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Treatment Abuse, Behavior Modification, Thought Reform => CEDU / Brown Schools and derivatives / clones => Topic started by: iknowcedulies on May 03, 2004, 08:42:00 PM
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[ This Message was edited by: iknowcedulies on 2005-12-26 16:59 ]
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I didn't go to CEDU, but I went to Cascade (founded in 1984 by Allgood, Meltzer, Barb and Craig Cass, Gail and Art Tiles, and other staff who left CEDU to start Cascade), which recently closed. Actually I went there twice, :scared: .
I have to disagree with you about Eric. Although he had retired by the time I got sent back to Cascade, he was like a father to me when I was there the first time around. He seemed to have realized that the school was really starting to screw up, especially in hiring a new headmaster, and so he left.
As for Allgood, he singlehandedly destroyed the school. He hired a new headmaster, Jack in April 2000 (who didn't last too long), because Allgood was pretty much to lazy to come up to campus more than once a month. And when he did come up he would walk through the house/logde one time to make an "appearance" and then he would vanish for a few more weeks, sometimes for months.
After that the school essentiaslly went to hell. Allgood never cared about that school, he was just in it for the money. If he had cared about it maybe he would have made an effort to learn some of the students' names, or at least their first names. Maybe Allgood isn't that bad, because if it was not for him Cascade would still be there, destroying peoples' lives.
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they started cascade because the feds were after them they surround themselves with people who will lie for them the loyalty crap they claim is just to hold you for their own agenda where are melzer and allgood now. i heard cascade shut down in whitmore california and rudy benz is in georgia cloning all the old crap his new "scam" sorry school is called hidden lake academy in dahlonega,ga. how did melzer retire i bet allgood and him conned someone they were always lying to all.
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2005-04-15 15:37 ][ This Message was edited by: ceduvictim on 2005-12-26 17:07 ]
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I was at CEDU from 1978-1980 (total of 1.5 years). I liked Meltzer, he was one of the few who was actually nice to me although he was running Summit so maybe his role changed with you guys. I thought Allgood was a primadonna who had a god complex (like most of the staff i guess). Everyone kept saying Allgood was so brilliant but I never really witnessed this. I think when push comes to shove with these people they are just fairweather friends. As long as someone is paying the tab they love you and all but otherwise they'll leave you in the gutter.
All the talk of the suicides, when I was first at CEDU there was a staff member named Kim Quigley. He left and took a shotgun put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Sometimes I envy those who had the guts to do that.
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i said the same things when i was there and the "students" did not care that allgood was liar. they came with excuses like "we don't want to leave our friends". it was unbelievable how they bought all the crap they were fed. Allgood would use the excuse that the truth does not matter if you are a liar that is okay as long as you have friends. The followers picked out who they liked and that was all that mattered. there was this poor guy who exposed this and no one cared they let allgood con them that this guy was disloyal. when they let this kid leave, they kept blaming him because other kids left. The truth is that they needed a scapegoat and they made one out of him. it was so vicious how they manipulated the kids into hating this kid and it was so sick how they believed what allgood said. allgood was mad that this kid got away so he brainwashed the others into thinking the kid was disloyal to a staff member who has "befriended" him. the staff member was just a blustering idiot who made a big scene because he thought he had been "betrayed". the truth is that this kid was being bullied and abused by the same staff member and the staff member tried to claim that the kid had betrayed him and sold him out and allgood took that and ran with it. the staff member tried to claim that he was this kid's friend which was a bunch of bullshit and something the staff member said to get allgood and his followeres on his side.
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i'll say one thing for allgood. when i was there he took over and mellowed it out some. he got rid of full-time think tank and in those days if you were on it you spoke to noone, worked round the clock, wore one of those garage suits. allgood seemed kinda weird to me but he was way better than wasserman.
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he says he has principles and he turns people vs. kids who left this is standard cult practice ruin the escapee with the "friends" who are still in the gulag. what year were you there i was there more than 10 years ago. what do you think or know of cascade which was the cult he started in northern california
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they always said how much they cared about the kids and how loyal they were too each other and like every great sociopath they believed their own lies. they would use every brutal treatment they could to get anyone to do what they wanted. they would try to guilt trip kids who split by telling the parents that poor mel wasserman would lose his home if the kid did not return. they would say or do anything to get people to stay and come back usually peer pressure or death threats and they would say that spliters usually want to come back. the truth was they would manipulate these kids so they could not function without allgood or padgett running their life. the lying conman wassserman would try to blame his "lack of money" on the kid who split. all he cared about was himself and his selfish family, he did not give a shit about anyone else and the lemmings that he followed him believed everything he said. he ripped off all for his own fucking greed, he was so selfish he would manipulate everyone with his pleas for money he did not care about the kids he cared about his own family and how they could not live without there fucking house. this asshole apparently sold his illegaly gotten gains for many millions to the brown schools i heard he sold it in 02 but it could have been earlier i heard they closed running springs or sold it to somebody with the cedu name in 88. anybody know
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I didn't know that Cascade was a way to minipulate CEDU books - a fake splinter group, but, now, it all makes sense how thay could do everything exactly the same, even the profeets.
