Imagine a day on which you have to wave to someone once for every five steps you take.

Imagine shaking hands more often than you blink.

Imagine rushing from brunch to lunch to dinner, every other meal serving as a forum for the discussion of some business matter.

Welcome to a day in the life of Penn State President Graham Spanier, a man who lives by an agenda and whose "colleagues are friends and vice versa."

At 9:30 yesterday morning, Spanier was on a conference call in his office in 201 Old Main. His secretaries had compiled his schedule for the day, which is always shifting to accommodate more people and events, said his administrative assistant Carolyn A. Dolby.

Today, for example, Spanier had had to cancel his racquetball session so that he could attend the Lady Lions' basketball game. He explained this on his way to a 10 a.m. press conference for the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, being built at 127 S. Allen St., making no bones about jaywalking to reach his destination. "I'm always in a hurry," he said.

He popped a Listerine Breath Strip in his mouth while walking to the future site of the Theatre. He gave a speech before two television stations and a group of about 30 community members, colleagues and construction workers before excitedly exploring the nearly completed facility.

On the walk back up to his office, he stopped to admire a student playing hacky sack on Old Main lawn.

"That's impressive," he said to the student before asking whether he could take a look at the bag.

He then proceeded to make the object "disappear."

"Hey!" cried the student jokingly before Spanier "conjured" the hacky sack back into plain sight and returned it.

"I do magic around campus a few times a month," Spanier said. He serves as the adviser for the Penn State Performing Magicians Club and opened for Penn and Teller's Penn State performance.

A little after 11 a.m., he was back in his office and began sifting through the daily 100 or so e-mails, to which he replies personally, he said.

At around 11:30 he had a private lunch honoring a donor who had made one of the largest gifts in the history of the university, about $3.5 million, Spanier said.

Spanier said he eats out at least 25 nights a month. Cooking barely crosses his mind. Sometimes he'll attend two business dinners in the same day, but he certainly isn't complaining.

"He eats a lot and he eats fast," said Vice Provost Rod Erickson. "He'll usually grab several desserts at the table if they're not eaten. I'm very envious of anyone who can eat as much as him and stay so slim."

At 1:30 p.m. Spanier briefly attended a Faculty Senate meeting, answering questions from the media and other concerned groups before cutting out early to get back to his stack of responsibilities in the office.

Shortly before 5 p.m., Spanier got in his silver 2001 Toyota Avalon and drove over to the Lady Lions' basketball game against the University of South Carolina.

The traffic director laughed and waved Spanier into the parking lot, amused that the president would think he had to bother looking for his parking pass.

Spanier settled in with some of his colleagues in one of the private boxes in perfect time for the start of the game. He spouted off the team's record, cheered on Kelly Mazzante, and did not fail to hit up the concession stand, not only for himself but for the coworkers and kids sitting around him.

"Would you prefer pizza or a burger?" he asked them, holding an armful of grub. "These are the good french fries," he said, munching on a curly-cut potato. He'd disapproved of the center's previous "thick, fat, soggy fries," and had lobbied for the switch to a tastier tater. He recently got his way.

Spanier was reluctant to leave before the game came to its full end, but Penn State was up by a solid 20 points when his schedule demanded he scoot over to the Wagner Building for his live television and radio show, To the Best of My Knowledge on WPSX-TV (Channel 3) and WPSU-FM (91.5). Spanier calmly settled into the softly lit room, complete with padded sound-friendly walls.

The show ended at 8 p.m., but Spanier's day didn't. He had yet another project to film after the close of his live question-and-answer show before finally going home, where he would continue to answer e-mail until at least 1 a.m.

"Even then, I go to bed not because I'm tired but because I know I will be tired the next day if I don't get enough sleep," he said. "I'm a real night owl."

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