Letters to the Editor: Dear Editor: Sara Catania's sarcastic piece about L. Ron Hubbard's study technology ["The Learning Cure'" November 14-20] was a disgrace. As international spokesperson for Applied Scholastics, I have firsthand experience with the work that volunteers all over the world are doing utilizing Hubbard's discoveries. These individuals devote hundreds of hours of time and heartfelt effort to help both young people and adults improve their study skills. Their work daily changes lives. As a parent, I also have ...

When you sit down to read, do you find yourself feeling blank or sort of spinny? Squashed, bent or just not there? Sure you do. And here's why: You've gone past a word you don't understand. In fact, the only reason a person gives up studying or becomes confused or unable to learn is because that person went past a word that was misunderstood. At least that's what the followers of the late Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard want you to ...

EDUCATION: Organizer of a conference being held today is a Scientologist, and that worries' some in the school-reform group. ORANGE — Leaders of Orange County's "back to basics" education movement are split over attending a conference tonight because the chief organizer belongs to the Church of Scientology. Orange County Department of Education board member Ken Williams said he withdrew from the "Back to Basics Education Crusade" because of discomfort with its organizers, not because of disagreement over the crusade's goals. "I ...

The state education department has given preliminary approval to statewide use of school textbooks inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, which already are at the center of a controversy in Los Angeles schools. Five books based on Hubbard's education ideas are expected to be placed on a list of supplementary texts that schools across the state can purchase–possibly as soon as September, an education official said Monday. "There's no religion mentioned in those books," said Anna Emery of the state ...

This was the week, among other things, when Los Angeles dabbled with the notion of pouring tax dollars into a school that planned to catechize its students with Scientology-inspired texts. It was like watching a train wreck about to happen. At week's end, the debacle may have been avoided. The Board of Education caught on to the gambit and some of those involved now predict that the board's vote, expected sometime in the next 30 days, could be negative in the ...

As the Los Angeles Board of Education grapples with whether to approve a new charter school that would feature the teaching methods of L. Ron Hubbard, the late founder of the Church of Scientology, a handful of district teachers say they have been using those techniques for years and keep copies of Hubbard's works in their classrooms. The controversy over the use of Hubbard's methods–known as Applied Scholastics–has prompted district officials to undertake a review of policies on religion in public ...

The Los Angeles Board of Education should reject the controversial application for the proposed Northwest Charter School in the San Fernando Valley. Why? Because the public school system should not open its doors to potentially sectarian teaching. That is what private schools are for. The author of this charter school petition is a Scientologist, which is no more disqualifying for a public school educator than any other religion. However, Linda Smith, a veteran public school teacher, says she would use the ...

Education: L.A. district officials are concerned that organizer's ties to Scientology could raise 1st Amendment questions. A proposed charter school in the east San Fernando Valley is receiving close scrutiny from Los Angeles Unified School District officials who are concerned about the organizer's ties to the Church of Scientology and are questioning whether church teachings would appear in the new public school. Advocates of the Northwest Charter School acknowledge that they want to employ teaching methods developed by Scientology founder L. ...

Being a native of Harlingen, a member of its school board since 1992, a professional in private dental practice for the last 13 years serving my community, I find it deplorable that my hometown newspaper diminishes the good work of its children while allowing one of its reporters to manufacture controversy where none exists. This letter is to clarify the facts which were incorrectly reported in Kate Mewhinney's article which appeared in Monday's edition of the Valley Morning Star. Those facts ...

A news story on the front-page of today's Star concerns a matter of long-standing debate: What should public schools teach our children, particularly in the realm of morals and values? The current debate focuses on the efforts of two Harlingen dentists, one of whom is a member of the Harlingen school board, to make available to teachers copies of the booklet, The Way to Happiness: A Common Sense Guide to Better Living. The booklet is written by L. Ron Hubbard, founder ...

HCISD board member distributes material with Scientologist links in classrooms A coalition of Harlingen minister has taken a stance against an essay contest for schoolchildren based on a book written by Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The Harlingen Ministerial Alliance, which is made up of representatives from about 12 churches in Harlingen, said it is opposed to the distribution of The Way to Happiness booklets as part of the essay contest. "If this group is permitted in classrooms, then ...

Macomb resident contends he was duped while attending vocational school. PONTIAC — Former Scientologist Linda Hostetler isn't the first metro Detroiter to hold a financial and emotional grudge against the Church of Scientology of Michigan. Since the Detroit branch was founded in 1969, at least 14 lawsuits have been filed against the church, according to circuit court records. Of the 14 cases, which sought damages ranging from $10,000-$60,000, six have been filed since the church moved to Royal Oak in the ...

