by Steve Thomas
Staff Writer
Though incoming Chancellor/ President Arthur K. Smith didn't ride in on horseback, as suspected in a recent Houston Chronicle article, he probably wished for one halfway through his walking tour of the University of Houston.
Smith began the first day of his tenure Tuesday with a briefing for today's Board of Regents committee meetings, a walking tour of UH and UH-Downtown and an evening of Houston Astros baseball with head football coach Kim Helton.
After the closed-door briefing session, Smith began his cross-campus junket - small UH pin attached firmly to his lapel - with a stop at the University Center. He toured all three levels of the UC and asked Elwyn Lee, vice president for student affairs, short questions concerning the UC budget and the mural in Cougar Den.
He also stopped by the Students' Association offices and shook hands with outgoing SA President John Moore and President-elect Natalie Merritt while asking questions about the Campus Card.
"He looks like a man about business," Merritt said. "It looks like he sets goals and makes progress towards those goals. He's a very direct, concise man."
After the UC Smith was off to the M.D. Anderson Library to visit The Honors College, Arte Publico Press and the library facilities.
When Smith ascended to the main floor of the library, he didn't seemed prepared for what he saw there. For the first time, he encountered - in greater numbers than he had yet seen - UH students.
"This is the busiest place we have seen all day," said Smith. "That is good."
Smith seemed impressed with the Electronic Publications Center, the library's on-line reference and research facility, saying it was "very well done."
Then he discussed past budgets and future planning with Dana Rooks, director of the UH Libraries.
"He seemed very responsive and insightful," Rooks said. "I think he will be a very student-centered president."
Smith said that expansion of the library "will be a high priority."
After a break for lunch, the campus tour resumed with a stop in the offices of The Daily Cougar.
There he met the editorial and advertising staff and was shown around the newsroom. After the tour, Editor in Chief Liz Carter asked Smith if he read Tuesday's Daily Cougar. His response was, "I read the editorial" - which was written about him.
Next, the entourage took a trip across the Communication Building courtyard to the offices of KUHF.
Smith toured the tiny office and, true to form, asked questions about KUHF's budget and future plans.
While at the radio station, Smith took time to say a few words to listeners. He talked about his first day and some of his plans for UH and the UH System.
He said he was going to concentrate on appointing search committees for the many vacancies on his staff, visiting the state Legislature and conducting courtesy calls on the governor, lieutenant governor and speaker of the House. He also said he plans to spend a lot of time reading and analyzing in order to prepare for the task of allocating the upcoming university budgets.
"Where you spend your money is the best indication of where your priorities are," Smith said.
After the interview, Smith donned a hard hat and took a tour of the uncompleted Moores School of Music Building.
Smith spent almost 30 minutes touring the construction site and called the structure a "very exciting building." He asked when it would be finished and open for business, and where his seat was in the new performance hall.
Smith returned the hard hat and was then off to meet with the dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for a tour of the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at UH.
After viewing SVEC's clean rooms, or completely sterile laboratory areas, and briefly chatting with C.W. Paul Chu, director of TcSUH (both behind closed doors), the tour made its way to UH-Downtown.
There, Smith met with Max Castillo, UH-D president, and, donning his second hard hat for the day, toured the university's two new buildings: the Jesse H. Jones Student Life Center and the Academic/Student Services Building.
Smith then made a quick trip up to a lab on the seventh floor where the Center for Advanced Distributed Simulation of the Army Research Center is located. The lab conducts research into virtual reality and advanced computer graphics.
With the high-tech tour complete, it was time for Smith to wrap up his walkabout, bid farewell to the folks at UH-D, and head to the Dome for the Astros' opening game.