JUSTICE THOMAS DELAYS CAPE VISIT

Anita Hill is. Clarence Thomas is, later. Colin Powell isn't, but Oliver North might be.

So it goes when it comes to bringing big-name speakers to the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

Anita Hill, the University of Oklahoma law professor, sparked controversy with her sexual harassment allegations against Clarence Thomas during the Supreme Court nomination hearings.

She will speak Monday morning at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast at the Show Me Center.

Thomas was scheduled to speak at Southeast on Feb. 10. But the Supreme Court justice has postponed the visit until the fall semester. No date has been finalized.

Thomas backed out of the Southeast engagement after his scheduled appearance at Harding University in Searcy, Ark., in February was postponed until the fall.

Thomas plans to incorporate both university stops into one trip.

Southeast's College Republicans and other campus groups had hoped to bring Powell to the campus this spring but abandoned the idea as too costly.

Powell is the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a possible presidential candidate.

Nathan Cooper, a Southeast student who is chairman of the statewide College Republicans and a member of the local chapter, said bringing Powell to the campus would have cost $60,000.

To replace Thomas, the College Republicans hope to bring in North, the Iran Contra figure who recently lost a heated U.S. Senate race in Virginia.

Cooper said North's speaking fee would be $10,000. The College Republicans plan to ask the Student Government Association to allocate money from student fees to pay the cost.

No date has been set, but North may visit the campus either in late February or early March.

As a Supreme Court justice, Thomas can't take an honorarium. The only cost will be approximately $3,000 for transportation and lodging.

Hill will receive a $10,000 fee, which will be paid from the budgets of a number of the university's colleges and the president's office.

School officials recently said student fees would help defray the cost, but on Wednesday said their previous statement was incorrect.