I am trying to look at the whole default sort order for both the admin backend and the public side. I'll let you know what I find out. I've also opened a ticket (ticket #161) to have sort order pulldowns in the Admin -> Manage tab that function much like the sort order pulldowns currently available for the public side. I don't know if this will be available for the next release, but it should be not too much longer after that if I have my way. :)