------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- CARD CATALOG ENTRY ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 AFF and the Significance of Waco The Waco cult story has special significance to AFF associates and friends, because it graphically demonstrates the changes in public awareness and media coverage of an issue that never goes away. Our efforts at educating and informing the news disseminators as well as the general populace, while we may at times have felt overwhelmed by the challenge, have very clearly paid off. 2 ICEP Director Marcia Rudin Receives Many Waco Calls According to ICEP director Marcia Rudin, in March alone she received 152 calls about Waco for AFF, and about an equal number for ICEP per se. Marcia has been besieged for interviews (about 90 at last count) by close to thirty newspapers, news magazines, television, and radio programs, both national and international. The New York Times, Detroit News, and Austin Statesman, Newhouse News Service (syndicated to 45 newspapers with nearly 4 million readers), an Ann Landers column editor, Newsweek, MacNeil/Lehrer (PBS), Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Fox TV, Spanish TV, and several French, British, and American radio programs have availed themselves of her expertise. On NBC's "Dateline" (4/20) she was given the opportunity to draw a larger picture, as examples of other cults were aired. On the Frederich Lenz group, for example, she said, "They get . . . infiltrated into companies in computer positions, and I don't just mean data entry, but the whole design of the system. This is a group . . . that we're getting many complaints about." As for the Hare Krishnas, "There have been tremendous amounts of abuse of members. They have had violent confrontations, weapons, . . . child abuse." Her credibility was given a high accolade by one newsweekly magazine's religion editor who told her husband, Rabbi A. James Rudin, that she was "a giant among pygmies." She has been a source as well for "48 Hours," the CBS program, which gave some extraordinary publicity to Dr. Paul Martin's Wellspring,the retreat where ex-members of cults go for recuperation and rehabilitation after their stressful experiences. 3 Dr. John Hochman and Priscilla Coates on "Good Morning, America" Dr. John Hochman was seen by many on the new "Good Morning America Sunday" show on ABC TV, on March 7th. He also had a long letter published in a West Coast lawyers' newspaper, The Daily Journal. which headlined the letter "FBI Should Watch Cults, Says Doctor." Appearing on the ABC program with Dr. Hochman was Priscilla Coates, who has also been interviewed in tandem with him on a southern California radio call-in show. The two were joined on that occasion by a Scientologist who claimed that cults were non-existent. Priscilla Coates's telephone had given her little rest lately, with over 50 calls from different media organizations prior to April, and many calls from families and friends of people involved with the Koresh cult. She has also helped get a "scoop" for a Los Angeles Times reporter on the Children of God who, contrary to the common assumption, are still active in the U.S. She believes that "something has changed," with college and university students now regularly writing on cults in their newspapers, and with their educational institutions presenting cult education programs. (An odd sidelight: after a recent "Geraldo" show on Satanism, she was inundated with calls, but not one involved Satanism.) 4 The Rev. Richard Dowhower Gives 16 Waco Interviews The Rev. Richard Dowhower gave 16 interviews about the Branch Davidian cult situation on the first twelve days of March, among which were 3 for NBC radio, one each with such radio services as Paulist News Magazine, Standard News Network, USA Radio Network, a PBS FM show, and with reporters from The Baltimore Sun, and Religious News Service/New York Times Syndicate. 5 Carol Giambalvo Gives 16 Waco Radio Interviews Carol Giambalvo, in only four days in March, was interviewed for "general cult information and not on the specific incidents happening in Waco," by 16 radio shows, including the Voice of America, in Washington, D.C., and on two TV news programs. 6 Dr. Louis Jolyon West Gives Waco Interviews on NBC and ABC Dr. Louis Jolyon West was also interviewed about Waco for news segments on both NBC and ABC, as well as on several Los Angeles-area radio shows, according to his helpful assistant, Debbie Ackerman. She reports that on one memorable day alone, Dr. West had four major interviews, with television crews moving into his offices in shifts, one after another. He also did a midnight radio call-in show, this time from his home. 7 Dr. Lita Linzer Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology at Penn State Congratulation to Dr. Lita Linzer Schwartz, who has been promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology at Penn State. She reports that she, too, has been "swamped by calls on the Waco situation." 8 Daphne Vail's May Visit to Poland, Cracow University Daphne Vane will visit Poland in May, to speak by invitation to "a meeting of psychiatrists and other medics," including some senior medical students, on "Cults," at Cracow University. She plans to take AFF materials for the edification of those professionals, as "evidently cult activity is at last (her emphasis) coming to [their] notice." ================================================================= DOS FILENAME OF TEXT FILE: CO0393AA.TXT DOS FILENAME OF IMAGE FILES: none ADMINISTRATIVE CODE: OK SECURITY CODE: SCO DISTRIBUTION CODE: RO DESCRIPTION FOR BBS FILE LISTING: The Cult Observer March 1993 SORT TO: AFF CONTRIBUTOR: American Family Foundation (AFF) LOCATION OF ORIGINAL: American Family Foundation (AFF) NOTES: Back issues and selected reprints of the Cultic Studies Journal are available from the American Family Foundation, P.O. Box 2265, Bonita Springs, FL 33959-2265. WHAT AFF COMMITTEE MEMBERS (AND OTHERS) ARE DOING | 1 AFF and the Significance of Waco | 2 ICEP Director Marcia Rudin Receives | Many Waco Calls | 3 Dr. John Hochman and Priscilla | Coates on "Good Morning, America" | 4 The Rev. Richard Dowhower Gives 16 | Waco Interviews | 5 Carol Giambalvo Gives 16 Waco | Radio Interviews | 6 Dr. Louis Jolyon West Gives Waco | Interviews on NBC and ABC | 7 Dr. Lita Linzer Schwartz | Distinguished Professor of | Educational Psychology at Penn State | 8 Daphne Vail's May Visit to Poland, | Cracow University For additional verification see the contributor of the document. UPDATED ON: 8/23/94 UPDATED BY: FrJMc =================================================================