Very interesting.
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it was the same cult run by allgood and wasserman they just moved farther away from law enforcement because they got tired of having to lie to the sheriff because he knew they were lying. it was also so staff would not run away. if you would not lie you were labeled disloyal and they would turn other staff vs. you.
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I've been posting on the Teen Help forum for a couple of years. I occasionally visit this forum and have suspected that my son was subjected to CEDU techniques, but on some level haven't wanted to deal with the possibility.
Before I'm attacked for being a 'program parent' let me say that I didn't place my son and lost everything I had unsuccessfully fighting to have him removed.
Also, I have seen Hidden Lake loosely associated with CEDU, but never found confirmation of a connection. This is the first time I've seen them mentioned on this forum. I did find websites that listed HLA, along with RMA, BCA, and others as CEDU facilities. I posted those links on the TH forum. Just this week I checked the links and the information linking them to CEDU has been removed from those sites.
Rudy Bentz of course, was the first headmaster there, but had moved on to start another east coast facility before my son arrived. That facility, Academy at Swift River, was soon in trouble with the local authorities for not possessing a license and for allegations of abuse filed by a former employee. I would like to hear why Bentz left HLA if anyone has inside knowledge of that.
HLA appears to be an independent facility, with no stated associations to any particular organization, but as of 2001, they still used some CEDU terms and methods. They had peer groups, raps, reals, fall-outs, bans, restriction. Those are a few of the terms my son used that I can recall. I can't remember him ever mentioning profeets, and I'm not sure what that is. Perhaps they changed the name of that particular practice.
He will be moving near me this fall to attend college. We haven't talked alot about the experience, he'd rather forget it at this point, but I hope to get to ask him to relate more details of his experience. After reading some of the recent posts here, I'm particularly interested to know if his counselors required him to divulge his sexual activity (if there was any) publicly. I know they badgered him into admitting that he had drug problem. And numerous times he was put on restriction without any form of proof, for allegations people made about him in reals. Once he remained on restriction after the girl admitted that she had lied. I can only imagine this was done in case her confession was a lie.
I tend to think that perhaps Bentz was fired after he got the place up and running, but they kept some of the CEDU techniques he'd originated. The owner appears to be more cautious and conservative than some. Anyone have an opinion or knowledge of this?
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Right now I'm out of energy to write the full deal on CEDU but with propheets they were 24 hour to 3-5 day workshops/raps they were intense, coercive, sessions that really broke you down.
I don't know where bentz is anymore. He was definitely as CEDU-fied as you can get. i did a search and came up with santa fe, nm. don't knowif its accurate.
As far as sexual activity, you would not believe the stuff people had to disclose. Normal (but humilaiting activities) were disclosed (by enormous pressure) in group settings and then you were totally ridiculed by the staff and the bully students. You also had to listen to some pretty far out disclosures about bestiality and other unique activities. If you had a traumatic experience, you were made to feel dirty. If you tried something in the realm of normal teenage activities you were humiliated and called names. If you had ONE boyfriend, you "spread your legs to the world" and some people, I've learned were coerced to confess to activities that didn't happen. (Life was hell if they had the script and you didn't follow it.) One guy had to go to the doc for maleproblem (not an STD) and the family head humiliated him publicly over and over again in the rap. I was appalled. If you go back and work your past the old stuff you will find many descriptions of the CEDU experience from students and staff. Read them. Some posts are abusive and and hate-filled so just disregard those, because there is a lot of value here.
I could be wrong, but Bentz might be in Santa Fe doing God knows what. If your son needs to vent about or close the experience he can come here and do it. He may find a good person to IM stuff. I started at this site 15 years later because I had never previously discussed it--I mean who would understand?
In any event, enjoy your time with him and let him know you are always available for him. Don't blame yourself--the ed con or counselor does good sales spin. If you look at the brochure, it looked good. YOur thinking discipline, structure in a beautiful setting KUMBAYA MY LORD KUMBAYA
But the insulation, the cut off from reality, the breaking down of spirit to never be brought up...the monitored phone calls to mom and dad and their manipultive posts back. School was vocab list and standing around a campfire rubbing sticks. And then, from top down it appears the level of education is not up to snuff, so no real issue was resolved. No, staff got internet degree and were nonaccredited apparently. THeir plan was to teach CEDUOLOGY. Nothing truly therapeutic which is why you see grads standing on the platform with a smile and crashing soonafter, doing worse than they ever done. Its why people who are successful, caring people post about the PTSD and nightmares they suffer from the place. there are mnay people like me who take the CEDU line because its been so conditioned and then watch it unravel. You had to clone to survive being least harassed. It wasn't easy. When was he around?
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Thanks for the reply.
