The pace of preparations for the Oct. 17 presidential debate at Washington University has picked up dramatically, as students, faculty and staff make ready to welcome Texas Gov. George Bush, Vice President Al Gore and everyone that comes with them --the Secret Service, the media, politicians, staff from the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) and a host of others.
University Police, the chancellor's office, transportation officials, public affairs staff, the athletics department, Student Union officers, facilities team leaders and workers and many others are working in overdrive to make sure that this high-profile event goes off without a hitch.
Student Union and other student groups have tried to make the most of the opportunity the debate presents, scheduling voter registration drives, debates, discussions and lectures to engage young voters. A sampling includes, for Tuesday, Oct. 10, a lecture titled "Compassionate Conservatism" by Marvin Olasky, Ph.D., journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and the author of 13 books, at 4 p.m. in Graham Chapel and, at 7 p.m., a discussion of the separation of church and state featuring Matt Lemieux from the American Civil Liberties Union.
A complete listing of Student Union-sponsored events is available online (su.wustl.edu).
Junior Daniel Beckmann, general manager of the student television station WUTV, has announced plans for extensive programming, anchored from a post immediately outside the Athletic Complex and beginning early Oct. 17. Beckmann expects nearly 30 student reporters to cover the debate and related stories unfolding on campus.
Beckmann's crew will join an estimated 1,500 media representatives from about 300 news organizations covering the event.
Only a fortunate few students --still to be determined by lottery --will see and hear the debate live. The CPD will not tell the University how many students will be admitted until the night of the debate, but plans for the lottery are going forward. Interested students must register through the Debate 2000 Student Lottery Web site (acadinfo.wustl.edu/elections/debate2000.asp) before Friday, Oct. 13. Students selected in the lottery will hear that afternoon by phone or e-mail and will receive more instructions then.
Washington University students, faculty and staff who want to join University colleagues for the debate may go to any of six campus sites for a remote telecast. The sites are:
¥ Hilltop Campus: Graham Chapel and The Gargoyle, Mallinckrodt Center;
¥ South 40: Ursa's Cafe in Lien House and Ike's Place and Friedman Lounge, both in Wohl Center;
¥ Medical Campus: Moore Auditorium, 660 S. Euclid Ave.
All sites are fully accessible, and Graham Chapel will have sign language interpreters available.
Heightened security on campus requires that these sites be open only to Washington University students, faculty and staff. University identification will be checked at each site. South 40 residents may each invite one guest to campus that evening; each guest must register with the Office of Residential Life.
The Athletic Complex will be closed for recreational use through the debate and is expected to reopen Oct. 20, though these plans are subject to change. For the latest update on the facility's reopening, check the athletics hotline, 935-4705.
The intramural fields, at the southeast corner of Forsyth and Big Bend boulevards, have been set aside for public demonstrations. The site will open at 4 p.m. Oct. 17. Applications for speakers are posted on the Web (debate. wustl.edu/demonstrations.html) and must be faxed to Programming Coordinator Steve Malter at 935-8516 by 5 p.m. Oct. 11. Time allotments will depend on the number of speakers; a random draw will determine the order of the speakers' appearance.
An umbrella group of activists interested in issues ranging from the environment to labor to prison reform to world peace to globalization is making the St. Louis debate its major organizing event for the presidential campaign. The "o17 coalition" Web site (O17.org) says the group plans a "large, legal demonstration as close to the debate" as possible. Several meetings have already been held on campus with WU students.
Parking also will be available in the North and South Brookings lots, Millbrook Garage and, for staff at Alumni House and the Music Department in Arts & Sciences, in the Wohl Garage on the South 40, space permitting. The Alumni House lot will close at midnight Oct. 16.
Other parking restrictions include:
¥ The lot east of the Athletic Complex will close at 6:30 a.m. Oct. 9 through the debate. It will be available only to vendors and contractors.
¥ The small lot north of the Athletic Complex will close at midnight Oct. 9, to make room for an Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc. tent. Anheuser-Busch is the official sponsor of this year's debates.
¥ Olympian Way from the Francis Field gate to the School of Law will close at midnight Oct. 15. Parking will still be available adjacent to Simon Hall until midnight Oct. 16, when all lots in that vicinity will be closed.
¥ Any unauthorized cars remaining in closed lots will be removed.
¥ Big Bend Boulevard between Millbrook and Forsyth boulevards to vehicle and pedestrian traffic, after the morning rush hour;
¥ Forsyth from Hoyt Drive to Big Bend, by 3 p.m.;
¥ Big Bend from Forsyth to Wydown boulevards, by 3 p.m.
If the candidates visit the campus earlier in the day, all traffic will be diverted from Forsyth and Millbrook between Big Bend and Skinker boulevards.
Other arrangements include closing the Big Bend entrance to the South 40 on Shepley Drive, with no parking on Shepley to permit two-way traffic from Wydown; restricted access to the Hilltop Campus Oct. 17, with access off Forsyth only onto Hoyt, Houston and Hadley drives and off Millbrook onto Throop Drive; and closing Goldfarb Hall parking lots at 4 p.m. Oct. 17 for an alumni event (cars will be towed if necessary).
Vehicles with special debate parking permits, however, may enter campus after 3 p.m. through a checkpoint at Forsyth and Skinker.
The shuttle service also will curtail its routes Oct. 17: there will be no shuttle between Wohl and Mallinckrodt centers, and the Lewis center route will stop at 12:30 p.m. Shuttle routes will begin and end at the Brookings steps.
The debate Web site offers a section (debate.wustl.edu/traffic.html) with the latest updates on transportation provisions.