Because of Homecoming festivities and visits by Michael Moore and Michael Gallagher this weekend, State College Police and Penn State University Police will be relying on maximum staff to ensure that everything will run smoothly, officials said yesterday.

"We want it to be a safe and festive Homecoming weekend," State College Police Lt. Thomas Hart said.

Police will be closing all parking lots and roads that interfere with the parade route beginning at 5:45 tonight.

University police will be lined up along the parade route on campus, which will include the the intersection of Curtin and Porter roads, which is where the parade begins, and continuing along Bigler and Shortlidge roads.

"We recommend that people be out of the lots and be prepared not to use those routes," University Police Supervisor Dwight Smith said.

However, as the end of the parade passes, police will be reopening one road and lot at a time.

"As soon as we can we're going to open up behind the parade," he added.

Some areas downtown will also be closed because of the parade, said State College Police officer Jeff Chiston.

Because the parade will follow along College Avenue, westbound traffic will be detoured until the end of the parade, Chiston said.

After the parade, conservative talk-show host Michael Gallagher and liberal filmmaker Michael Moore will be speaking at 9 in 100 Thomas and 9:30 in the BJC, respectively.

Although university police are not sure what will happen with three events on the same night, they are confident they have a sufficient number of staff members working if any situations were to arise.

"We are going to prepare for the worst and hope for the best," Smith said.

Since many alumni will be in town for the weekend in addition to the large student body, police expect it to be a very active weekend, Hart said.

"We know there will be a lot of alcohol consumption and we'll be ready for those situations," Smith said.

Hart said the department's problem comes when people "overindulge" in alcohol and do not drink responsibly.

However, he added that most alumni are coming back to socialize and see old friends, while students just want to enjoy the weekend.

"Ninety-nine percent of people, whether alumni or students, come here and act responsibly and are respective; a very few percent give a black eye to everybody," Hart said.

Both State College police and university police will be patrolling the streets throughout the weekend.

When police have additional personnel on duty, such as this weekend, they consider having strong enforcement in one of their four main areas of traffic, drug, alcohol or DUI, Hart said.

"We want to effectively be proactive in our enforcement," he said.

With more than 100,000 fans expected to fill the stands at tomorrow's football game against Iowa, most university police officers will be focused on patrolling the game, Smith said.

However, he said he does not think there will be too many problems.

"From a behavior standpoint, a noon kickoff is less problematic ... but traffic is going to be a real problem for us," Smith said.

University police will be redirecting people to alternative parking areas from this afternoon through the football game tomorrow.

"People are going to have to be patient and allow themselves to be redirected to unknown areas and detours," Smith said.