He was there between Nov 2000 and May 2002. Blaming myself is not a problem, as turning one of my children over to strangers would never cross my mind. He knows I fought for him. We were both disappointed that my efforts weren't successful.
Even though he understood what they were doing (manipulation, coercion, brainwashing) and resisted, there is no way someone could live in that 24/7 for 20 months and not be affected. My own opinion is that those who completely 'buy it' are the ones who it appears to work for. Those who continue to resist will have a great deal of confusion to sort out and suppressed anger to vent- because they have to appear to buy it, all the time knowing it's utter bullshit.
As far as him venting. They did a bang-up job on silencing him. He keeps his thoughts and feelings to himself now- a result of the conditioning. He will open up to me when we have been together long enough. It's as if they conditioned him to believe that no one wants to hear what he has to say or what he's feeling. When the time is right I'll introduce him to this site. Perhaps if sees others publicly discussing their experiences, it will encourage him to do the same.
I can imagine that relating one's experience could feel humiliating if the listener has no frame of reference. Who wants to share their most vulverable pain and have it minimized?
I can relate to, "who would understand". People just glass-over when I talk about it. I imagine that they think I'm exaggerating, and that perhaps my son really needed some 'tough love'. You really can't grasp it all unless you've been through it. I appreciate Ginger for providing this venue.
Links to some of my experience:
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 68&forum=9 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3368&forum=9)
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 22&forum=9 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=5722&forum=9)
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 9&start=20 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?Sort=&topic=4886&forum=9&start=20)
Re Bentz- he was replaced at ASR in Sept 2003:
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 26&forum=9 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=2826&forum=9)
He started at HLA in 1994:
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... /np03.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/1994/10/np03.html)
I can't find anything on him currently.
The links I provided in this thread:
http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.ph ... 49&forum=9 (http://www.fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=3349&forum=9)
draw a connection between HLA and CEDU. If you follow the link now, you will see that the information that I posted has been removed from the sites.
This article seems to support the notion that HLA was not patterned after CEDU, without of course mentioning the name specifically:
http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives ... sit01.html (http://www.strugglingteens.com/archives/1995/12/visit01.html)
Educational consultants love to compare and categorize schools, and in conversations I have been involved in, Hidden Lake has often been pointed to as an East coast version of some well known West coast schools. (CEDU?) Some even take that further and conclude that Hidden Lake evolved out of the staff and experience of those older schools. (Bentz certainly came from CEDU)Leonard Buccellato is emphatic that Hidden Lake is it's own creation and did not evolve out of another system.
There are, however, some understandable similarities. For example, Hidden Lake and other schools do work with similar types of students. Dr. Buccellato points out that research and experience have shown that any successful school that works with similar students will have to have some similar elements. For example, for kids with these behavior;/emotional problems, two groups a week is not enough and four or five groups a week would be too much. Consequently, to be effective, any school would settle on three groups a week. In addition, culminating workshops are most effective about every three to four months to have maximum impact. So, he concludes, any similarities are surface only, and when you look deeper under the surface at Hidden Lake, you will find significant differences from any other schools.
(So, he changed the frequency of groups and workshops, but what about the content and techniques? That is the question.)
One of the major differences is in program length, which at eighteen months is shorter in duration than some other schools. Dr. Buccellato explained this was planned in order to avoid the program dependency some students have developed in other programs.
(While the length of the program may be shorter than CEDU, their 'guarentee' requires that the teen be placed in a traditional boarding school upon graduation- who they apparently have an agreement with. If the teen reverts to old behaviors they are returned to HLA.)
Therapeutically, the cognitive needs of the child are addressed as well as the emotional growth and development. Another unique feature of Hidden Lake Academy is its emphasis on staff credentials. Counselors hold a minimum of master's degrees in various therapeutic disciplines and/or come to the Academy with solid experience in the field. Teachers hold baccalaureate or graduate degrees and are certified, some in the area of special education. Teachers and counselors work together in teams to implement the insight-oriented curriculum which helps students achieve the highest level of success possible, both academically and emotionally.
After Len and Rudy taking me through the founding and philosophy of the school, I tend to agree: Hidden Lake Academy is unique and it's own creation. It is not a new configuration of another older system. I had a chance to visit with the two students I had referred to the school, and I was pleased with their progress. Good things are happening there. It is a good place for struggling teens.
[ This Message was edited by: Deborah on 2005-03-26 12:53 ]
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bentz came from cedu running springs he is cedu all the way. he is a brainwashed control freak who thinks that because it is good for him it is good for your kid. he was non materialistic but being a puppet of mel wasserman and allgood turned him into a bloodsucker. all those cedu staff have there own cults and they lie when they say they came up with it. they are all scamming together and the "credentials" are so the state will not shut them down and because they have been sued many times for extortion and racketering. mark wasserman is in palm springs with millions mel stole from his friends like michael landon and overprotective parents who let there kids be brainwashed under the guise of making friends. they kids think that because the program works for them it will work for you the staff are all liars who have to lie to keep there jobs and they do what rudy says or they are labeled a disgruntled employee. they are all in denial especially the ones like allgood who ran cascade which shut down when the students figured out the truth. it is practice for allgood to cut and run whenever students leave so he can cover his ass make off with the money.
