Project CALL



The Fort Bend/Southwest Sun reported on December 15th that a new

Scientology-based literacy project has opened in Texas.



"Having just started its second year, Project CALL, short for Communities

Assisting Literacy and Learning, has helped nearly 1,000 people, including

children, teens and adults, not just to learn how to read, but to learn

how to learn. Their methods are nontraditional, but they work, says Minot

Edwards, Project CALL's technical director.



"The center uses a study technology developed by L. Ron Hubbard, author of

'Learning How to Learn,' an illustrated work that teaches children how to

study. Everybody who participates in the program must read the book. 'If

they can't read the book, we read it to them,' says Edwards. Pariani says

part of the theory that works so well is that it is simple.  It works for

everyone, even adults and people who have been labeled with learning

disabilities, she says. The program also adds some fun into the mix.



"The phonics program, Reading Rescue, was developed by Edwards based on

his extensive research into the most effective ways of teaching reading.

Reading Rescue teaches the student the sounds of a language and then how

to combine them to read and spell. Using games and fun drills, the student

will master reading and spelling with the sounds of the English language,

says Edwards.



"In the learning basics program, the student learns what gets in the way

of study and what to do about it, as well as ways to ensure that they

understand and continue to use what they read. 'To study means to look at

something and ask about it and read about it, as you learn about it,' says

Edwards. 'Just reading the sounds of the words on the page does not even

begin to ensure understanding.'



"Meena Mabbu, 12, a volunteer tutor, found that as she helped others, she

also benefited from the program. While Mabbu did not need help reading, as

she completed the learning basics program and began to tutor others, she

found herself using the skills in her everyday life. 'I began using the

concepts I was teaching others in my daily life, and it has helped me a

lot,' says Mabbu.



"Project CALL was founded by Missouri City residents Dr. Willis J.

Pumphrey Jr. and his wife, Grace. Pumphrey, a successful dentist with his

own practice in the Houston area, started the program after years of

conducting truancy workshops for Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Joel

Clouser's court. The program, still going on, gives truant students who

appear in Clouser's court an alternative to fines. During the one-day

workshop, the students are taught how to learn how to learn and study

based on 'Learning How to Learn.' A parent is also required to go the

workshop."



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Unauthorized Christmas



On December 21 the New York Times reviewed an off-Broadway production

based on the history of Scientology.



"Most children would be content to play a shepherd in their first

Christmas pageant. Max Miner gets to play John Travolta. The 11-year-old

also portrays a robot and other roles in 'A Very Merry Unauthorized

Children's Scientology Pageant,' now Off Broadway through Jan. 4 at the

John Houseman Theater after a sold-out run at the Tank, also on West 42nd

Street.



"Conceived and directed by Alex Timbers, with text and songs by Kyle

Jarrow, the 55-minute show purports to tell the story of the life of L.

Ron Hubbard (played by Jordan Wolfe, 13), including his stints as a

science fiction writer and World War II Navy man, culminating in his

founding of the Church of Scientology in 1954.



"Hubbard called Scientology a religion but its critics have considered it

a lucrative business. Adherents say it is not based on the worship of a

god, but is a method of counseling and courses that helps individuals

break free from unnecessary emotions to lead more rewarding lives.



"Mr.  Timbers said he wanted to 'juxtapose that with a straightforward

retelling of the life of L. Ron Hubbard, for the kids not to wink back at

the audience but perform it very genuinely, with as much honesty and

integrity as a real Scientologist would.'



"In a recent interview, however, the Rev. John Carmichael, president of

the Church of Scientology of New York, said 'these guys just don't

understand the subject.' After visiting a rehearsal and sending a letter

of protest, Mr. Carmichael saw the show and was not amused. 'These folks

have a right to write whatever play they want,' he said, but 'they've sunk

to cliches.' Hubbard, who died in 1986 at 74, is portrayed in the show,

Mr. Carmichael said, as an authoritarian demagogue whose methods create

emotionless followers. 'We believe it's up to you,' he emphasized.

'Salvation depends on the individual.'



"Mr. Jarrow, 24, said that for his text he drew from both Scientology

literature and journalistic accounts that criticize it. Using a cast of 10

children, ages 8 to 13, Mr. Timbers's production mimics a Sunday school

class's earnest attempt at holiday theater, complete with stiff line

readings and blocking. Its portrayal of Hubbard's birth even parodies a

Nativity scene, with little L. Ron surrounded by parents and barnyard

animals as an angel (Alison Stacy Klein) proclaims, 'Billions of years of

evolution had climaxed with his birth.'



"Amid this zaniness, the tone can turn poignant, as when Sophie Whitfield,

11, who plays a struggling actress named Annie, lip-synchs to a ballad

about giving control of oneself over to someone else. After all, Mr.

Timbers concluded, Scientology is 'about clearing your mind - almost

embracing the mind of the child.'"



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Netherlands



Het Parool reported on January 3rd that Scientology has been attempting to

suppress the making of a documentary by the news program Network in The

Netherlands.



