ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University officials, alerted by reports of animal rumblings in Rand Hall, have issued a dragon-warning and road-closure alert for the campus on Thursday, March 14.

Vehicular access to central campus will be restricted from 1 p.m. to approximately 3:30 p.m., and buses could be rerouted or delayed for the annual emergence of the dragon. This year is the 101st Dragon Day, in which first-year students in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning build and parade a dragon through campus.

As it passes the Engineering Quad, currently the construction site of Duffield Hall, the dragon will be greeted by a rising phoenix, built by engineering students.

The dragon will leave its lair in Rand Hall at approximately 1 p.m. and travel east on University Avenue, then south on East Avenue, then west on Campus Road. It will lumber through Ho Plaza and enter the Arts Quad between Uris and Olin libraries, before proceeding to the south side of Rand Hall.

Cornell Police and Environmental Health and Safety officials urge members of the campus community to enjoy Dragon Day in a safe fashion. Participants are asked not to engage in behavior that might result in injury to themselves or others.

A map of the planned route can be seen at http://www.aff.cornell.edu/maps/dragonday.gif . For the latest information, see http://www.cornell.edu/SpecialConditions/ .

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EDITORS: Photographers will be allowed into the Duffield Hall construction site to record the phoenix rising and greeting the dragon. Please contact Linda Grace-Kobas at 255-4206 for special instructions.