Herman Frazier looked at his watch, took a deep breath and placed his hands on the table like a man resigned to his fate.

It is what the University of Hawai'i athletic director's face must look like as he gets into the dentist's chair.

On this day, however, it was not root canal that awaited but an hour's worth of interviews with reporters. Though some people of Frazier's acquaintance might suggest there isn't all that much difference between the two in his mind.

It was the new, accessible, I'm-here-to-answer-your-questions Frazier. Reluctantly, perhaps, but they're all the same.

Perhaps you have noticed the sudden explosion of news from Frazier's office these last two weeks, complete with direct quotes from the AD himself. None of this "said through a spokeswoman" attribution that had become something of a running joke and symbolized his seclusion.

Maybe you've heard him on the radio or glimpsed him on television of late. And, how could you not, Frazier's been all over the dial.

Yes, Frazier is taking questions face to face — and answering most. Sometimes with affability. He's doing it at least one day a week. He's talking about the process of scheduling, coaches' contracts, you name it. Though it is still hard to drag anything out of him on budgets.

And to think some people said nothing came out of the legislative meeting of last month.

Whether it was the experience of being on the griddle for four hours at the Capitol, the pointed urgings of people around him or just an awakening, matters little. What does is that Frazier has taken stock and made changes. He is returning to some of the availability that marked his first months on the job and that's a good sign for all concerned.

Maybe the athletic director at a marquee school can burrow into his office or operate behind a screen like a puppeteer. But not one at UH. Not where the Warriors/Wahine/Rainbows are the biggest game in town and visibility and public accountability come with the paycheck.

Here, when the Heisman Trophy quarterback returns to school, people want to know there will be a worthy schedule. Or, have an explanation why not. They want to know about facilities and coaches' contracts. And, yes, they want to know about soap in the showers, too.

They want to hear all about it not through a press release or from an assistant trotted out to run interference. But more directly from the person in charge, the athletic director.

That shouldn't be too much to ask. And now it is nice to know that the man in charge has come to see it the same way.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.