Newly appointed Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Jack Hamilton sat down with Reveille reporters for a discussion about his move from hardliner Dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication to chair of the Budget Crisis Committee. The following is a brief excerpt of the interview. Further highlights, including a video and comments on financial aid can be found at lsureveille.com.The Daily Reveille: Is this job a challenge you relish? Jack Hamilton: Why did I do it? I think it made sense because I was leaving anyway. I’m not going to make the claim that I’m particularly well qualified for this job except maybe for one trait. But I was leaving so it works out. And I owe the University, and I do have this one trait — I can make decisions.TDR: You’ve been labeled by some as the grim reaper or hitman to make the tough decisions and then ride off to another adventure. What do you think of that description of your job role?JH: I’d use the phrase, somewhat self-deprecatingly, when this is over, I’ll be seen as the grim reaper of higher education. And yes, I think that’s true. But it gets back to the point. One thing I can do is I can make decisions. I don’t need people to tell me they love me. Actually, I like when people love me. I can live without it if I have to. What is very important in this is: I may have, to you, a persona of being tough … aloof or distant, but in the end, you want a dean who you respect. You don’t want a dean who’s a buddy. Buddies you can get all over the place. You can go down to Chimes and find buddies. You want a dean who you can respect, and you want a dean who’s going to take care of you. You want a dean that is going to make sure you get a good God-damned education. That’s what you want. Friends you can get anywhere. What you want right now is someone who really cares about this University and is going to fight for it and try to do the very best thing that can be done for the most people and for the institution over the long haul.TDR: [Former Provost] Astrid Merget was heavily involved in Flagship 2020. What is your involvement with that? Are you picking up that baton?JH: Well, we have to have a Flagship Agenda. Naturally, since I am now Provost, I got my own ideas about it.The big challenge is do you say since we have budget cuts, here is what we will be after the budget cuts? Or do you put out a document that says this is what we could be if you leave us alone or give us some money? I think our strategy is we are going to put out a document that says this is what we should be, this is how we should move forward. Then if they want to give us less money, that’s their business. But I think it’s more important to shoot high. TDR: Where does financial aid fall into this budget crisis planning?JH: Financial aid is important, and need-based aid is very important. Students who couldn’t go to school without help — that’s    something we have to be very                        concerned about … Then the question is what do you do on top of that?You do want to recruit good students with higher ACTs and so forth. So then you have to figure out how much you are willing to spend for that and how much you have to spend for that. Now I know that is a question, but I am trying to figure out what the answer is.TDR: Your salary is $20,000 more than Merget’s was. Do you think you’ve taken greater responsibilities to go with that salary increase?JH: The fact is, Astrid was probably underpaid. Things have changed since she got the job. It’s a reasonable, comparable pay for what the job is. I could’ve asked for more, but I didn’t. It’s all about the marketplace.____Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]