It's great news that Dave Touretzky's Study Tech website has had such a pivotal role in influencing the educational establishment of Pershing County, NV. (I have to admit, my first question was "where?"

- it turns out to be about 100 miles northeast of Reno, NV, along the I-80.)

The website should soon be even more comprehensive. Dave and I have been collaborating on an updated version of his Study Tech essay, which hopefully will be online shortly. It will continue to be developed in the coming weeks and months. Two interesting lines of enquiry are the origins of the Study Tech books (all derived from Scientology's ostensibly religious works) and the way in which Study Tech is used and promoted in wider society.

The Pershing County affair is a classic example of the latter issue.

While writing Narconon Exposed, and again in researching Study Tech, I found that much of the promotion of Hubbard's "secular technology" is conducted by shadowy networks of Scientologists. I should add that they don't tend to lie about their affiliations - it's more a case of those affiliations not being mentioned. The Pershing County case turns out to have such affiliations in full measure.

According to the Lovelock Review-Miner, the study method "is called LEAP, Literacy and Education Awareness Project and comes from a non-profit company called Applied Scholastics". It had been introduced into Pershing County by Special Programs Coordinator Anita Fisk and Debra Scilacci, a Pershing County teacher. The current controversy only came about when Pershing County High School teacher Valdine McLean read Dave's essay and raised the alarm. Ms McLean is one of Nevada's most distinguished teachers, having won the Presidential Award for Excellence in 1998-99 and being named as Nevada Teacher of the Year in 2001. When a meeting was held about the issue in Lovelock, NV in August this year, several people from out of town spoke in support of the programme. The Review-Miner says that they "included LEAP staff members and Ed Fila, a representative from a Utah-based company called Innovations in Education. Fila said that several schools in Utah use this program including the best academic school in Utah."

I had some problems initially in finding out anything about LEAP. The Review-Miner seems to have misnamed it or to have been misinformed: it is in fact the Literacy, Education and Abilities Program, based at 1440 Central Avenue, Memphis, TN. It was started by Scientology celebritities Lisa Marie Presley and Isaac Hayes (see Lisa Marie's page about it at http://www.lisapresley.com/philanthropy/leap.html).

It is run by Peggy Crawford, a local Scientologist and "minister of The Church of Scientology Mission of Memphis". She wrote an article for the Memphis Flyer on 9 February 2000 (see http://www.memphisflyer.com/MFSearch/full_results.asp?xt_from=3&aID=2828) in which she said:

"The Church of Scientology Mission of Memphis was opened to help heal these breaches. Memphians Lisa Marie Presley and Isaac Hayes sponsored the opening of this mission for the purpose of bringing the people of Memphis together by utilizing the services that are unique to Scientology. Our workshops, classes, lectures, and pastoral counseling are designed to help people get along better, communicate more openly, heal relationships, and relieve the stress and trauma of daily living.

They are open to everyone, regardless of race, religion, or background. Scientology is non-dogmatic and does not require specific beliefs, only an ethical conduct.

Our mission has been in Memphis for a little more than two years. It has become a haven for people of various backgrounds to get together and improve their lives. The Church also runs the Literacy, Education and Ability Program (LEAP). This free program has been helping students of all ages become more literate as well as learn vital study tools. The program's purpose is to be a catalyst for Memphis youth to help them become prepared to compete successfully in today's environment."

Note her unequivocal statement: "The Church also runs the Literacy, Education and Ability Program (LEAP)." This alone should derail the Pershing County programme, as it raises significant constitutional issues of church-state separation. At the very least, the county educational authorities need to get some serious legal advice on the matter.

There are other Scientology links as well. The Review-Miner mentioned the involvement of Ed Fila of Utah. Dr Fila is a Scientologist dentist who has been highly active in promoting L. Ron Hubbard's "technologies" for secular use. On March 8, 2001, the South Idado Press published an article which described how Fila and several other Scientologist volunteers travelled to Idaho to promote the Scientology-based Narconon drug rehabilitation programme. (See http://www.southidahopress.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2001/March/08-809-NewRehabProgram7.txt - it misspells his surname as "Fida".)

This sort of thing is, unfortunately, entirely typical. A Hubbard "secular technology" programme appears in a community at the prompting of a local official or local Scientologists. Behind them is a "secular technology" group such as Narconon or Applied Scholastics, or perhaps an offshoot such as LEAP or Education Alive. Such organisations are invariably run and funded by senior Scientologists and have Scientology celebrities on their boards. Behind them is the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), the body which supervises the use of Hubbard's "secular technology". Its membership is entirely drawn from Scientology's elite Sea Org and its offices are often co-located with Scientology offices around the world. Although separately incorporated, ABLE is itself a component part of the Scientology conglomerate - it is officially one of the "sectors of Scientology" and it is represented on Scientology's highest management bodies. And behind ABLE is the secretive senior management of the Church of Scientology and Church of Spiritual Technology, which owns all of the supposedly secular Study Tech books under its business alias of the "L. Ron Hubbard Library".

I was interested also to read some of the statements quoted by the Review-Miner, many of which show significant misunderstanding (and perhaps misinformation) about Study Tech:

> Fisk said that the study is used across the United States in private
> and public schools.

It is certainly used in a number of private schools, in particular those run by and for Scientologists. However, I'm not aware of any widespread adoption by public schools. Study Tech has repeatedly run into problems when it has been introduced into the public education system. These problems have most often concerned church-state legal issues, but have also involved Study Tech's questionable theories and lack of support from non-Scientologist educators.

> She said that the books used in the program do not proselytize for
> any religion.

True, they don't, but they do present and promote Scientology doctrine. Hubbard himself said that Study Tech is part of the religious work of Scientology: "The Tech of Study is new and is part of the Tech of Scientology" (Hubbard, "The Tech of Study," LRH Executive Directive 11 EU of 20 July 1974).

> She explained that if any funding were being diverted from Applied
> Scholastics to any religion, it would not be non-profit.

This seems to be a rather confused misreading of Applied Scholastics' 501(c) status, obtained by the Church of Scientology in 1993 under its dubious deal with the IRS. Applied Scholastics' funding does in fact go to "any religion" via ABLE, a constituent part of the Church of Scientology, and to the Church of Spiritual Technology and its L. Ron Hubbard Library business alias.

> She said that she was told that if Hubbard's name wasn't on the book's
> cover and the words used in the program were changed to not be so similar
> to those words used in Scientology, the program wouldn't be as objectionable.

Not so. The three key objections to Study Tech are:

1) Its theories are very dubious indeed (if not outright crackpot) and there is very little convincing evidence to support its backers' claims.

2) It is drawn *entirely* from Scientology religious texts and lectures (a significant constitutional problem).

3) It is promoted by Scientologists as a means of eradicating psychiatric influence from schools (an improper sectarian motive).

If Hubbard's name wasn't on the cover and the words were changed, these three objections would remain.

> PCMS Principal Charles Safford said that he has looked through the books
> and has determined that they are secular.

Which they emphatically are not. I've systematically analysed the books and found that without exception, the text comes from Scientology bulletins, policy letters and lectures that the Church of Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard himself have said constitute religious scriptures.

- Chris Owen

Go Back