new NetworkManager dependencies?

[Tom Horsley]

I have found that the only way I can ever get networking to
function correctly on my systems is to

yum erase NetworkManager

with NM installed it insinuates tentacles into everything,
doing stuff like grabbing control of USB network devices
when I plug them in (devices I don't want it fooling with).

Now, yum has just reinstalled NetworkManager because new
dependencies dragged it in. When I remove it, all this
new junk goes with it:

Removed:
  NetworkManager.x86_64 1:0.9.4.0-9.git20120521.fc17                            

Dependency Removed:
  NetworkManager-gnome.x86_64 1:0.9.4.0-9.git20120521.fc17                      
  control-center.x86_64 1:3.4.2-4.fc17                                          
  gnome-bluetooth.x86_64 1:3.4.2-1.fc17                                         
  gnome-shell.x86_64 0:3.4.1-6.fc17                                             
  orca.x86_64 0:3.4.2-1.fc17                                                    

Most of those things didn't depend on NM previously,
why do they depend on it now? Why should I need to
have NM installed just to get to the audio volume
control (for example).