More good news from the Hat-Am; here is today's editorial:

Hanbury's e-mail to USM deans is a setback to healing process

EDUCATION

If the administration at the University of Southern Mississippi is going to heal the wounds that have afflicted the institution, it needs to improve its communication skills.

Unfortunately, the e-mail that attorney Jack Hanbury, USM's risk manager, sent Friday to the school's five deans is a step in the wrong direction.

After at least one of the deans consulted an attorney about a request from the Faculty Senate for the names of faculty members recommended for mid-year raises, Hanbury sent them an e-mail that read: "The last I heard, Dr. Thames was your boss, not some nebulous 'outside counsel.' Quite simply, regardless of what you or your misguided personal counsel think, the law means you take your orders from Dr. Thames and it is up to you to decide to do otherwise. You are insulated from personal liability for doing so. I have informed Dr. Thames of your grossly insubordinate action."

Hanbury's e-mail is a decided setback to the healing process.

I love how Janet Braswell (gasp!) states that most students are ill-informed before she quotes this student:

But others say students aren't well informed.

"Most of us have no real idea what's going on," said finance major Jason Sanford of Laurel. "The Faculty Senate seems to be ultra-liberal and biased. The only reason (Thames) appears to be stepping on toes is he's taking the university in the right direction."

quote:

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Originally posted by FireShelby:
"From this H-A article today: http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/news/stories/20040505/localnews/360836.html "The Hattiesburg American has filed a request today under the Mississippi Public Records Act asking the university to disclose details about whose e-mails were monitored and when. The university has 14 days to respond." This is GREAT NEWS!!!  Applause for the Hattiesburg American!!"

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The more that I have been thinking about this today, the bigger a deal I think that it is.  The Hattiesburg American made several points, both explicit and implicit.

1.  It is not going to let this invasive monitoring of e-mails (and possibly telephones and offices) at the University of Southern Mississippi go unchallenged and unreported.

2.  It must have asked for (and been denied) the information from USM officials or it would not have resorted to the FOIA requests.

3.  By publicly announcing the newspaper's FOIA request, especially on the heels of reporting the scathing, ill-conceived Hanbury memo to the deans, it keeps the legitimacy of the State's Open Records Act in the public eye.

4.  Given #3 above, it almost taunts USM's legal hack to refuse the request.

Brilliant strategies!  I think we willl see much more from the HA in the near future...good going!  I'm doing my part by buying a copy at the newstands at 11:00 in addition to receiving my home copy in the evening!