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michael allgood was scam artist who ran cascade with other coercive types who would say anything to keep parents from coming to visit. if you know anything about the massive walk out over abuse that caused cascade to shut down start a post
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I really want to know more about what happend at cascade! I went there & would like to know if there was any abuse going on! :question:
People who kow should really start talking or else everyone will start believing Allgood's lies!
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I was in cedu in 73 and i would love to hear more about what the others have to say. I went through hell with allgood and a few others.. they were brainwashers and what about the staff members who were sleeping with the students!! Anybody enconter that? Minors to top it all off,yeah all good was a piece of work wasnt he? please respond...
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when were you there? i was there in 73 yeah what was up with those profeets? just a bunch of mind altering games to minors and what about the staff sleeping with the students...someone from 72-74 speak up i know you are out there and went through the same hell all of us did.
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i was in cedu in 73 and it seems like all the posts im reading werent too much different from when i was there...especially with allgood and a few of the other staff members who were having sex with the minor students in my dorm...respond please this is becoming pretty interesting. Im not aware of all these other programs but I surely remeber all the hell and torture they put us through..
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back in 75 melzer was sleeping with girls they would always push marraige but this insensitive abusive asshole was single and his abuse was always covered up by blaming the child allgood said he could do whatever he wanted because he had the power of god i heard this righteous asshole got busted in whitmore , ca and parents would not let their kids go back to this abuser and he claimed that declinging enrollment was the cause to cover it all up. amazing he did it for so many years and the insecure neurotic resentment filled bullies/molestor wanna bes stayed out of fear for their lives or "loyalty" to this scam artist and jim jones knock off who believed that everything he thought was the truth and fuck anybody who didn't allow themselves to be abused and tortured and mindfucked to death.
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Meltzer was with many girls in our dorm.. but then again, then so was Rudy, and Allgood was busy with the boys dorm. What about when they had these dorm heads that were sleeping with all the Girls in our dorm. Even afterwards, kids would run away but most back then were court ordered so they would get sent back to go through that "dishpan" punishment A friend of mine and I had to take the trash out of the big trash can and scrub it with a tooth brush then put the trash back in! WOW! I would love to find some people who know anything about Allgoods whereabouts ..I would love to nail them for the hell they put me through and how those profeets fucked up my head..I know theres people from the early 70's out there that feel the same. Guess the best thing we can all do is remeber they will have to answer for their actins one day, I know its not much comfort now, but unless people stand up and go after them, guess theres not much else you can do.
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what years did this happen with rudy melzer and allgood? must have been before allgood ran up north to cascade that is where he went when caught in the act
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Actually my math was off I was there in March 70 It was a nightmare from day 1, Rudy, Melzer, Allgood, and a few others, names not worth mentioning, they werent as bad as allgood group. I dont see how they got along with it for as long as they did. I would love to know there where abouts today. I know things that would put them away for awhile at least. Or, the very least, cost them some bucks!! Mel wasserman had us down in shopping malls begging for money. If you got an oppty. like that to get off the hill , one would grab it, in a heartbeat. Its a comfort to know now, that I wssnt the only one who encountered all of this crap. Took many years to "undo" it from my life. I even know someone who Killed themeselves, and heard it was from him not being able to cope after leaving CEDU...I am not familiar with hidden lakes/ cascade. Is that where they all ended up going? Where is Mel wasserman? We should all put our stories together for the the past 34 years and I bet we could put an End to them quickly. I could tell you stories that would make your head spin. If any of these molesters/brainwashers/pigs are still alive today, I would appreciate if any one knows there where abouts, if they would reply...thx
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Allgood was last caught molesting children in whitmore, ca where he ran a cult called the cascade school melzer ran as usual to escape charges he sodomized a boy at least when we were there he used baby oil rudy got fired back east when he would not obey a police command to stay away from boys he was heard to be in georgia where the government could not catch him back when i was there they used to extort money out of kids by making them call their parents or social worker and ask to stay, there was this one kid they thought had money and they tried to get him to call his parents and turn over money to one of their under age girlfriends usual cult stuff it was exposed later by authorities that it was a cult and the excuse the cult followers/staff gave was they had to do whatever allgood said or they would be killed. i guess you heard about dana quigley being forced to commit suicide. rumour has it that he was going to go to the cops and danielle mike melzer and wasserman set it up to look like a suicide staff had to keep wasserman away from parents so they would not see how he really was and take their kid home mel wasserman was the oj simpson of the 70's he believed his own lies especially the one that he was helping people and hey he got away with murder too mel passed away before he could be indicted for murder
