California IN BRIEF : STANFORD : Ticket Sales for University’s 100th Birthday Bash Slow

What if Stanford University threw itself a 100th birthday bash and nobody came? It’s not quite that bad, but a year of negative publicity has apparently taken its toll on the upcoming Stanford Centennial Stadium Spectacular. One week before the party that climaxes a year of celebration, Stanford officials are faced with 26,500 unsold tickets. Planners hope last-minute sales, discounts and a crush of 13,000 newly arrived students will help fill some of the empty stadium seats. Gary Cavalli, whose firm is promoting the stadium event, said the recession and the decision to hold the event on a Monday night may have slowed sales of the $25 general admission tickets, in addition to the bad publicity Stanford has received recently. He expects 30,000 to 40,000 people to attend. The scheduled entertainment lineup includes Whoopi Goldberg, the Doobie Brothers, Joan Baez and Bobby McFerrin. Ted Koppel will be host of the event. Stanford has suffered from a series of scandals in the past year, including an ongoing research overbilling controversy, the resignation of a woman surgeon who charged rampant sexual harassment before deciding to stay on the faculty of the medical school to try to improve the atmosphere, and allegations of plagiarism.