My mini-contest garnered two entries. Brock proposed “alleged,” while my fellow Ole Miss alum Scott proposed “perceived.” Since “perceived” was the word I had in mind when I wrote the post, Scott wins the Signifying Nothing no-prize of having his name mentioned in my blog, along with my pity for knowing me well enough to read my thoughts.

I actually went with “public policy is a government plan of action that is intended to solve a perceived societal problem,” because I like adding words to definitions for amusement value. So, if you’re one of the lucky students in Dr. [redacted]’s American Government class at [redacted] University, you will be regaled with 50 minutes of quality lecture time on U.S. public policy from yours truly at 1 p.m. [redacted] Daylight Time on Monday, complete with color transparencies. Don’t forget reading material for the slow parts!

As expected, the near-legendary faculty review of Ole Miss Provost Carolyn Staton’s job performance was overwhelmingly negative, according to survey results obtained by The Daily Mississippian (who deserve kudos for even the vaguest attempt at investigatory journalism—heck, they deserve kudos for stringing together a coherent article, something rarely seen in the DM outside the Sports section). News at 11.

Though I have to give Bobby Khayat credit where it’s due—he runs a tighter ship than good ol’ Shelby Thames down at USM, and keeps things significantly closer to the straight-and-narrow, even if he engenders similar levels of animus from the faculty and students in the process.

Today’s Beltway Traffic Jam has a decidedly topical theme, given the gender role discussion that has swept this little corner of the 'sphere lately.

Hmm, maybe this phone interview isn’t going to happen after all… or it’s going to be about the shortest on record, one of the two.

Update: Shortest on record…