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If you dont mind me asking when were you there? I dont know of dana quigley, or maybe I just dont rmember the name. So what if anything happened to Allgood? The suicide you told me about is not the same one I heard about, I heard "david" blew his brains out because he just couldnt cope...geeezzz.... Now I know why. This is very tragic. I guess nothing can be done about any of it now. with mel being dead. I wish I only had heard about some of this stuff while it was happening I would have loved to make sure Allgood and Rudy ended up where they belong...In jail. Thanks for the info, if you would like to keep chatting, please reply. If theres any info I can offer you or anyone else, feel free to ask. Do you by chance know what the name of the school is now? Its still there, just dont know if its name or if its still affilated. Also if you dont mind me asking...do you reside in Calif? thx
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when were you there ? i was there in the 80's before pat brown left and the dana thing happened in 81 i heard that allgood's first wife the psychopath got some disease what was this david's last name and what do you know about it ? they sold out to brown schools like the hypocrites they are and allgood had cascade school which he shut down after too many parents removed their kids. the wasserman pricks lied to the brown schools and let them use the name while coercing them into a contract that was a lie so they could have "money" Lawsuits against them are common and suicides too and they still think they can lie as they were taught to
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I was there march 70. What wass allgoods 1st wifes name? That had to be just a convience marriage because in the 70's he was obviously Gay. As now we know he couldnt keep his hands off the boys then or now it seems. Did he lie his way out of it? Did he get prosecuted? I heard that the boys name was david Hazzerd. Not from this state, I remember that much. I guess Rudy switched over because back then he was hitting on the Girls. Who were all like 14-15 yrs old. What happened to I think her name was brigetta (mels wife)? Cant remeber his daughter name. Who is this Dana Quigley? What kind of punishment was given when you were there? Did they shave the boys heads and cut the girls hair to like 3 inches long when upon arrival? Do you mind me asking if you or Male or Female? THX! for the info.. I knew someone who was like one of the first people to attend cedu in late 60's, and it seems to had just starting to become the hellhole that it was. Seems much worse though hearing what you had to be around. EWWWWWW I can see Allgood's face still to this day. What a PIG!
I am very interested in knowing if Allgood is still alive?
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danielle is her name and she was not with him at cascade because he had a new one there. You say he was Gay . the weird thing is he had some abuser pal who was a former student named melzer who hated gays and would tell his victims that they would turn gay because women did not like losers. danielle hated gays too so the allgood being gay thing is odd because cedu always believed that gays were bad and the product of overbearing mothers and absentee fathers. cedu would not allow gays unless they were students so they could abuse them. dana was a "counselor" whose suicide was blamed by allgood on the fact that he was...get ready for this....gay. they had to stop shaving after allgood though it get him closed. allgood is running cascade in california. How do you know rudy benz the 6'5 guy? we were told he did not show up until the late 70's. you must have been there when pinky and carmen were there.
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Hmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!! totally confused now, Because I sat in many raps,profeets, where I saw counselors get busted, kids who copped to being gay, I am gay, and had this affair with my dorm head, in CEDU and out. Back then alot of them were from Synanon. Allgood I know had sex with at least 3 of the male students that I can remember. Maybe he changed... I dunno. But when I was there it seemed like everybody (meaning staff) were sleeping with many students. if im not mistaken, there were 2 melzers eric and mike. Rudy I think was originally fron NY...cant say for say for sure. I think Rudy left and came back later, He was definetly there though, when I first went allgood was my family head, then they moved me to Rudy, then I requested to be moved to John Stallone, who probably was the only one who had a heart. We had dorm leaders and every single one of mine were gay, so I dont know where you heard they hated gays, because they hired a bunch of them, and wasserman was aware of it. In fact, thats when I came "out" thanks to the help of my dorm leader who was staff. Maybe things changed after mid 70's but when i was there, I want to say there was at least 25 kids and at least 6 staff members I know for a fact that were gay. This is quite bizzarre. I dont know of pinky or carmen who were they? They must have came right after I left.
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I can tell you right now taht I went to CEDU, being gay was PROHIBIDO!!! So was sleeping with students. It totally disgusts me that this was allowed and why aren't these guys in jail?????
I think Pinky sometimes visits the yahoo site.
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when were you at CEDU? There was all kinds of abuse going on when I ws there. Some kids didnt say anything because alot of them were court ordered back then, and it would only mean getting placed maybe in a more lock down facility, so many were content with Cedu...I guess. I dont know how they got a way with any of this stuff, if you read the other posts it seems like its been going on from cedu to hidden lake to this casacade place. I only know what happened at cedu. GOOD QUESTION!!!WHY ARENT THEY IN JAIL?? If I could get some confirmation on there where abouts I would in a heart beat pursue a lawsuit, Many people went through mental, verbal sexual abuse...including myself. Allgood would after 1 yr. of being there allow you to have relations with another student, he called it your Fu**king privledges...Everything when I was there had to be earned. So sometimes its like if you wanted something special like a trip to the store in running springs, you would have to do something to earn it...usually not anything one would want to talk about. I dont know pinky...does she ever posts any of her experiences on here? I wish I could find more people who were from CEDU who would step up and say something. This needs to be stopped & Allgood needs his ass locked up, along with a few other of his followers. Allgood always had that Holier than thou attitude and I would love to see his sick little world come crashing down around him after all of these years. What years were you there from?
