ANITA HILL EXPECTED TO DRAW 800 TO ANNUAL KING BREAKFAST

Organizers of the 10th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast thought Anita Hill might be a good draw. They just didn't know how good.

By the close of business Friday, 785 tickets had been sold for the Monday morning breakfast at the Show Me Center and Southeast Missouri State University staff were projecting an attendance of 830, a record for the annual event.

Tickets won't be sold at the door Monday.

It also was announced Friday that Iran Contra figure Oliver North will speak at the Show Me Center Feb. 21 at 7 p.m..

North, who lost a heated U.S. Senate race in Virginia, was a last-minute replacement for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas canceled a Feb. 10 visit that will be rescheduled for the fall semester.

The College Republicans will sponsor North's visit. Several of the university's colleges and the president's office are sponsoring Hill's visit.

The College Republicans will ask Student Government to reallocate $10,000 in student fee funds to pay for North's visit.

Students pay an activity fee. The revenue is allocated through Student Government to fund various campus activities.

The $10,000 originally had been budgeted for the College Republicans to bring in Colin Powell. But plans were dropped because it would have cost $60,000 to bring in the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The heavy demand for tickets to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast caught the event's organizers off guard.

The breakfast, which honors the slain civil rights leader, has traditionally drawn about 300 to 400 people. Last year, 100 people turned out despite a winter storm that blanketed the area in snow and ice.

"People want to see Anita Hill," Campus Assistance Center Assistant Director Debra Mitchell-Braxton said. The center handled the ticket sales.

Hill sparked nationwide controversy with her sexual harassment allegations against Thomas during his Supreme Court nomination hearings.

Her speech Monday will focus on "Race and Gender Issues of the '90s."

"This is exciting," Assistance Center Director Judy St. John said as she and her staff scrambled to meet ticket demand.

Morrison's Hospitality Group, which operates the school's food service, had to make some last-minute moves to stock additional food for the event.

Morrison's shipped in some supplies by truck from Chicago and St. Louis, and additional items like paper napkins are scheduled to be sent to the local food service manager by Federal Express today.

Meanwhile, Show Me Center crews were preparing for a long weekend.

A gymnastics meet was held Friday night. An indoor soccer tournament will be held today and Sunday.

The tournament will end at 9 p.m. Sunday, and beginning around midnight crews will start setting up for the breakfast.

"If somebody has insomnia, they can come up and talk to us. We will be here," Show Me Center Director David Ross said.

The doors will open at 7:30 a.m. Monday, with the breakfast officially scheduled to begin at 8.

The assistance center saw a steady stream of people Friday, who stopped to get tickets.

"We closed at 4:30 but people were running in the door to get their tickets," St. John said.

Students were able to use their meal plan vouchers to get free tickets. Tickets for the general public cost $6.25 each.

Some area businesses purchased large blocks of tickets.