Iowa State President Martin Jischke came to the Daily office yesterday. It was but the second time in his six years as president that Jischke has met with us — the Daily’s editorial board.

He had to ask if he could come. In retrospect, we probably should have invited him sooner — since he’s the president and all. We’ll ask him back again next semester.

Often criticized as not a real “people person,” we found Jischke to be surprisingly inviting. He was cordial and mostly pleasant. He spoke with assertion. He was articulate with his answers to questions, probably because he’s been asked them a million times.

We did find the president somewhat intimidating, a man very quick to put his views on the table — except for a few things he found a little too touchy.

It was a good visit, as good, we suppose, as any 8 a.m. meeting with the man who holds our educations in the balance can be.

Jischke addressed a lot of things in the span of an hour. Some we agreed with, some we didn’t and some we’re not sure about. Detailed below are some of the high points of the conversation. (Note: For the record, we didn’t ask about Catt Hall.)

* Diversity — “Iowa State is an overwhelmingly white place. I have absolutely no doubt that there are people, students and others, within the community that don’t share the university’s views about diversity. It’s very difficult for people at Iowa State to talk about issues of race; there’s a real reluctance to engage the debate. There are real and serious differences of opinion about the wisest ways to pursue issues of diversity. This is not easy to work through, but I think it’s very, very important.”

Jischke said correctly that the Iowa State and Ames community must do more to help minority students adapt. He said with about 700 African-American students, there may be an untapped market in serving their needs.

* Student input — “Students need to participate in the vehicles they already have in place. And students who do participate have to carry out their representative roles. The issue of communication is at the heart of this. Often times we assume issues aren’t of interest to students and they turn out to be. We don’t always know the appropriate group or person who to contact.”

Jischke suggested the Government of the Student Body set an agenda at the beginning of the academic term and attack issues from the “front end.”

* Himself — In response to a little-too-blunt question about how long Jischke’s planning on staying at Iowa State, he said: “The real answer is it depends on the Board of Regents, but we’re very happy in Ames. We’re here for the long run.” As a six-year president, Jischke’s already served longer than most leaders of big-time universities. The higher education administration business is extremely fluid, of which the president said is, “sometimes frightening.”

* Jack Trice — Jischke stopped short of giving his stamp of approval to renaming Cyclone Stadium in honor of Trice, Iowa State’s first black athlete and the only Cyclone competitor to die because of injuries sustained during competition. He was, however, candid about the issue.

“Trice is an important person by the sort of individual he was. As an individual, he’s heroic. He is a symbol of a moment of change. He was a very impressive individual.” On a new name: “Lots of people have been suggested to have a facility named after them. We want to be fair.”

* Humanities at a land-grant institution — “The liberal arts and sciences play a central role in my vision of a great land-grant university. Change is at times unnerving. My hope is that the changes that are taking place at Iowa State are for the better. I really believe we are making progress.”

As Iowa State sets in motion Jischke’s plan to develop the university into the nation’s premier land-grant institution, the president said we journalism majors and the like need not worry that liberal arts and sciences will be abandoned for a heightened focus on science and technology.

* Troy Davis — Jischke’s Heisman vote, if he had one, would rightfully go to Iowa State’s main man Troy Davis. “Absolutely. There’s not a question. It would take no time to decide,” he said. On keeping Davis around for another year: “There’s no question we would have a better football team next year if he was carrying the ball for us. … I hope that he completes his degree at Iowa State in a timely way. These are student-athletes, and I don’t want to lose site of the student side even for the most gifted athletes.”