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I was there in the late eighties.
Definitely I witnessed a whole program based on psychological/verbal abuse. Defdinitely unethical to the extreme in terms of "therapy"--I can't believe these places persist. I wasn't aware of any sexual abuse, but I kept myself pretty closed off. At that time, it was strictly verboten for students to flirt much less fuck, so we had no Fu%^&*$ contracts. I think they were trying to appear as a "credible" school so they had to institute those rules. If kids got pregnant, parents would pull them out and CEDU did not want this. In fact, sex and even normal sexual feeling was not only discouraged but made into an unnaturally bad urge. If you had sex, you were a slut.
I think Pinky visited a site called therapsheet on Yahoo.
Allgood sounds like a total schmuck of the worst order. The only one I knew of the people you mentioned were Rudy and his wife Jill, but I never progressed to their "families" so I was only in a few raps with them.
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Thx for the info about therapsheet@yahoo I may just go take a look there and see what these people say. This is so horrible that CEDU and these other 2 facilitys affected ssssoooooo many peoples life the way they have. I dont understand it either how they remain open, and why no one seems to be able to prosecute them. I feel for any one who has gone thru any of their programs, I wish you the best, and everyone else who has become screwed up over this. Ive pretty much just learned to block it out at times. Its just a shame.
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Was this Rudy you mention Rudy Benz we heard he came there in 78 from philly or some place was he there in the 70-74 pinky time. they were assholes then and they are serial molestors who think that they can do whatever they want especially allgood he just fucks kids over and over and his followers let him have his way with kids the excuse they give is that it is their place and they do what they want Mark Wasserman is son of mel and he is one spoiled prick. mel used to force kids to go beg for money in town and then molest them if they did not have enough for him to give to poor little markie and the other fucks. allgood believes he is superior to all and whatever he says is the almighty. tell us some ceduites who came out of synanon besides art . whenever confronted about synanon they would say they did not approve of it so they went to cedu but at the same time they were conspiring with synanon members. They LIE because they believe that the ends justify the means just like the Republicans they say they hate
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Like I said in earlier post i wasnt sure if rudy was from NY or where??? YES, it was the same Rudy. Who in heck is pinky? Sounds so familiar but I just cant place her. If you can tell me more about her, it may trigger my memory. I am not sure I remember Mark Wasserman,,,I do remeber his wife or perhaps ex Grigetta and the daughter danille? she was a spoiled brat as well. Yes, Mel had us in san bernardino to L.A. at all the shoppimg malls begging for money as well. So if this was going on since 1970 he did pretty good for himself because he would send about 50 kids out in a day to k marts etc and we would hit the parking lots telling people our home was going to be closed down if we didnt get a new fire alarm system . Damn... I dont even think we had one. I do know right before I left they started to build him a new home. Between the private pays and the county Mel was cleaning up back then I think it was like $2500 for private pay. Could very well been more. As far as them running it like synanon they ran it pretty damn close. I think maybe not as tough but pretty close considering these were all minors they were dealing with. Hell, I never used drugs till AFTER i left CEDU. Does anyone know how old mark wasserman is? or his whereabouts? & does anyone know where allgood resides today? thx
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mark was the spoiled sociopath son of mel the blood sucking money vampire who forced by coercion kids to beg or be molested by allgood. cedu "records" say that benz did not arrive until 1977 but hey allgood used to hide illegals by not showing them on the payroll. it was his job to lie to state investigators when victim's social worker would find out abuse and brainwashing was going on. mel did quite a number on leslie landon matthews, he conned her into believing that it was a place to make friends and help people with their insecurities and jealousies. mel really liked to blow smoke up the ass of hollywood brats, he wanted to be a rich famous person and now he is.thanks to allgood conning the brown schools that cedu was "profitable" selling them the place and leaving them holding the bag. allgood lies to everyone so he and his molesting pal melzer can remain solvent and the baggage filled sheep who are his cult just do what he says for the paycheck.
mark wasserman is an even richer asshole with brigette who still accuses her employees of stealing and is a jewish american princess who complains about everything. thanks to allgood conning the brown schools that cedu was "profitable" selling them the place and leaving them holding the bag. allgood lies to everyone so he and his molesting pal melzer can remain solvent and the baggage filled sheep who are his cult just do what he says out of get this "loyalty", yes, the couselors have had it drilled into them that if they report abuse or leave because they are sick of watching kids be molested they are considered disloyal by allgood. Allgood was shut down running cascade, a cedu clone in whitmore,ca. he got caughts with his pants down and tried to cover it up by keeping the kids from the parents by saying they could not come to the phone.
