InkBlots

Vicki Barrett, Gary Raskett and Wanda Howell have all been promoted at The Sun-Herald.

State columnists, reporters and FOI advocates are celebrating the passage of HB 474, the “Incident Reports” bill which is now on its way to Gov. Haley Barbour for his signature (fingers crossed)…

• The Clarion-Ledger’s David Hampton and its editorial board
  
• The Sun Herald’s Geoff Pender
• The Hattiesburg American’s editorial board

Doc Foglesong, still the lame duck occupant of the President’s Office at Mississippi State, told a newspaper in Charleston, WV this week that taking the top administrative post at the state university was “Plan 2.” He really said it.

Foglesong’s resignation came amid growing discontent with him by alumni, students and faculty, over such issues as email etiquette and his seeming dislike of daffodils.

Said the Charleston Gazette in an editorial page missive: “After (the native) West Virginian…quit as president of Mississippi State University, some Dixie newspapers said it was because the retired Air Force general gave military-style commands unsuited for independent-thinking professors. This recalls a story from the 1950s: When World War II hero Dwight Eisenhower was elected to the White House, departing President Harry Truman said of Ike’s new civilian role: “The general is in for a surprise. He’ll give an order, and nothing will happen.”

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal says the Foglesong matter is spilled milk. What matters now is the selection of a new permanent leader, and the state college board’s stubborn and potentially reckless penchant for keeping the selection process secret.