my original letter was precisely this: that President Thames has done far more damage to the students of USM than he has done to anyone else.  His actions will mean, in very practical terms, that outsiders (including people outside Hattiesburg at other Mississippi institutions) will now take a degree from USM far less seriously than they once did.

4.  Jay Leverette next writes, "I take my degree from Southern Miss very seriously and I hope that the current students do not let some 'outside' source let them believe that their degree is not worth anything."  My response is that no matter how seriously Jay Leverette takes his own degree, what will really matter to his future is how seriously OTHERS (including potential employers and academic admissions committees) will take it.  If I work hard on a degree from an internet medical school located in Botswana, what will matter is not how seriously _I_ take my degree but how seriously others will.  (The more I write this reply, the more I realize that everything goes back to point 2 [above]: Jay Leverette is living in Leveretteville, a universe of his own making in which only the opinions of Jay Leverette seem to matter.)

5.  Jay Leverette next proclaims, "You are attending a top-notch university.  Don't forget it!"  Once again we are in Leveretteville.  When a huge majority of a university's own faculty think there is something seriously wrong with the university (as the recent and overwhelming no-confidence vote in President Thames proves), and when the overwhelming response of outside academics confirms the insights of the university's own faculty, Jay Leverette's proclamation sounds a little bit like that of a crewman on the Titanic: "Don't worry -- this ship is unsinkable!  The engineers told us that before we left port!  And they were all from England, so we know we can believe them!"

6.  Jay Leverette next counsels his readers as follows: "Seek the truth without bias and with dignity; there you will find your answers."   He does not seem to notice, however, how his advice to avoid bias contradicts his earlier suggestion that the opinions and facts presented on the "Fire Shelby" website should be ignored.   What Jay Leverette SHOULD have advised at this point was, "read the Fire Shelby website; read the opinions of pro-Thames commentators; read any source of information available; and THEN make up your mind." 

7.  Finally, Jay Leverette concludes by saying that "our behavior determines our success, not our attitude."  To this I would respond that both atttitude and behavior determine success (since attitude influences behavior).  I would also suggest that no matter how positive one's attitude and how determined one's behavior, if objective observers believe there are objective reasons for thinking that your performance is inadequate, their opinions will matter more than anything else.  If Jay Leverette applies to a truly top-notch graduate program and the people assessing his degree know of the mess that prevailed at USM during his time as a student there, they will have good reason to doubt that his degree means as much as it might have if better conditions had prevailed at USM.