The keepers of the Academy Award
winners break in a rookie this year
Garrison, Rosas and Oltmanns have a meticulous
routine for tallying votes, which takes three days
BY BETH HARRIS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.—The keep
ers of Hollywood's 24 biggest secrets
shrink from the spotlight and wouldn't
dream of name-dropping in a town
thatthrives on gossip.
What fun is that?
Of course, the ability to stay quiet
makes Greg Garrison, Rick Rosas and
Brad Oltmanns the ideal keepers of
the hush-hush information that can
catapult a career.
Their secrets? The winners of the
Academy Awards.
The three accountants will know
who's going home with Oscar a full
48 hours before the envelopes are
opened on the Feb. 27 telecast.
Usuallyjusttwo of them know, but
PricewaterhouseCoopers is breaking
in a rookie this year. Oltmanns, a
24-year employee, is joining veterans
Rosas and Garrison on the ballot
team. Garrison is working his last Os
cars before transferring to the firm's
New York office.
Besides the winners, the trio have
another secretthey must keep—this
one forever: Who came in second in
each category. Some years, races
have been decided by a single vote.
"There have been some very close
elections, but we don’ttell anybody,
so the academy doesn't know and
they like it that way,” he said.
The firm boasts it hasn't had a
security breach in 71 years of
tabulating one of the world's most
anticipated contests.
One ofthe reasons is that each of
the 5,808 ballots mailed to academy
members Feb. 2 contains a control
number that corresponds to the
voting member.
If a voter's ba Hot is lost or stolen —
it happened in 2000—they report itto
the academy. Their control number is
voided and a new ballot with a differ
ent control number is sent out.
"If somebody was trying to print up
duplicate ballots and then mail them
in, we'd know," Garrison said.
Ballots are due at Pricewater
houseCoopers' office by 5 p.m. on
Feb. 22.
And if one arrives at 5:01?
"We'll still take the ballot. There's
no need to have a scene in our lobby,"
Garrison said. "But when we count
them, we're going to push it aside."
No hanging chad here; Oscarvot
ers make their selections using pencil,
pen or in one case, according to
Rosas, a crayon.
Neatness counts, too.
"If it’s a case where wecan'ttell
who they're trying to vote for, we
won't count that vote in that catego
ry," Rosas said. "We're not here to in
terpret orto make a judgment call."
In an era of worrisome electronic
voting, Oscar has a better idea: Each
step of the tabulating process is done
by hand, atthe academy's insistence.
"None of this information is in
computers where it can be hacked
out at anytime," academy Executive
Director Bruce Davis said.
Garrison, Rosas and Oltmannstake
three days to count the final ballots,
finishing the Friday before the Sunday
night show. They tabulate in a se
cured, windowless conference room
— psst, at a secret location—just big
enough to contain them, a few care
fully chosen assistants and 5,808
pieces of paper.
On the day of the show, accompa
nied by tuxedo-clad Los Angeles po
lice officers, the men take separate
routes to the Kodak Theatre carrying
briefcases containing two sets of en
velopes with the winners' names.
He and his colleagues memorize
the winning movies in each category
in case of any goofs by star presen
ters. Like when Sharon Stone acci
dentally sent an unopened envelope
off with a previous winnerand was
left without anything to say.
So what happens to the unused en
velopes atthe end of the show?
Some are given to winners as sou
venirs; others wind up in Garrison's
briefcase until he opens itthe next
year to putin a new set.
"I've actually got a bunch of them
at my house," he confessed.
During the Oscar show, Garrison
and Oltmanns have to stand in the
wings forthree-plus hours, handing
their envelopes to presenters
before they walkout.
"You getto see some really neat
moments backstage as a winner
comes off," Garrison said. "The
presenters are very nervous before
they go on."
IL_
MCDONALD THEATRE
'OKI
SALE
nom
Featuring
BARRY
FLANAGAN
and
NATHAN
AWEAU
THUR
FEB
10
ALL
AGES
Reserved
Seating
7 PM DRS
| S«oting |
Join Us At
THE LOUNGE
This Friday For
Fabulous Cocktails
And A Chance To Win
i of 2 Pairs of
Papa Roach
Tickets/
THE LOUNGE
www.mcdonaldtheatre.com
Tickets Now ONLINE from McDonald Theatre Web Site
And at all ifcketsWest outlets <800) 992-TIXX Service charges may apply
First half of ‘Hitch’ good
for a few laughs, last half
loses a lot of momentum
Smith's transition to a romantic comedy is a rocky one,
but the Valentine holiday weekend will help boost sales
BY DAVID GERMAIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Will Smith waited a long time to
bring his bottomless charisma to a ro
mantic comedy. He should have waited
longer, at least until the many hitches
were ironed out of "Hitch," an occa
sionally cute trifle that had all the ingre
dients to be a great date flick.
Instead, "Hitch" offers a few laughs
and the odd smarter-than-average ro
mantic exchange between Smith and
co-star Eva Mendes before veering
into a foolish plot conflictthat drains all
credibility and chokes whatever good
will the movie built up in its first half.
Smith's Alex "Hitch" Hitchens is a
professional Manhattan "date doc
tor," a master at hooking up geeks
with mates seemingly light years out
of their reach. Hitch only takes on de
cent guys as clients, men who will
treat a woman like a queen through a
lifetime of commitment. And while he
does coach his pupils through Cyrano
de Bergerac-like pretense, there is no
malicious deceit involved.
For all his optimism on others' behalf,
Hitch has closed himself off to the
prospect of romance because of a
painful love affair that left him crying in
the rain years earlier. An awkward
flashback presents the story, which
lacks conviction as to why such a self
assured man cannot rebound from a
garden-variety heartbreak.
When Hitch finally meets his own
dream woman, gossip columnist Sara
Melas (Mendes), she turns out to be as
cynical about personal romance as he.
Hitch's ploys to catch Sara's eye, and
the clever but calamitous first date he
plans, offer some refreshing moments
in the tired boy-meets-girl genre.
The movie quickly loses momen
tum as "Hitch" begins to wallow in
romantic mush. And ratherthan let
ting the story develop authentically
from Hitch and Sara's innate resist
ance to intimacy, the filmmakers try
to forcibly inject dramatic friction by
creating professional discord be
tween the lovers.
Far more engaging is the undercard
romance involving Hitch's lovelorn-ac
countant client Albert Brennaman
("King of Queens" star Kevin James), a
meek, tubby accountant smitten by
beautiful heiress Allegra Cole (Amber
Valletta). James displays wonderful
flairfor broad physical comedy while
instilling depth and pathos into a char
acter that on the page would read as a
one-dimensional loser. Valletta like
wise makes Amber's passion for this
portly nobody believable.
Because this is a Will Smith flick,
and a romance opening over Valen
tine's weekend to boot, audiences will
jam theaters for "Hitch." But it's a
shaky transition from action movies to
love stories for Smith.
University of Oregon
Athletic Department
Teamwork Internship
Positions Available
Become a member of the Oregon
Athletic Department
021442
Gain valuable experience in:
• Project Management
• Recruiting process of student
athletes
• Marketing
• Graphic and Layout Design
• Event Planning
There will be an informational meeting on Wednesday
February 16th in the football theater located on the
2nd floor of the Casanova Center (next to Autzen
Stadium). Meeting will start at 7:00 PM.
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE
Pick up your application in the football office on the
2nd floor at the Casanova Center. Interviews will be
held February 21 - February 25, 2005.You can sign up
for your inerview time when you pick up your
application.
APPLICATION DEADLINE IS FEBRUARY 18,2005 BY 5PM
! UNIVERSITY OF ORECON