December 12, 2003

Media Advisory

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- This is the most current information regarding the funeral for former Sen. Paul Simon on Sunday, Dec. 14, at the Southern Illinois University Arena. There have been some changes since our last advisory on Thursday, Dec. 11, so please read the following information.

Doors to the Arena for members of the media will open at 9 a.m. Signs will direct you to the media entrance on the upper level on the southwest side of the building. You will be asked to show a press pass and sign in, and will then be given a media credential for the service. If you exit the Arena prior to the service, you must re-enter at the same entrance and show your credential. Access to the Arena will be restricted, and certain areas will be designated for the media. Please be in place by 12:15 p.m., which is 15 minutes before doors open to the general public.

There may be a security sweep sometime Sunday morning. If so, everyone will be asked to leave the building.

Television trucks may be parked only on the concrete pad on the upper level on the west side of the Arena. The available window for parking trucks is 7 to 9 a.m. Sunday, and staff from this office will be outside the Arena to direct you beginning at 7 a.m. No trucks will be allowed to park after 9 a.m.

Speakers during the service will include: Former President Bill Clinton, Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich; former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson from Wyoming; Abner Mikva, a former federal judge who served in the Illinois House with Simon; Pam Huey, a former student and Simon staff member; U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy from Massachusetts; former SIU Trustee William Norwood; Illinois Attorney General and former Simon staff member Lisa Madigan; and U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois.

Burial will be private.

SIUC will uplink live television coverage of the funeral, which begins at 1:30 p.m. The video feed will offer multi-camera coverage in its entirety without graphics.

Two audio feeds will be available:

Audio on 6.2 will contain the entire service with commentary by Jak Tichenor of WSIU-TV and Jeff Williams of WSIU Public Radio.

Audio on 6.8 will be a clean feed of the entire service without commentary. For stations wishing to add name keys, a list of those participating in the service will be available as soon as details have been finalized.

Uplink information:

Uplink Ð SBS 6, transponder 4, audio 6.2-6.8 (downlink frequency Ð 11798 mhz)

14:00-14:30 ET Ð Test

14:30-16:30 ET Ð Funeral-no hard out time. Length may vary from 1 1/2 to two hours.

A video/audio mult-box will be available.

For more information on the uplink, contact Robert Henderson, WSIU-TV operations manager, at 618/453-6191.

The trouble number on the day of the feed is 618/525-0782.