In its first official action at the Feb. 9 meeting, the Robert Holland Faculty Senate went on record in support of a new state flag.

By a 26-0 vote, senators approved a one-line resolution offered by Dr. Walter Diehl of Biological Sciences that read: "The Robert Holland Faculty Senate of Mississippi State University urges the people of Mississippi to adopt the new state flag."

Six members abstained from voting and 18 were absent.

The only discussion preceding the vote centered on the resolution's wording. Following a friendly amendment, the phrase "a new state flag" in Diehl's Feb. 1 correspondence to his senate colleagues was changed to "the new state flag."

Mississippi voters will go to the polls April 17 to decide whether the so-called 1894 flag, which contains the Confederate stars-and-bars battle standard, or a new emblem should become the official state standard. The new design is similar to the old one, but omits the Civil War standard.

The senate vote received statewide notice the following day when it was among the Jackson Clarion-Ledger's primary front-page stories. That story subsequently was picked up by the state Associated Press bureau, which included it in a round-up on the Mississippi flag issue distributed nationally over the news wire service.

In the newspaper account, Diehl was asked why he decided to submit the resolution. The Nashville, Tenn., native replied, in part, "It is the right thing to do."

A complete summary of this and other business conducted at the February meeting is available on the Internet at the senate home page, which is reached by accessing www.msstate.edu, then clicking on the "Academic Programs" icon and scrolling to "Organizations."