Campus gets ready for Cheney

After a bustling weekend, the Community College of Allegheny County's Boyce Campus is preparing for a visit from Vice President Dick Cheney tonight.

Cheney will be joined by Gov. Tom Ridge, U.S. Sens. Rick Santorum and Arlen Specter, and U.S. Rep. Melissa Hart for a nationally televised town meeting at the Monroeville campus to discuss the Bush administration's national energy plan.

'We are honored to be able to provide the setting for a meeting like this,' said Helen Kaiser, public information officer for CCAC. 'As an educational institution, CCAC is interested in having an open forum for debating issues like this.'

Workers from Pittsburgh-based Chujko Brothers spent Sunday unfurling American flags and bringing bleachers into the campus gymnasium.

Dan Chujko said his crew handles many of the region's political rallies and town halls.

'We're bipartisan. We do this for everyone,' Chujko said.

Campus officials said preparations were right on schedule.

'We pretty much have everything under control,' said Gary Van Horn Jr., director of special projects at Boyce Campus. 'As the host of the event, we are making sure everything is running smoothly.'

Even with the heightened security, classes at the campus - which is in summer session - should not be disrupted, Van Horn said.

Agents from the U.S. Secret Service have been on campus, 'but we can't say much about security preparations,' Kaiser said.

The college was notified Wednesday that the campus would get national exposure, prompting a 'white glove inspection' cleaning before the scheduled 7 p.m. start.

'We are working to make the campus as presentable as possible,' Kaiser said. She did not have cost estimates for preparations.

The invitation-only event will be conducted in the gymnasium, which seats several hundred, Kaiser said.

'The audience is being invited through the governor's office and the vice president,' Kaiser said.

Joan Plollitt of Forest Hills, who was at the Boyce Campus for an outdoor summer music series, said she had not been invited to the town hall meeting - but if she had, she would have liked to participate to hear all the issues discussed.

The energy problem that concerns her most is the cost of gasoline, she said.

Along with the invited guests and the media, security agencies and campus officials anticipate protesters.

Peter Wray, chairman of the Allegheny County Sierra Club, said protesters will conduct a nonviolent demonstration against the Bush administration's energy policy at 5:30 p.m. at the campus.

Wray said the White House plan only addresses short-term problems, such as gasoline prices and rolling blackouts in California.

Instead, the administration needs to focus on long-term issues such as the effect of fossil fuels on the climate and the need to develop alternative energy sources.

Van Horn said campus officials have designated space for the protesters.

Cheney's visit comes on the heels of the Monroeville SummerFest and Monroeville Arts Festival conducted at the campus over the weekend.

'We are very busy,' Kaiser said. 'This weekend was SummerFest and now something new is happening. We are working to make sure our guests are as comfortable as possible.'

Tonight's discussion will center on the need for a long-range national energy policy. The panelists each will speak briefly, then answer energy-related questions.

Cheney headed the committee that drafted the energy plan now working its way through Congress.

This will be Cheney's first visit to Pennsylvania since he and President Bush took office in January. He is scheduled to speak in Philadelphia earlier in the day at the annual meeting of the National Association of Counties.

Karen Zapf can be reached at kzapf@tribweb.com or (412) 380-8522. Ellen James can be reached at ejames@tribweb.com or (724) 779-7123.