Tight Security Planned For Visits

Tight security will accompany this weekend's campus visits by Chinese President Jiang Zemin and U.S. Vice President Al Gore '69.

Annenberg Dining Hall will close and will not serve breakfast to first-years and their parents Saturday morning as part of the security preparations for Jiang's 11 a.m. speech in Sanders Theatre, the University announced yesterday.

And entrance to Harvard Yard all day Saturday will require University identification.

The Chinese President's motorcade is expected to arrive at Harvard between 10:00 and 10:30 Saturday morning, according to published reports of his itinerary.

Gore will begin a campus visit Friday afternoon with a 3 p.m. speech at the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Arco Forum.

To top it all off, more than a thousand first-year parents, including Gore, are expected to flood Harvard Yard for first-year parents' weekend.

The Freshman Dean's Office announced in an e-mail that most of the gates to the Yard will be locked early Saturday "to ensure the Harvard community's access to events scheduled for the Yard and Tercentary [Theatre] that day."

Students will be required to show their Harvard I.D. to Harvard University Police (HUPD) officers who will be manning the open gates.

The parents of first-years will receive special identification when they register in Boylston Hall's Ticknor Lounge Friday and must present it to enter the Yard, the e-mail said.

The visit of the two high-profile dignitaries and first-year parents weekend creates a special set of security and logistical concerns, according to James F. Sloan, the special agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Boston.

The agency is in charge of protecting Gore and visiting heads of state such as Jiang, Sloan said.

Overall, the Secret Service must balance public safety concerns with its need to provide security for "pro- tectees", Sloan said.

"I think it's safe to say that we'll be able to provide the protection we require for the people we protect and still be able to accomodate most if not all of the events of parent's weekend," Sloan said.

The Secret Service, along the HUPD and the Cambridge Police Department are working together on security issues, Sloan said.

Sloan said he hopes any inconvenience to students and parents will be minimal.

"We want the freshmen parents to enjoy their weekend with their sons and daughters at Harvard," he said.

Advance teams began tracing the routes Gore and Jiang will follow during their visit early this week.

Secret Service agents are working closely with the speech's coordinators, Sloan said.

Cambridge Police will seal off Kirkland St. between Oxford St. and Divinity Ave. before--and for the duration of--Jiang's speech. The areas around Lowell Lecture Hall and Gund Hall will also be sealed off.

Access to those zones will be reserved for event ticket holders only, and within those areas, movement will be tightly controlled by the Secret Service and the HUPD.

With regards to Gore, "Our first goal is to be complete and our second goal is to be discreet," Sloan said.

The Kennedy School of Government will be closed from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday for Gore's Secret Service security sweep, according to a KSG press release.

Sloan would not comment on the specifics of the Chinese President's schedule. According to previously published reports, Jiang's visit might include a campus tour. But Joe Wrinn, director of the Harvard News Office, said no such tour was planned.

Jiang's speech Saturday in Sanders Theatre is expected to draw at least several hundred protesters to the steps of Memorial Church and Widener Library in the Yard, according to protest organizers.

Protest organizers said they expect the protests against Jiang to be peaceful.

"If anything were to go beyond that, the Cambridge Police Department [CPD] would be prepared," said Lester J. Sullivan, a department sergeant.

The CPD will station additional officers throughout the city to help move traffic, which usually backs up as motorcades wind their way through the city, Sullivan said.

"Anytime you tie up streets, you could have some major traffic tie-ups," he said.

Additionally, Cambridge police officers will be available to assist HUPD officers throughout the weekend should the need arise, Sullivan said.

HUPD spokesperson Peggy A. McNamara refused to comment yesterday on increased security for Jiang's visit

"I think it's safe to say that we'll be able to provide the protection we require for the people we protect and still be able to accomodate most if not all of the events of parent's weekend," Sloan said.

The Secret Service, along the HUPD and the Cambridge Police Department are working together on security issues, Sloan said.

Sloan said he hopes any inconvenience to students and parents will be minimal.

"We want the freshmen parents to enjoy their weekend with their sons and daughters at Harvard," he said.

Advance teams began tracing the routes Gore and Jiang will follow during their visit early this week.

Secret Service agents are working closely with the speech's coordinators, Sloan said.

Cambridge Police will seal off Kirkland St. between Oxford St. and Divinity Ave. before--and for the duration of--Jiang's speech. The areas around Lowell Lecture Hall and Gund Hall will also be sealed off.

Access to those zones will be reserved for event ticket holders only, and within those areas, movement will be tightly controlled by the Secret Service and the HUPD.

With regards to Gore, "Our first goal is to be complete and our second goal is to be discreet," Sloan said.

The Kennedy School of Government will be closed from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday for Gore's Secret Service security sweep, according to a KSG press release.

Sloan would not comment on the specifics of the Chinese President's schedule. According to previously published reports, Jiang's visit might include a campus tour. But Joe Wrinn, director of the Harvard News Office, said no such tour was planned.

Jiang's speech Saturday in Sanders Theatre is expected to draw at least several hundred protesters to the steps of Memorial Church and Widener Library in the Yard, according to protest organizers.

Protest organizers said they expect the protests against Jiang to be peaceful.

"If anything were to go beyond that, the Cambridge Police Department [CPD] would be prepared," said Lester J. Sullivan, a department sergeant.

The CPD will station additional officers throughout the city to help move traffic, which usually backs up as motorcades wind their way through the city, Sullivan said.

"Anytime you tie up streets, you could have some major traffic tie-ups," he said.

Additionally, Cambridge police officers will be available to assist HUPD officers throughout the weekend should the need arise, Sullivan said.

HUPD spokesperson Peggy A. McNamara refused to comment yesterday on increased security for Jiang's visit