"At the end of last year, the Scientology Kerk Amsterdam managed to

prevent the broadcast of the news-background and analysis program Network.

Former director Caspar de Rijk, who was going to contribute to the

program, was put under so much pressure that he decided against

participating. He is now considering taking legal action against the

'church.'



"Network reporters Frank du Mosch and Jelle Broek-Roelofs (NCRV) found De

Rijk, among others, ready to contribute to the program. The ex-director

left Scientology a few years ago, and now is part of a large group of

'apostates' who have newly organized themselves under the name Ron's Org

(after Scientology's founder, Ron Hubbard). De Rijk's ex-wife and two

daughter are still with Scientology: his daughters are following 'courses'

at Sea Org in Copenhagen, his ex has a high function within the feared

Office of Special Affairs (the sect's secret service) and is alternately

stationed in Copenhagen and Dusseldorf. He hasn't seen his daughters for

years.



"According to De Rijk, Scientology discovered that Network was going to

cover the sect's problems, and that he would contribute to the program. He

was subsequently approached by his ex-wife. 'It was suggested to me that

if I would withdraw from publicity, I would finally be permitted to see my

daughters again.'



"De Rijk let Network know that he unfortunately had to withdraw from

participating. The Network reporters were, although understanding,

furious. Camera teams were canceled and the item dismissed, because De

Rijk is an indispensable source. But a meeting between De Rijk and his

daughters never came about. 'In hindsight they simply strung me along for

a while. They thought: we'll keep him appeased for a month, and after that

De Rijk will probably stay quiet.' He also received a 'SP-declare,' a kind

of judgment that marks recalcitrant Scientologists as a Suppressive

Person. Other Scientologist are strictly prohibited to communicate with

him - family or not.



"In Scientology it is common practice to manipulate the media where

possible. For instance, the sect requires makers of television programs to

sign contracts. These contracts stipulate that Scientology not only has

the right to view the final version, but also the right to correct

'defamatory statements.' If a third party in the broadcast makes any

comments, Scientology has according to these contracts the right to make

the last response.  Failure to abide by the contract results in a

'compensation for damages' of 45,000 Euros.



"Network is not going to give up. Now that it is clear what kind of game

has been played, and now that De Rijk has been declared SP, the news

programs will again attempt to produce a broadcast about the downfall of

Scientology in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, Caspar de Rijk has become the

target of an old-fashioned campaign of smear tactics in accordance with

Scientology's notorious Fair Game law. 'I am supposed to have stolen money

from people, and a complaint against me is said to have been filed. That

is all inspired by the Office of Special Affairs and the theory is simple:

when there is a group of apostates, you've got to smear them one by one.'"



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Jean Janu



Stockwatch reported on December 31st that a Jean Janu has pleaded guilty

in the investigation of a Ponzi scheme run by Scientology minister Reed

Slatkin.



"The former bookkeeper of controversial EarthLink co-founder and

ex-Scientology minister Reed Slatkin has agreed to plead guilty in a

conspiracy to obstruct justice during an investigation by the United

States Securities and Exchange Commission of Mr. Slatkin. Jean Janu, 56,

formerly of Santa Fe, N.M., is charged with helping former Howe St. player

Mr. Slatkin hide his massive $593-million alleged Ponzi scheme, an

unregistered investment operation he ran from 1985 until its collapse in

the spring of 2001.



"The SEC announced Dec. 10 that Ms. Janu agreed on Dec. 5 to plead guilty,

the same day she was charged in a one-count criminal information in United

States District Court for the Central District of California. She faces an

arraignment hearing on Jan. 12, 2004, and is expected to formally enter

her guilty plea either that day or later that month. Ms. Janu is the

fourth figure to plead guilty to obstruction of justice during the SEC

investigation. Mr. Slatkin, based in Santa Barbara, Calif., was sentenced

Sept. 3 to 14 years in prison, after pleading guilty to 15 counts,

including conspiracy to obstruct justice.



"Richard D. McMullin was sentenced Dec. 1 to five months in jail and five

months of house arrest, after pleading guilty last year. Daniel W. Jacobs,

who pled guilty on Oct. 15, 2002, faces sentencing Feb. 23, 2004.



"U.S. officials have called the case one of the largest Ponzi schemes in

history. Mr. Slatkin allegedly preyed on the rich and famous, luring and

conning scores of Hollywood stars and producers, Internet executives and

high-society types.



"Although Mr. Slatkin was a high-profile Scientologist for several decades

and many of his victims and a number of his supporters and associates were

also Scientologists, the Church of Scientology makes its position clear.

'Earlier this year his ministerial status was revoked and he was expelled

from the church,' media director Linda Simmons Hight told Stockwatch in

early 2002. 'His unethical conduct violates the basic policies and ethics

codes of the church and is unbecoming of a Scientologist.' According to

Ms. Hight, there is no record of Mr. Slatkin practising as a minister in

any Church of Scientology since 1983."



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