The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 330

LOS ANGELES TIMES WASHINGTON EDITION WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1992 B1 1 FLEE: Latino Migrants Continued from BIO about 10,000 Latinos make (heir home in this city, many of them migrants from Mexico, Central and South America. At St. Paschal Baylon Catholic Church, the Latino congregation has risen from a few hundred families to more than 1,000. says Yvette Renner, who coordinates the church's Latino ministry. The migrants form mini -enclaves in low-rent apartment complexes or on single blocks in modest neighborhoods.

In Thousand Oaks, one complex on Warwick Street is widely known as "The Yucatan Peninsula" because there are hundreds of migrants from that southeastern Mexican state. Across town, a two-square block north of the Ventura Freeway has been dubbed "Tijuan-ita." Many migrants must live together because the rents are much higher than in Los Angeles. Two-bedroom apartments in the shabbier areas of Thousand Oaks range from $650 to $900. "We all live together because I don't earn enough to live alone," says Mario Cano, 37, from Pachuca, Mexico. He earns $5 an hour at a nursery and shares a room in a two-bedroom apartment on Warwick Street with a brother and six other men.

The unit rents for $900. Many migrants glide around town on bicycles because public transportation is lacking. Unlike more urban areas, many newer communities are built with only the auto in mind. Jose Gonzales, 32, of Durango, arrived here two years ago from Pico-Union. He began bicycling to work at an assembly plant cross town, but the 6-mile ride would take an hour from his apartment in the Westlake area of Thousand Oaks.

When it rains, Gonzales must walk a half-mile to the bus stop and wait for the Thousand Oaks transit system's hourly run. "I can't go shopping for a lot food, because I have no way to carry it," he says. "One day, I got sick and none of my friends had a JOSE GALVEZ Los Angeles Times Not only are outer suburbs, such as Thousand Oaks, safer, say Latino immigrants, the rural scenery reminds them of home. SEX: Teens Continued from B10 these days, boys just can't be trusted. You can go to a party, not plan to have sex, but do it anyway.

I know people that's happened to." Many teen-age girls echo Mary's worry that they will find themselves about to have sex without protection. And they frequently find that the responsibility for birth control is theirs. "Historically, women have always worried more about birth control than men, since pregnancy is more of a burning issue for women," Hatziyannis said. Frequently, boys assume that their partners will take care of birth control. Sergio, 16, who has been sexually active for five years with six girls, said he certainly assumed it.

"I was young then, and I didn't know much about sex, so how could I know about protection?" asked the senior at Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles. "And I wasn't the one who could get pregnant, either. He started using condoms two years ago after his mother persuaded him to become involved on a Planned Parenthood teen advisory board. "Now 1 know the facts, and I know how to be responsible," he said. Three school districts in Los Angeles County Culver City Unified, Los Angeles Unified School and Santa Monica-Malibu make condoms available to students on campus, according to Susan Lordi, consultant for school health programs for Los Angeles County Office of Education.

"Buying a condom in a drug store is not illegal for youngsters, but it is embarrassing and difficult," said Shel Erlich, spokesman for the Los Angeles district, which requires parental consent for condoms. "The fact that they) are available on campus makes it easier for students, and if it reduces the risk of HIV, STDs and pregnancy, it's worth it." Although students who request condoms from schools also receive a message urging abstinence, schools need to do more to educate teens about reproductive issues, said Diana Juarez, project coordinator for Los Angeles High School's health clinic, one of three school-based clinics in the Los Angeles district. "Most schools don't teach teens the skills to say no to sex or to practice safe sex by showing them how to use a condom," Juarez said. Said Eldyne Gray, director of community services for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, "In all aspects of life, adolescents tend to think they're indestructible. They think nothing will mess up their lives and nothing will happen the first time they have sex.

They need to know how wrong that is." Gary, 17, said he used to believe his youth would shield him from contracting diseases. "I didn't know that I could catch things. Besides, that wasn't what was on my mind at the time," said the 12th-grader at Dorsey High School in Southwest Los Angeles. "I just thought nothing bad would ever happen to me. Nothing did, but it's just because I was lucky, I guess." When neighbors call to each other across the complex, it is in Spanish.

"It's like a barrio here in this complex," says Jorge Martin, 32. "There's a lot of people from the Yucatan here." In many of the apartments, residents have hung photos of the places they call home. Portraits of Jesus and the Virgen of Guadalupe hang side by side in the Martins' living room, along with a portrait of Maria Martin's grandmother. The suburbs are safer, more like the rural provinces of Mexico, Maria Martin says. She takes walks to a local park with her 2-year-old daughter and meets friends.

The high wages Jorge Martin earns working at a local hotel have allowed them to afford a car. While many of the other women in Maria Martin's complex clean houses, she has been able to stay at home with her daughter. "I don't think I could stay home if I were in Los Angeles," she says. At night when she strolls around the city, she can do so without fear of being accosted or robbed. The Martins have also been able to help relatives find jobs.

