Retiring Slippery Rock University President Robert Smith has been awarded the prestigious recognition of president emeritus.

Awarded by the board of governors of the State System of Higher Education, the president emeritus award rarely is bestowed. Smith is only the sixth president — and the first from SRU — to be granted the recognition.

To earn the status of president emeritus, the candidate must have served at least five years in a leadership position and must have shown “an exemplary record of service through the demonstrated commitments of time, talent and resources,” according to the SSHE.

During his tenure at SRU, Smith oversaw more than $200 million in new construction and renovation projects. It's not a stretch to say that Smith changed the face of Slippery Rock University.

He's also been credited with increasing the visibility of SRU through his efforts in regional development and education initiatives. Smith was highly visible among students, appearing at many events and interacting with students on an informal basis around campus.

When his planned retirement this month was announced in April of last year, John Cavanaugh, chancellor of the state system, said Smith was “responsible for Slippery Rock's renaissance. His vision is clearly infectious; students, faculty and staff are energized.”

After arriving at SRU, Smith reversed several years of declining enrollment that preceded his appointment as president. In an interview in 2005, Smith was described as a change agent. Smith said, “I respect tradition, but the last thing I am is a caretaker. And we had to move ahead. The greatest risk was to stand still.”

Smith moved SRU ahead in terms of campus facilities, but also in academic standards and national rankings.

Smith brought a background in executive leadership development to SRU and helped advance the university through involvement in Leadership Pittsburgh, Butler Rotary Club and the Butler County Community Development Corporation.

His leadership at SRU was characterized by a positive attitude, a clear vision, endless energy and a friendly, approachable personality. His many talents served him well — and served the larger SRU community, including Butler County, very well also.

Buffalo Township supervisor Gary Risch believes township officials shouldn't spend much time fielding complaints from people who don't take the time to attend meetings.While more people should attend meetings of the board of supervisors, that never should be a prerequisite for listening to problems and complaints.What's most troubling is that Risch made the observation during discussion about vehicles passing school buses while they're picking up children. That's a serious traffic violation, and Risch and the other supervisors should commit the township to ending the problem once and for all, not giving any thought to whether the person who lodged the complaint attends meetings.A child's life is more important than meeting attendance.To his credit, John Haven, supervisors chairman, in responding to Risch's comment, stressed that the township must address any complaints. And, with that in mind, the supervisors should develop a plan for police presence so that violators are apprehended.A couple of stiff fines or license suspenions probably would resolve the problem.Meanwhile, parents at bus stops could help by coming prepared to photograph violations they observe.Just because police for days monitored Silverville Road following a parent's complaint but didn't observe any violations is no cause for relaxing the attention that the problem deserves.During the supervisors meeting on Wednesday, Risch observed that people still speed by children and buses even when there is police presence.“One cop was sitting there and one was standing on the street and they still do it,” he said.If that's the case, something is not being done correctly and it must be rectified — before a child or parent or other innocent person is seriously injured or killed.And, again, meeting attendance is not required for action to be taken on this serious public safety issue.

The Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau’s effort to bring the Ridgway Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous here is the latest example of the bureau’s strong focus on encouraging people to visit this county.The weeklong carvers event, which generally attracts about 20,000 people, has had to move to a place in Ridgway, Elk County, that event organizers say isn’t big enough for the event.The local tourism bureau has suggested moving the event to the Butler Farm Show Grounds, an idea that the event organizers seem to like.Such an event presumably would have major spinoff opportunities benefiting hotels, restaurants, gasoline filling stations and other businesses.In the meantime, people who are unfamiliar with this county would have an opportunity to come here and enjoy it.The carvers rendezvous is a great opportunity for this county. If the effort to attract it here is successful, the next objective must be to keep it coming here year after year