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they had fucking privileges at cascadE???
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I DONT KNOW IF CASCADE HAD FUCKING PRIVLEDGES ....BUT CEDU DID. NEVER MATTERED THOUGH, BECAUSE KIDS WERE DOING WHAT THEY WANTED TO ANYWAYS. HEY, AND WHEN YOU HAD YOUR COUNSELOR BRINGING EVEYONE "OUT" WHO FOLLOWED RULES?
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I dont know about CEDU Records, I worked in The Medical record dept they had and even with that I saw at the age of 15 something wasnt right. I am 100 percent that Rudy was there when I was in the early 70's. When first at cedu, Allgood was your first family head, I think he then decided if you stayed in his family or got moved to a different family head. I went from allgood ...to rudy....then to john stallone..then a friend & I split, got sent back went thru this 2 wk punishement called "dishpan" from morning to late night, after I completed my dishpan, I got kicked out. :smile:))) OH HAPPY DAY!!!
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Deborah,
Not sure if you are checking this board much anymore. I am a psychologist who worked as an administrator at HLA at one time. I count the experience as one of the most traumatic in my life. Things ended in court and I suffered financial and emotional ruin. I have to be very careful about details, as I'm bound by a gag-order of sorts, but I can answer general questions. I know why Rudy left HLA, among other things. I am unaware of anything he did wrong at HLA, regardless of his past. His termination was planned long before it happened. Sorry, I can't sign my name here. My financial and even physical safety depend on my anonymity.
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Thank you for your courage.
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Feel Free to speak the truth, your rights are protected on this message board. all opinions are welcome and you are not the only victim of rudy benz so fellow victims will stand by you
Your physical and financial safety are fine. Rudy and other cedu clones use threats to coerce staff. the confidentiality clause they coerce you into signing is so they can cover up illegal activity like emotional and physical terrorism. Feel Free to violate it. they violate things whenever they "feel" like it and they always have an excuse usually that you provoked them or they are defending their pride. Do not fear them taking you to court. they threaten to use the legal system to scare you and to make themselves look like the victim. As a former staff who was around rudy benz i can tell you that he will never show up for court or physically attack you, he is a coward. if he tries to affect your employment explain to him that you will sue him for defamation and retaliation by a former employer. have your prospective employers investigate him and they will discover that he is a former cedu child abuser under Michael Allgood who was shut down running cascade school in whitmore,ca. Rudy does not want his past abuses to become public record so he will not despite his threats ever go to court or hurt you. He has made so much money keeping his emotional terrorism school going that it is not worth it for him to terrorize you when he can get paid for it by gullible parents to abuse teens who desperately want to be accepted
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Staff in Raps
Posted: 2004-05-06 11:53:00
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They allowed the therapists to sit in the Raps at BCA but the program staff ridiculed and discounted them.
It was just a show for the parents and the State School Funding people.
The program staff made it impossible to introduce a therapuetic approach - Synanon remains.
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DONT BE AFRAID...YOU HAVE ALOT OF PEOPLE INCLUDING MYSELF WHO WOULD BACK YOU, WHO I DONT THINK YOU KNOW, SO SPEAK FREELY, BY READING ALL THESE POSTS THE LAST FEW WEEKS, YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE THAT RUDY, ALLGOOD, CEDU, WASSERMANS WERE ALL MOLESTERS, & ABUSERS. HERE IS A QUOTE THAT I LEARNED AT CEDU....THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE" PRETTY IRONIC HUH? THE MORE WE SHARE, THE MORE OTHERS MAY REALIZE THE SCUM THAT THEY WERE. THX
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my sister got worked over by cedu. the director and a counselor had her as their child sex toy. if that wasn't enough, the sleep deprevation bullshit profeet is a joke. those dicks have no idea of the shit they stir up. i will join forces to get the national attention that place deserves. e 10/21/04
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Im sorry to hear yet, another victim of Cedu speak of the same crap. When was your sister there? I was there in early 70;s. Im interested in hearing about the counselor and other staff that conveinetly used her like they did all the others. I wonder if they were the same ones who abused us. I would like people to step up, and not be afraid, We need to put an end to Allgood and Rudy anif the wassermans, and the counselors. I mean if theres this many people it wouldnt be such a hard thing to do. I read these posts and so far, and im sure there are more, who just havent stepped up yet, but this goes back from what I can see since 1970 to the late 80's, thats alot of innocent kids who were sexually and mentally abused. Anyone else willing to step up?