About 20 have found their way from the city of Merida to Ventura County. Not everyone is happy about this city's double migrants. Last year, owners of a Montesso-ri school complained of the presence of day laborers who met each morning on a street corner to find work. At a condominium complex filled with a large number of Latinos, Anglo residents repeatedly complained at council meetings about problems caused by overcrowding. Earlier this year, the City Council passed an ordinance intended to solve complaints of overcrowding and the Sheriff's Department has stepped up patrols.

Lori Hartin, 37, says conditions around her neighborhood began to deteriorate about five years ago. "One night a lot of migrants got drunk and jumped on my husband's car and broke our mailbox," says Hartin, a 20-year resident. "I don't feel safe. I just have fears of our neighborhoods being turned into barrios." Still, City Manager Grant R. Brimhall said instances where migrants clash with the mostly Anglo population are few.

Unlike neighboring Agoura Hills, where the presence of hundreds of day laborers prompted the city to ban solicitation of work on street corners, Thousand Oaks officials have been reluctant to intervene, even though some businesses and homeowners have called for a crackdown. Many of the workers have steady jobs, and when they do look for work on street corners, it is away from well-traveled thoroughfares, Brimhall says. "Even though some of the workers are not documented aliens, there are still certain rights that they have," he says. car, so 1 had to stay home." Living in the suburbs away from other Latinos can be a lonely existence. Though they often live together, there are few things that single migrants like Cano miss more than their families.

Cano manages to send them $500 to $600 a month from the pay earns as a custodian at a hotel. Each December, Cano goes back to Pachuca to see his wife and children, Down the hall from Cano are Maria and Jorge Martin, a family from the Yucatan peninsula who came directly to Thousand Oaks based on the advice of relatives who were already here. From their second-story window, the view seems like another world. Laundry flutters on clotheslines and balconies are crowded with bicycles. The sound of Mexican corridos and mariachi music floats through open windows.

'Appalled' WOMEN: at Theories Winner academics include such feminists as Farnsworth Riche, director of policy at the Washington-based Population Bureau. demographer said Becker's work inspired her to study why many divorced tend not to remarry when it seems contradict their best economic interest. found that in the 1980s, women's wages significantly while those for men decreased correspondingly. Moreover, two out divorces are instigated by wives. concluded that in many ways, wives fired husbands," she said.

"The economic motivation for marriage has gone, and point, what a spouse is confronted 'What am I getting out of Becker's political conservatism, he not believe the American family ought return to the Waltons, as President Bush has suggested. "The world is he said, and families must adjust costs of illegitimacy, we can get rid of it." Becker said he is unaware to what extent his thinking has influenced public policy. However, several states, California among them, have proposed incentive -based welfare reforms that tie welfare checks to children's attendance at school or health check-ups, rather than the number of children in a home. "I'd like to believe I had a little bit of an influence on that," he said. "We should bear in mind the main aim of welfare is to help the children, not the parents," he explained.

He disapproves of "no fault divorce" and has also recommended marriage contracts that spell out custody and child support arrangements in case the marriage fails. Becker's theories about family behavior are only one aspect of his work honored by the Swedish Academy. He has applied economic theories to crime and discrimination. In awarding him the prize, the academy noted Becker has stimulated other academics to break new ground in these areas. Continued from B10 the mop and the broom and the man in the marketplace.

"I don't believe men and women are like trading partners. They live together. If they have similar work or interests, it may cement the marriage. And if they share household duties, it may make the marriage stronger," Strober said. "There are not too many women today who would seek a mate who simply could support them and they would keep the home fires burning." Becker is familiar with the criticism.

Two women sociologists challenged him in a public panel at a meeting of the American Sociological Assn. was quite reasonable and scholarly in the way in which he responded," said Margaret Marini, professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota. "Women do exercise free choice," he insists. But he said his critics do not understand that he does consider factors such as the lack of child care, discrimination and biology in devising his models for rational choice. "I'd be a fool if I tried to deny that," he said.

"And I've used it to explain why women don't make as much as men." Becker said some of his critics would like to believe that discrimination is the only factor affecting lower salary and fewer job opportunities for women. "It's a factor," he said. "We don't know all the others andj some are possibly more important." Critics are also offended by the economic jargon Becker uses to discuss personal areas of family life. Children for instance, become consumer durables. Long-term marriages have marital-specific capital.

Moreover, they object to public policy implications of his ideas. Said Stephanie Coontz, history professor at Evergreen State College in Olympia, "He provides policy makers with a simple formula: All we do is figure out the cost-benefit equation. If we increase the MARKETING: Fast-Food, Fashion, Video Game Promotions of Nobel to the art comic book version from Topps. In keeping with the "Dracula" theme, the TNT channel has scheduled a weekend of old horror movies on opening weekend, and Mcllhenny's Tabasco Bloody Mary Mix is going into grocery stores with a campaign that boasts how its product "gives your drink a bite." Virgin Airlines will sponsor a contest in which the winner flies to London and Transylvania the prize includes a weekend stay in Dracula's castle in Romania. Columbia also has licensed the typical array of movie -spawned products, such as key rings, magnets, boxer shorts, watches, collectible dolls, mugs, a video game and even a glow-in-the-dark nightshirt.

