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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1976)
Surface and Symbol The Emerald's weekly art and entertainment supplement ^ April 1,1976 Jenifer Blumberg’s last trip Backstage with the EM U Cultural Forum Ed Note - Jennifer Blum berg, former editor of Surface and Symbol, resigned her position at the end of last term. She wrote the following story as a parting gift. The world of show biz — rubbing elbows with the celebrities, setting up interviews for McCoy Tyner, driving out to the airport to pick up George Carlin, running through a sound check with Chuck Mangione. Sound like a soft job? Ah, but there is more to the role of spon sonng a performance than working with the star(s) of the show. A lot more. Just ask Cultural Forum members Sue or Garret or Jim, Frank or Rick. But don’t ask them a week before a particular perfor mance or for about two days afterward (post-performance letdown — a time for unwinding, recovenng and either rejoicing or trying to figure out why that particular group or person did not sell tickets.) They II tell you about the phone calls that were placed, the contracts that were read and re-read and finally signed, the hassles that were endured. Arid the disappointment of a last-minute cancellation is an ever present possibility. Cultural Forum is a division of the EMU Program Office, and is divided into five categories: Contemporary Issues, Folk Music and Jazz, Film and Literature, Popu lar Music and Performing Arts. The office is usually hopping. Walk into the Suite 2 of the EMU on a day in the middle of a particularly heavily programmed week and: The first face you'll most likely encounter is the smiling one belonging to Shelby Fer guson, who is more than a secretary, and more than the ‘‘administrative assistant" her title says she is. Shelby is the one who takes care of forgotten details, gives moral support and contributes the enthusiasm that ties the office together At the desk next to Shelby's is Ned Shaf fer, whose job title is Program Consultant. Ned will probably be munching on granola or a whole wheat bread sandwich, and of fering support or advice (if it’s asked for) to whomever he is taking to. Ned offers the invaluable attribute of experience. Having held his position for three years, Ned knows the ropes But you'll never find him being heavy-handed or even attempiing to control — he lets the students run the show, for he has faith in their abilities and their potential to learn by doing. Bits of conversation overheard in Prog ram office: "Shelby, are the posters back from the printer's yet?" “Double Tee is on line two, Jim. They want you to go 90-10 on a concert." "I can t read the tiny type in this con tract!" "That promoter is driving me nuts!" "Shelby, is the Ballroom available on the 9th?" "Sue, that folk group from Seattle you wanted is interested. ” "Shelby, have the films from Warner Bros, arrived yet?" "Ned, how do I get ahold of this guy s booking agent?" Since it is up to the heads of the individual Cultural Forum divisions to make the final decision on who University of Oregon stu dents will bring to campus during the school year, you might like to know a little bit about who these persons are, and what they've done so far. RICK WORTHINGTON, Contemporary Issues — Rick is working toward his Ph D. in political science, and brought Buckmins ter Fuller and Stanley Aronowitz, among others, to campus this school year. Rick's job is to invite speakers in the field of poli tics, government, social issues, interna tional and human relations and education. There is usually no admission charged to hear these guest lecturers. SUE NORDQUIST, Folk Music and Jazz —Sue is a junior in history and Italian. Her "biggie4 of the year is the Wil lamette Valley Folk Festival, which is com ing up soon — May 20, 21 and 22. Sue helped put on the successful Festival last year, and has been working on this year s Festival for months. GARRETT SMITH, Film and Literature — Garrett is a GTF in the broadcasting department, and is working towards his master's degree. Besides scheduling and ordering the Cultural Forum Films each term, Garrett brought such notables to campus is W. Eugene Smith, Linwood Dunn, and independent filmmakers Lenny Lipton and John Teton. JIM REINKING, Popular Concerts — Jim is a senior in music, specializing in percus sion instruments. This is his second year in the position of planning popular concerts. Jim is responsible for bringing a lot of fine jazz musicians (Chuck Mangione, Stanley Turrentine) as well as Janis Ian and Dan Fogelberg. FRANK GELTNER, Performing Arts — Frank is getting his doctorate in theatre, and is a GTF in the department. Frank has brought such varied and distinguished tal ent as the Human Dancing Company, George Carlin, the Theatre of the Open Eye and the Elizabethan Trio. The perform ing arts division covers the visual arts, dance, theatre and art exhibitions. Cultural Forum is funded by student money. Any profit made by a performance or production goes back into bringing more talent of that kind. The fact that students working for Cul tural Forum do not get paid for their work comes as a surprise to many persons, especially after seeing how many hours re quired by the jobs. But each person has an expertise and an interest in the area he or she is working in, and the hard work-just sort of follows naturally. The program office is a student service, and your suggestions are welcome. If there is a certain act or group you’d like to see here, talk to someone in the office about it. The next performance you see may be your own. And if you belong to an organization interested in sponsoring a film, the film catalogs in Program Office are av ailable for you to look through. If any of the Cultural Forum positions ap peal to you, and you plan on having a lot of time and energy next year, you might pick up an application for next year’s positions in EMU Suite 2. The world of tinsel and glitter — and hard work — could be waitinq for you.
