SIU PREPARES FOR PRESIDENTIAL VISIT

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- The White House advance team has taken over the Carbondale campus of Southern Illinois University in preparation for a Monday visit by President Bill Clinton.

"The White House has a certain protocol to follow, so the advance team is in charge of the preparations," said Sue Davis, the director of the university news service. "We are working with them and working out the logistics of the visit."

Davis wouldn't comment about the specifics of Clinton's visit only to say that he would arrive on campus about 11:15 a.m. and give a speech. She also didn't reveal the subject of the president's speech but said he would speak in front of Pulliam Hall, a building used by the College of Education.

The president is expected to discuss a federal student loan program, according to a White House source.

In addition to the thousands of spectators anticipated for the event, SIU also is preparing for representatives from at least 30 media organizations. "We're really inviting anyone who wants to come," Davis said. "We've received calls from big, daily newspapers to small weeklies. There also will be several television and radio stations."

The university received confirmation and specific times for the president's visit Wednesday. And besides dealing with security issues in short order, the White House team and university also are working to alleviate potential parking problems.

Davis said SIU intends to post signs at available parking lots around campus and use school buses to shuttle some people from the southern campus parking lots to the event held at the north end of campus. She said she didn't know how early spectators should begin arriving on campus. "But it's first-come, first-serve," she said.

The speech will be from a platform constructed in front of Pulliam Hall. Davis said the president would deliver his speech on the front lawn of the building rain or shine.