JOHN WOOD wants to tell your children the truth about drugs. He is the UK president of an organisation which claims it has been educating young people about the dangers of addiction for 25 years. It claims that message had been successful, and it claims it can also help those who have already fallen to drugs and drink. In fact, Narconon makes rather a lot of claims, and the group has targeted Sussex with literature and glowing tributes from grateful "clients". ...

IT IS portrayed as a typical private school. But the glossy Greenfields brochure, which boasts of academic success and a happy environment for children, does not tell the whole story. One important word is missing from the booklet - Scientology. It is also missing from: * The handbook issued by the Independent Schools Information Service, which describes Greenfields as inter-denominational. * The Independent Schools Yearbook, which it is listed as non-denominational. * The school's 27-page constitution lodged with the Charity Commission. ...

A GROUP which runs a national drug rehabilitation programme and gives regular lectures to schools is closely linked to the controversial Church of Scientology. Narconon, which bases its methods on the teachings of the Church's founder L Ron Hubbard, currently treats a small number of private-paying addicts each year. But it is has recently launched a major expansion programme, and Narconon claims that Tower Hamlet's social services department has paid the £500 per week fee for the three month treatment of ...

A pervert teacher at the Scientologists Greenfield School in Forest Row who sexually assaulted young boys has been jailed for five years. Mark Kent, 32, of Lewes Road, Forest Row, molested six teenage schoolboys over a period of seven years and took filthy videos of himself in sex acts with his young victims. Hove Crown Court heard Kent was found to have a videotape shooting scenes from the cult school's fete, interspersed with sickening footage of himself and young boys, and ...

Is L. Ron Hubbard's morals text harmless? When Carol Burgeson received a copy of "The Way to Happiness" in the mail 18 months ago, she read it through and decided it was the perfect non-religious vehicle for teaching moral values to her senior students at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill. So Burgeson ordered more free copies of the book by L. Ron Hubbard and used them to stimulate discussions in her classes. "It seemed so harmless," she says. "Brush ...

When Carol Burgeson received a copy of "The Way to Happiness" in the mail 18 months ago, she read it through and decided it was the perfect non-religious vehicle for teaching moral values to her senior students at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Ill. So Burgeson ordered more free copies of the book by L. Ron Hubbard and used them to stimulate discussions in her classes. "It seemed so harmless," she says. "Brush your teeth, do your work, don't be ...

Your article April 14 regarding the Church of Scientology boarding school gave a slightly false picture. The Church has owned the property on Bouquet Canyon Road, which is at least six miles southeast of Green Valley, for almost two years. Church representatives approached the Green Valley Town Council about 10 times since August of 1991 to present the plans for the school as a matter of courtesy to the community. However . . . we are not located in Green ...

Green Valley: Under the proposal, 250 students would board at the campus. A county spokesman says approval of a permit would be based on land-use issues. The Church of Scientology is seeking permission from Los Angeles County to open a boarding school for 250 students on the site of a former juvenile detention camp near Green Valley. The proposal has worried some of the 1,200 residents in the rural community, who voiced concerns about it at a public meeting Monday night. ...

And now, the next Walt Disney Studios— the Church of Scientology! That is, if entrepreneurs connected with the Hollywood based cult can muscle into the film business with their proposal to homogenize films by tailoring them to the tastes of the unwashed masses. It all began last July, when Future Films, a new, eccentric studio, began running ads in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter touting its revolutionary ideas. No one knew what to make of it all. The grand concept, to ...

The True School and the Jefferson Academy, two Clearwater schools that use educational methods devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, declined to allow the St. Petersburg Times to interview students, graduates, teachers, administrators or parents. But the True School did provide what it said were testimonials from some of the school's students and staff members. In addition, Church of Scientology spokesman Richard Haworth arranged for Scientologists to write letters and send them to the Times. Here are excerpts from the ...

Like the church he founded, the teaching methods espoused by L. Ron Hubbard create controversy. And they are spreading, across the United States and around the world. L. Ron Hubbard wrote science fiction stories and founded a religion — but he didn't stop there. He went on, according to his followers, to achieve tremendous breakthroughs in education. There are now more than 150 Hubbard-method schools around the world. They achieve superior results, according to supporters, and are free of drugs and ...

[Picture / Caption: Kristi, left, and Beth Erlich grew up in the Church of Scientology, but eventually left. In the top photo, taken by their mother when Kristi and Beth were children, the two girls perform TR-Zero, Scientology drill that calls for two people to stare at each other "without any compulsions todo anything." The routine is designed to improve communication skills.] When Beth Erlich was 11, she signed her first contract. A billion-year contract. Beth didn't understand it too well. ...