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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1985)
Oregon daily emera The cold, hard lads See Friday Edition Friday. June 7, 1985 Eugene. Oregon Volume 86, Number 170 Low ticket sales halt Hult performances By Michael Duncan Of Um KarnM The cancellation of singer/songwriter John Prine’s performance cornea moat re cent on a liat of national artists who have pulled out of performances at Eugene's Hult Center, increasing concern among promoters about the community’s sup port of the arts. Entertainment promoters agree it is difficult to sell advance tickets and thus speculate on the success of a show, but differ on the reasons why. ’i think it's a combination of factors," said Carol Baker Tharp, marketing coor dinator for the Hult ('.enter. “Eugene is still suffering horn the recession, it has been income tax time for the last few months, and situations specific to each of the performers’ appearances all con tribute to the cancellations of some performances.” National artists who have canceled performances since the beginning of the year include magician David Copper field in February, pianist Haskel Small in March, comedian Joan Rivers in April, and John Prine, who on Tuesday backed out of his performance scheduled for tonight. • Waitin’ for the sun Connie Tyler and Carol Scheeff optimistically wait for the sun in front of Stafford Hall dormitory Thursday afternoon. "We hope by the end of finals week we'll have sun,'", Tyler said. If all else fails, they are considering the possibility of a tanning salon. . Despite the lack of sunshine, the students said sitting in the rain was a good’ way to ward off the pressures of Dead Week. .... " . • Photo by Karen Stallwood Advance ticket sales are the key in dication of how well a show will be at tended and are very important for pro moters who must constantly re-evaluate the risks involved with low ticket sales and the high overhead of organizing a show. In every case of the performers cancel- • ing their Hult Center shows this year, the reason was simply lack of advance ticket sales that made the risk of not 'making a profit — or at least breaking even — too bi8h- ... •..• " •Forrest Faubion/ promoter’ of the canceled Rrine and guest Danny O’Keefe . performance,.’ sees ’thirijgs a little .dif-’ •ferently. than Tharp.. . . ’ .• * • • "Eugene’ans have developed a pattern • of .‘wait and see’ on ticket purchasing,” Faubion said..“If l.vyereto-ldy blarpe.on • any single reason for .the .cancellation, it is the Eugene public's procrastinating on ' buying tickets. . It’s- almost’ become. a. game.” . •» • Promoting .entertainment ,ife very speculative business, and the lack of .ad1 vance ticket- sales irt: Eifgene .has’ lead Faubipn.’ to take his .future shows to Portland. ;. -. ’ VJt’s very rare that .I’ll do another-show, in" this town, even though 1 live here, ” • he said. “We have a world-class facility, but people don’t' buy. advance tickets. Forme, it’s just not worth it.”. . Tharp agrees that Eugpneans do tend to hold out’fro.m buying advance tickets,, but notes'that sometimes the performers themselves■ can' add to the problem.; In the. case- of' the- canceled Joan-.Rivers' show, advance tickets, sale's were strong and indicated a near ^capacity crowd, but Rivers backed out .three day's before the performance because she doesn’t per- ‘ .form-', for *•”anything but sold-out houses'. ’ ’• Tharp.said." ; • . • • •-What to do.about the problem is, as Tharp put it,' ”the question of the hour.” Her major concern for this year- is to organize an information campaign to ' promote an understanding of how the entertainment., industry works, . with special emphasis on. the importance of the role the audience plays in regards to. advance ticket sales. Therapy usual fate of child abuser, victim By Cynthia Whitfield Of th« Emerald Editor's Note: This is the last article in a three-part series on child abuse in Oregon. Once child abuse investigators determine a child is in danger of further abuse, the Children's Services Divi sion and police officers intervene by separating the abused child from the abuser until mandatory counsel ing and/or legal action is completed. The preferred course of action is to keep the child at home and remove the abuser. But some mothers are unsympathetic to their chiidern. ‘ They are angry with the child for 'opening her big mouth’ and complain about having to go on welfare because of the partial or total loss of the abuser's in come." says Sgt. Steve Egeter of the Springfield Police Department. In these cases, the mother will sometimes decide to keep the abuser at home instead uf the child, and the child is placed with relatives or in foster care, says Faye Lindemann-Taylor, manager of sexual abuse programs in Salem. Although child abuse is against the law, the perpetrator often avoids a jail sentence by attending mandatory court-ordered treatment sessions. CSD con ducts separate counseling programs for the abuser, the non-abusive parent (usually the mother) and the child. Although the abuser is supposed to pay for the child's treatment, "that doesn’t mean he will,” Lindemann Taylor says. Counselors employ a variety of techniques during therapy, including aversion conditioning — simultaneously pairing scenes of childern with electric shock or noxious smells — and "teaching positive sex uality,” Lindemann-Taylor says. If the abuser successfully completes the program, family therapy will usually follow. If all goes well, the family is reunited in the home. The entire process takes an average of 27 months to complete, she says. However, some abusers are not good candidates for therapy. "When a man admits he abused the child but con tinues to insist it's OK to do it, therapy is usually un successful,” Lindemann-Taylor says. Because the treatment program is only four years old, conclusive data on the long-term success of the treatment programs are unavailable, she adds. The more violent abusers are immediately arrested and jailed, Lindemann-Taylor says. "They usually do six or seven months in jail and then are put on parole. Often these men get no treatment and the abuse may start all over again,” she says. In other cases, violent abusers are put into the custody of corrections and then sent to the state hospital for prolonged treatment. "We’re in the midst of expanding the treatment programs for mothers and kids, but there are many kids who live too far away from treatment centers to attend the sessions,” Lindemann-Taylor says, adding that help is needed to transport children to and from the treatment centers. , / In the meantime, most elementary school children in Eugene and Springfield have been visited in their classrooms by child abuse educators. “SCAR (Springfield Child Abuse Resources) has done in-service education and training programs for the Springfield school district. The children are taught three steps: to say ‘no’ to anyone who tries to make sex ual contact with them, to leave the room or house, and to tell someone they trust about it. The formula is no, go, tell,” says Linda Christensen, co-founder of SCAR. But children not yet in school may not receive this message unless taught by other adults, Christensen says, and in most cases, it is up to the adults in contact with these young children to be alert to signs of abuse. Possible indications of abuse include sudden, unaccountable behavior changes, a more sophisticated knowledge of sex than seems appropriate for the child’s age, withdrawal, depression, and a simple unwill ingness to go home. “We’re taking a stronger look at abuse,” Egeter says. "The system is beginning to wake up. If you’re an abuser, we'll deal with you sharply.”
