http://www.fornits.baremetal.com/wwf/vi ... forum=11&5Some stuff here about it. But some of it is incorrect. One being the origin of the CEDU name. CEDU does not stand for C.E.D. whatever they said it was. CEDU stands for "see yourself as you are, and do something about it." CE-DU, see-do. Pretty-stupid. The other being that the rattlesnake was put into a lawyer's mailbox, not the leader's.
I've heard multiple stories about the connection Mel had with Synanon. One being that he sponsored a kid that went there, another being that he and Brigetta were Synanon "squares",(whatever that means) others were ones that were mentioned in that thread. I have no idea what is the true story.
The sponsoring kid story was one I actually got from a link about herbalife, which stated:
"CEDU, as the drug institute is called, was the brainchild of Mel Wasserman, a Palm Springs furniture store owner who had sponsored recovering addicts at Synanon, a drug rehab program, at its facility in Santa Monica. In the late '60s, as Synanon developed cult-like trappings, Wasserman founded his own center for troubled teens in bucolic Running Springs, west of Big Bear. Its goals included liberating the "spirit of the child" and creating "a safe and healthy environment for making new choices." Wasserman eschewed Synanon's confrontational approach to therapy"
However, this flies in the face of CEDU's own claims of its origins, that Mel took in troubled hippie teens off the streets and had raps in his living room. Because, if I'm reading it correctly, it states that he up and created the CEDU facility and campus right out of Synanon, and skipped the whole living room bit. (But it might simply be that it's just leaving this information out.) Other stories of the Synanon connections jibe better with the CEDU origin story, as well, which indicate to me that those may be more accurate.
I also remember talking with someone at the Cult Awareness Network who told me about the connection years ago, and this was when I had first heard about it, and had begun my searching. (This was before the C.A.N. got taken over by the Scientologists, back when they were actually a legitamite organization.) But when I spoke with Richard Ofshe, (a professer at UC Berkeley, an expert in cults, and someone who is very familiar with Synanon, and who also knows of CEDU and Mel) he was unaware of any connection.
I guess Mel took the real truth to his grave. Unless you feel like asking his daughters, Stacy or Dana about it. Maybe they know. But I have a feeling they won't be too forthcoming. They'll probably deny it outright, now that I think about it, depending on how they feel about their old man. I was pretty good chums with Stacy when I went to RMA, (as good as one could be with a staff member, I suppose) and she was pretty guarded when she talked about her dad. (Actually, she never talked about him at all. She would talk about her mom, but not her dad.) It kind of indicated to me that they
may have not had the best relationship in the world. He was a difficult man to get along with. Egotistical, rude, narcissistic. (My mom was at one of the parent workshops when he was there and said he was a real jerk.) And I've heard other stories, as well. But CEDU alum on this forum can feel free to dispute me if they want.
I do feel that there could be a connection, between Synanon and CEDU. There are far too many similarities between the two in terms of the lingo. And raps and "the game" have a lot in common, too.
The best thing I can suggest to you is: google it and see what you find. You can also run a search on this forum.