At Disney the goal appears to be to top the successes of "The Little Mermaid" and last year's "Beauty and thjt Beast" with the introduction of "Alslddin" characters. These Martha studies Reference The mothers to She rose of three "I have at that with is, Despite does to George different," to it. ated by several well-known designers who have used the work of "Dracula" costume designer Eiko Ishioka of Japan as inspiration. Eiko, as she is known, was, in turn, inspired by the tale's fin ete siecle Victorian setting, Turkish influences and the art of such masters asGustav Klimt. Among the contemporary designers are Anna Sui, Byron Lars, Zang Toi, Coviello Erickson, and 'Some of these films are naturals for promotion, especially when they have familiarity.

But familiarity can also be a hindrance, as in the case for "Dracula," which is not exactly your family kind of A video titled "The Making of 'Home Alone will be offered with LA Gear shoe purchases, and Kellogg's Raisin Bran will feature games based on Culkin's Kevin character, who becomes lost in New York in the film. Fox's Ovadia said such firms as Bloomingdale's in New York, Kids Us, SuncoastMusicland stores, the Plaza Hotel and American Airlines are joining in with their own promotions tied to the movie. In addition, Ovadia said "Home Alone" products will include lunch bags'-and boxes, watches, coloring books, video-game gloves, kites, Yo-Yos, Nintendo and Gameboy software and board games, pajamas and nightgowns, and, of course, T-shirts. Coe Angeles 3KmeB Recycling for an abundant future. ad campaign for the film and two heavily advertised soft-drink and fast-food restaurant promotions.

But sometimes product tie-ins are less successful. Some "Dick Tracy" and "Batman Returns" merchandise never really took off. "Some of these films are naturals for promotion, especially when they have familiarity. But familiarity can also be a hindrance, as in the case for which is not exactly your family kind of movie," said one studio insider. The rule of thumb in the licensing and promotion business is that movies like the R-rated, sensual and bloody "Bram Stoker's Dracula" is not exactly the kind of movie that a fast-food chain or other family-oriented businesses wants to be associated with.

A Columbia spokesman would only comment that there are "other ways to go about licensing and creating public awareness." So, while you won't be seeing promotions for anything like a "MacDracula" special, you will be seeing plenty of T-shirts and similar products with the Dracula head and blood-red logo of the movie. Columbia Senior Vice President of Publicity and Promotion Mark Gill said the most novel "Dracula" items will be in the realm of books and fashion. The fashions are cre Continued from B8 deals "in the low millions" and estimated that the more extensive Disney and Fox deals will yield many times more. But the value of such deals can go beyond the initial theatrical release. If characters become popular, they can last for generations.

Ariel, the young mermaid from I989's "The Little Mermaid," has become the second most licensed image next to Mickey Mouse, according to Disney. There also are publicity benefits for the studio associated with licensing products and promotions. Fox's Ovadia said the studio standr. to gain about $25 million in beneficial TV and radio advertising for "Home Alone 2," which will supplement the studio's own substantial ad campaign. Most experts, however, agree that as extensive as plans for "Aladdin" and "Home Alone 2" are, they do not match Warner effort for last summer's "Batman Returns." That film, the biggest-grossing movie to date this year and the sequel to the 1989 megahit based on the comic-book hero, opened in theaters in June.

"Batmania" was heralded by 120 "Batman" licensees who flooded the market with hundreds of products, accompanied by a major TV Burger King will offer character figurines as premiums and a series of four cups with scenes from the movie that change when they are refrigerated. Quaker's Cap'n Crunch will offer in-package "Aladdin" gifts, and Best Foods and both have plans to target Latino consumers with as-yet unveiled promotions that tie in with the film. Mattel will be selling fashion dolls and plush action figures, Treasurecraft will offer a genie cookie jar and Milton Bradley has a three-dimensional board game with a flying magic carpet spinner. Sources said Disney's licensing list involves hundreds of companies and is the largest that the family-oriented company has ever launched. All of it is scheduled to emerge as the film opens Nov.

11 in Los Angeles and New York, then in 800 more theaters on Nov. 25, and then finally expands more widely as the December holiday season arrives. "Home Alone 2's Culkin will head up his film's effort with commercials for the Coca-Cola Sprite label that will plug the movie. Other promotional partners include Jack in the Box, Hardee's and Roy Rogers chains, which will add up to exposure in about 7,000 restaurants. Van Buren.

The unusual creations have been enough to spark interest in major fashion publications, which are planning spreads on the "Dracula" look. A limited special edition of a mahogany bustier will sell for the Coviello Erickson gown sells for $900. Gill said the book-movie tie-in is one of the largest, if not the largest, ever and involves the publication of at least eight books everything from a Signet Classics' reissue of the original novel to the noveliza-tion of the screertplay from Signet.