Applied Scholastics



The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on July 25th that Scientology has

opened a new headquarters for the Applied Scholastics program.



"In a multimillion-dollar complex overlooking the Mississippi River, a

company called Applied Scholastics International has opened its national

headquarters - a training center for teachers, tutors and business

trainers. The center uses methods developed by L. Ron Hubbard, the late

science fiction writer and founder of Scientology. The company has moved

to north St. Louis County from Los Angeles because of Missouri's central

location and the area's rich history of education, said Bennetta

Slaughter, chief executive officer of Applied Scholastics.



"Leaders of Applied Scholastics say their organization is separate from

Hubbard's Scientology, that it is based on his educational techniques. 'We

are strictly an educational organization,' said Slaughter. 'We are not

part of the church,' she said.



"Applied Scholastics paid $2.9 million to buy the complex and 55 acres two

years ago from the School Sisters of Notre Dame. The company also bought

an adjacent 45 acres and plans to expand, Slaughter said. St. Louis County

lists the property as taxable, a county spokeswoman said. Applied

Scholastics spent about $2 million on renovations.



"The company says it trained 6,000 teachers last year. It employs about 45

people at the center. On the front wall of the complex's former chapel are

panels describing Hubbard's 'three barriers to learning.' The barriers

arise when a student: Cannot visualize an object, such as a combine when

the student is studying about food production. Fails to master all the

steps in a concept. Doesn't understand a word. Hubbard's solutions: Have a

student use a dictionary. Provide a student a picture or model of

unfamiliar objects. Review concepts students fail to understand.



"Applied Scholastics was at the center of a debate in California six years

ago when some teachers proposed that the state buy the group's books to

supplement school textbooks. State officials approved the purchase after a

review group found the books did not appear to advance Scientology.



"Applied Scholastics employees have begun to introduce themselves to

school districts, churches and other agencies in the St. Louis area,

Slaughter said. She said several local school districts were considering

using ASI's training.



"Scot Danforth, who oversees teacher education for the University of

Missouri at St. Louis, said he searched a database of four decades of

published educational research and could find no study on L. Ron Hubbard's

instructional techniques. 'In my opinion, they are involved in the worst

kind of deception. They make grandiose claims about the effectiveness of

their methods and materials with data that has never been published in a

legitimate educational research journal,' he said.



"Greg Jung, president of the Missouri National Education Association, is

cautious. 'We don't know if the people who are providing training are

qualified and if the teachers providing the tutoring are qualified,' Jung

said."



From the Associated Press on July 27th:



"Executives with Applied Scholastics International say the center is

completely secular, licensing educators and schools in the learning

methods Hubbard developed, known as study technology. 'We have no

religious materials. They are separate organizations,' chief executive

officer Bennetta Slaughter said.



"Use of Applied Scholastics materials raised questions in Los Angeles in

1997 and in Boston in 2001, when some educators expressed concern that the

program could have links to Scientology. J. Gordon Melton, director of the

Institute for the Study of American Religion in Santa Barbara, Calif., has

written about Scientology and visited Applied Scholastics centers. He said

Applied Scholastics presents itself as separate from Scientology, and from

everything he's seen, that's the case. Applied Scholastics isn't licensed

to use any Scientology materials. 'It has to be separate, or it would just

be too controversial,' Melton said.



"The Rev. Alfreddie Johnson Jr., a Baptist pastor in Compton, Calif.,

founded a literacy program that uses Hubbard's methods. He compared the

current state of education to a house on fire - he doesn't care about the

religion of the firefighters. 'You want trained individuals who will pull

your kids out of the burning house safely,' he said.



"The new campus can train about 700 educators at a time and has rooms to

house about 180. Prices range from $125 for a weekend workshop to roughly

$13,000 for a semester of study and accommodations in a suite.



"A county economic official said it's always good to see a new development

come into the area. 'We're not endorsing any particular teaching or belief

system. That's not our business. We also don't want to be disrespectful of

any beliefs,' said Steve Anderson with the St. Louis County Economic

Council. 'It appears it will be good for the neighborhood.'"



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Tom Cruise



The Irish Examiner reported on July 21st that the International Dyslexia

Association has criticized Tom Cruise for his promoting Scientology to

help with learning disabilities.



"Tom Cruise has upset members of the dyslexia community by claiming in an

interview that Scientology had cured his dyslexia. Cruise, who is a

founder of the Scientology-based Hollywood Education and Literacy Project,

told People magazine that after he read The Basic Study Manual by L Ron

Hubbard, his dyslexia disappeared.



"'There is not a lot of science to support the claims that the teachings

of Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard are appropriate to overcoming

dyslexia,' said J. Thomas Viall, executive director of the International

Dyslexia Association. 'When an individual of the prominence of Tom Cruise

makes statements that are difficult to replicate in terms of what science

tells us, the issue becomes what other individuals who are dyslexic do in

response to such a success story.'"



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Gold Base



The Valley Chronicle reported on July 26th that residents in San Jacinto

are unhappy with the closure of a highway through Scientology's Gold Base

for the purpose of making a time-lapse film.



"San Jacinto Mayor Jim Ayres said it reduces the number of entrances to

San Jacinto to one at time. The city and Eastern Municipal Water District

are involved in a two-pronged plan to lay a wastewater line under the

road, and repave and widen the road when that is finished.  'It was built

and paid for with taxpayer dollars,' he said and should be available to

the public.



"Riverside County Supervisor Jim Venable acknowledged that the timing of

the closure probably wasn't the best, but said it is neither the first

time it has been done, nor the longest closure. 'We closed Domenigoni

Parkway for three weeks,' he said. 'People didn't like it but they got

used to it.' That closure was to film the movie 'The Fast and the

Furious.'



"Muriel Dufresne, public relations director for Golden Era Productions,

the Church of Scientology's in-house movie production company, said the

reason the road is closed for two weeks is that cameras have been set up

in the road to capture changes in the sky above San Jacinto.  'They are

doing time lapse photography,' she said.  'We apologize if it's caused any

inconvenience,' she said. 'It's not going to happen that often.'



"Ayres believes it shouldn't happen at all. 'Maybe they picked a poor spot

to build a studio,' he said. The closure has also revived a rumor that the

road will be closed but Venable said that will not happen. 'I will

guarantee that road will not be closed off,' he said. 'It is one of the

major arteries in that Valley.' Venable said he has heard the rumors about

closing the road and is aware that the Church of scientology would be

happy if it were closed, and he has even discussed it with the church

representatives, but that the only way that could happen is if the church

builds a road to replace Gilman Springs."



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Protest Summary



Jens Tingleff reported a protest at the Birmingham, England org on July

26th.



"Six of us had a very nice and productive afternoon out protesting in

front of the body-routing grounds of the Birmingham, UK, shop of the

criminal organisation known as the 'church' spit of $cientology. Dave,

John, Hartley, Neil and myself started off somewhat apprehensive.

Waiting for us was a police van with three friendly police-persons in it.

They wanted us to be nice and would expect the clams to be nice. It also

turned out that no clams came out to play, so we had a clear run to do our

thing.



"Dave had new balloons (larger, clear, single two-toned image) and a lot

of balloon gas. I was basically busy for one and 3.4 hours handing out

balloons and ended up giving away everything we brought - roughly 250

balloons festooned with Xemu's friendly face and the message '$cientology

Sucks!' We were joined later by a local parent and a friend of the parent,

bringing our total number to a very healthy seven. The leafletters managed

to pretty much give away all the five hundred leaflets we'd taken along."



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