If President Harris Pastides' house on the Horseshoe looks empty this week, it's because it is. 
He's in Hong Kong, hoping to establish a partnership with The Chinese University of Hong Kong so that students from both institutions can enter into an exchange program. Maintaining the No. 1 international business school ranking in the country takes involvement on behalf of the administration, as well as the student body. Pastides is clearly involved, and his outreach is deserving of praise. It's comforting to know that he is spending his time as the leader of our university actively, personally spreading USC's influence all over the world.
While we're behind the trip's mission, we do want to know how big of a bill we're footing. The cost of the trip has not yet been disclosed. While USC says universities hosting Pastides are picking up a portion of the tab, flights to China aren't cheap, and we'll be surprised if USC isn't spending a pretty penny to get him there and back.
But we're cautiously optimistic — while the trip will no doubt be expensive, it could well turn out to be a solid investment that could yield dividends in the future. USC students who are looking to study in China will almost certainly be spared the full cost of doing so, as partnerships typically reduce the cost of tuition in exchange programs. It is reasonable to think that these tuition savings could justify the cost of presidential business abroad.
What's difficult to justify is Pastides missing the football home opener against East Carolina. We're just relieved to know he'll be back the following week against UAB. Missing two in a row would have been downright un-presidential.