[NEohioPAL]Friday section auditions

[DanielGreatLakes at aol.com]

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I will personally miss the audition section in the Friday PD very much.  I 
have advised countless amateurs and professionals, students and adults alike, to 
seek out the Friday section for the most comprehensive audition listings in 
our community, and considered our town fortunate to have this valuable resource 
in our paper of record.  It is certainly true that the readership of these 
listings are a finite group, and perhaps our comparatively small number has 
doomed our cause.  Out of the PD's daily readership of one million people, I 
cannot say with any degree of accuracy how many read the audition section each 
Friday, nor can I derive how many readers of any given section make that section 
of PD print viable in the opinion of the paper's editors.

But I do know that many of the individuals who utilized the audition section 
were not only our professional actors and artists, but students in our 
community seeking further artistic experiences beyond those available in their given 
school systems.  When schools lose funding, the arts often are the first to 
receive cuts.  A cursory glance at the failed school levies last week may 
provide a vague idea of how well our schools are faring.  Some students must seek 
outside opportunities to maintain an involvement in the theater, and the 
audition notices in the Friday section are an invaluable tool in doing just that.

The PD is Ohio's largest newspaper.  It is available to many students through 
their school libraries.  There are over 563,000 high school students in this 
state.  There are an additional 438,000 in the middle school grades.  Some of 
these children have a broad interest in theater, or are just learning acquire 
one, and encouraging their readership of the Friday PD is, in my opinion, an 
excellent way to broaden their horizons on the opportunities available in our 
community, whether or not they chose to partake in these opportunities.  It 
serves an educational as well as a practical purpose.

If it comes down to an accountant's argument of number of readers per square 
inch of copy, the decision may irreversible.  But if the opinions of we few, 
we happy few, hold any merit, please consider the following:  Ohio's school 
children are diverse in nature, and cultivating their interest in auditioning for 
plays is not without value.  There are children in Joint Vocational School 
Districts, City, Exempted Village, and Local Districts, Community Schools, 
State-Supported Schools with Special-Purpose Programs, including Boards of Mental 
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and State Supported Schools.  There 
are Associations of Christian Schools, Catholic Conference of Ohio Schools, 
Cleveland Lutheran High School Association Schools, Jewish Education Center of 
Cleveland Schools, Lutheran Schools of Ohio, Ohio Association of Independent 
Schools, Orthodox Christian Schools of NE Ohio, Seventh-day Adventist Ohio 
Conference and Independent Schools.  Ohio's largest newspaper has the potential to 
reach them all, even those without Internet access.  Ohio's largest newspaper 
provides an educational and informative service with its audition listings 
unavailable to this constituency elsewhere.

I have no doubt the editors have excellent plans for the space created by 
this decision.  I am no conspiracy theorist, suspecting an anti-arts movement in 
the media.  I actually look forward to seeing the fine work that will soon 
appear in the new section.  I only wish the good that is sure to come was not 
earned at the expense of the newly dispatched audition section.

Those audition notices were put in the Friday section for a reason.  I'm 
curious to know how and when that reason changed.

Please reconsider this decision.

With respect,
Daniel Hahn
Berea, Ohio

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<HTML><FONT FACE=3Darial,helvetica><HTML><FONT  SIZE=3D3 PTSIZE=3D12 FAMILY=
=3D"SERIF" FACE=3D"Times New Roman" LANG=3D"0">I will personally miss the au=
dition section in the Friday PD very much.  I have advised countless am=
ateurs and professionals, students and adults alike, to seek out the Friday=20=
section for the most comprehensive audition listings in our community, and c=
onsidered our town fortunate to have this valuable resource in our paper of=20=
record.  It is certainly true that the readership of these listings are=
 a finite group, and perhaps our comparatively small number has doomed our c=
ause.  Out of the PD's daily readership of one million people, I cannot=
 say with any degree of accuracy how many read the audition section each Fri=
day, nor can I derive how many readers of any given section make that sectio=
n of PD print viable in the opinion of the paper's editors.<BR>
<BR>
But I do know that many of the individuals who utilized the audition section=
 were not only our professional actors and artists, but students in our comm=
unity seeking further artistic experiences beyond those available in their g=
iven school systems.  When schools lose funding, the arts often are the=
 first to receive cuts.  A cursory glance at the failed school levies l=
ast week may provide a vague idea of how well our schools are faring. =20=
Some students must seek outside opportunities to maintain an involvement in=20=
the theater, and the audition notices in the Friday section are an invaluabl=
e tool in doing just that.<BR>
<BR>
The PD is Ohio's largest newspaper.  It is available to many students t=
hrough their school libraries.  There are over 563,000 high school stud=
ents in this state.  There are an additional 438,000 in the middle scho=
ol grades.  Some of these children have a broad interest in theater, or=
 are just learning acquire one, and encouraging their readership of the Frid=
ay PD is, in my opinion, an excellent way to broaden their horizons on the o=
pportunities available in our community, whether or not they chose to partak=
e in these opportunities.  It serves an educational as well as a practi=
cal purpose.<BR>
<BR>
If it comes down to an accountant's argument of number of readers per square=
 inch of copy, the decision may irreversible.  But if the opinions of w=
e few, we happy few, hold any merit, please consider the following:  Oh=
io's school children are diverse in nature, and cultivating their interest i=
n auditioning for plays is not without value.  There are children in Jo=
int Vocational School Districts, City, Exempted Village, and Local Districts=
, Community Schools, State-Supported Schools with Special-Purpose Programs,=20=
including Boards of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, and S=
tate Supported Schools.  There are Associations of Christian Schools, C=
atholic Conference of Ohio Schools, Cleveland Lutheran High School Associati=
on Schools, Jewish Education Center of Cleveland Schools, Lutheran Schools o=
f Ohio, Ohio Association of Independent Schools, Orthodox Christian Schools=20=
of NE Ohio, Seventh-day Adventist Ohio Conference and Independent Schools.&n=
bsp; Ohio's largest newspaper has the potential to reach them all, even thos=
e without Internet access.  Ohio's largest newspaper provides an educat=
ional and informative service with its audition listings unavailable to this=
 constituency elsewhere.<BR>
<BR>
I have no doubt the editors have excellent plans for the space created by th=
is decision.  I am no conspiracy theorist, suspecting an anti-arts move=
ment in the media.  I actually look forward to seeing the fine work tha=
t will soon appear in the new section.  I only wish the good that is su=
re to come was not earned at the expense of the newly dispatched audition se=
ction.<BR>
<BR>
Those audition notices were put in the Friday section for a reason.  I'=
m curious to know how and when that reason changed.<BR>
<BR>
Please reconsider this decision.<BR>
<BR>
With respect,<BR>
Daniel Hahn<BR>
Berea, Ohio<BR>
</FONT></HTML>
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