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staff can tell you that what they say and what they do are two different things. if caught lying allgood will say that he has to lie because they cannot operate without lying. he will say that most people that want to leave end up wanting to come back so he will get on the phone before the kid makes the call and tell lies about the kid to get the parents to lie to the kid. he used to tie them down but staff caught him and untied the kids. allgood is very good at getting people to lie on his behalf. he uses friendship and loyalty to justify lying. in his mind he has rationalized it. under the system at cedu no staff can ever be guilty of anything because they all agree to lie if they are caught. keeping the racket going is all that matters to them not the health of the kid. they do not care about the kid they care about the "friendships" they have with each other and they sacrafice kids so they can be "friends" cedu believes that the ends justify the means and they will lie about kids to make themselves look like the victim. they will accuse the kid of being disloyal and turn others against her. they will get other kids to lie about the kid and say she or he was abusive or did this or that. anybody got any stories about danielle allgood
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Rudy caught again and this time it aint beating up negros or spreading liver on little boys or believing everything and coercing kids into doing whatever allgood says
this is the last I have heard about Rudy...
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES AT ACADEMY AT SWIFT RIVER
(September 18, 2003) John T. Powers, Executive Director, Academy at
Swift River, Cummington, MA, 800-258-1770, reports he has conducted
intensive self-evaluation over the past three months, and has
recently made several important organizational changes. One change
has been the elimination of the positions of Headmaster, held by Rudy
Bentz, and Training Director, held by Jill Bentz. He expressed
gratitude for the meaningful contribution that Rudy and Jill Bentz
have made to ASR over these past five years and wishes them the very
best in their future endeavors. A new position, Dean of the Faculty,
has been created to integrate the management focus for both the
therapeutic and the academic professionals. It will be held by former
ASR Dean of Academics, Peter Stevens, who has keen leadership and
administrative abilities. Also significant in this reorganization are
the enhanced staffing levels in the lower school segment of ASR,
which will result in substantially greater counselor time with
students. Powers encourages people to communicate with him about
their ideas and concerns regarding this organizational
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Thank you for giving me the info RE Rudy's last known where aboouts...thats all the Info we may need to track him down..Thanks again :smile: If I hear any different I will post if any one else is interested. You all have been a Great help, Thanks to all.
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i was a techer at cascade school and wondered ... i thought th emethods used were wrong but i needed a job. thought my students were great. i felt awful about how they were ripped away from everything. i left as soon as possible. those group encounter sessions were awful. i had no idea all this was going on but i believe it. but i think thr teachers were pretty out of it. we worked without a contract and had no say in anything. i thought the whole thing was a bit cultish.
wow.
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http://strugglingteens.com/news/tribute ... erman.html (http://strugglingteens.com/news/tributetomelwasserman.html)
here is a link
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Far And Away,
I post mostly on the Teen Help forum, but I do check the CEDU forum ocassionaly. I am convinced that Hidden Lake is a CEDU knock off, so reading others experiences of CEDU helps me understand the methods and how they evolved and how they might have affected my son. There are not many speaking specifically about HLA.
Sorry you had a traumatic experience. My involvement with them certainly was a horredous and distressing nightmare. Surreal.
Instant message me if you'd like to chat. I'd particularly be interesed in hearing your perspective on the methodology and your story if your comfortable sharing confidentially.
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hla is cedu knock off all right that rudy and jill bentz are cedu abusers all the way and whoever said cascade is cultish tell us who your employer and abusive staff was and we can tell you all
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Mel Wasserman died in 2002. His widow is on the board of the Boys & Girls Club of Monterey, CA.
Mark Wasserman and his wife Kim reside in Monterey. He plays golf.
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[ This Message was edited by: iknowcedulies on 2005-04-15 13:12 ]
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Warning signs of a destructive cult
Do you know someone in a destructive cult?
Warning signs!
Anyone could attack a group they disagree with by unfairly labeling it a destructive cult. How would you know whether it really were such a cult or not? Isn't there an objective method to evaluate groups for cultic tendencies? Yes. The following early warning signs can help you reasonably determine whether or not a group is likely to be a destructive cult, and if you should be concerned about a friend, coworker, or loved one being involved with it.
The main reason that the following destructive cult tactics are so damaging to both the individual and society is because they debilitate rationality and reduce empathy. Rationality and empathy are indispensable in making good personal and social decisions. History is littered with personal and social catastrophes where a lack of rationality and lack of empathy were its core causes.
Ask yourself if the following criteria apply to the group you are concerned about.
A destructive cult tends to be totalitarian in its control of its members' behavior. Cults are likely to dictate in great detail not only what members believe, but also what members wear and eat, when and where members work, sleep, and bathe, and how members think, speak, and conduct familial, marital, or sexual relationships.
A destructive cult tends to have an ethical double standard. Members are urged to be obedient to the cult, to carefully follow cult rules. They are also encouraged to be revealing and open in the group, confessing all to the leaders. On the other hand, outside the group they are encouraged to act unethically, manipulating outsiders or nonmembers, and either deceiving them or simply revealing very little about themselves or the group. In contrast to destructive cults, honorable groups teach members to abide by one set of ethics and act ethically and truthfully to all people in all situations.
A destructive cult has only two basic purposes: recruiting new members and fund-raising. Altruistic movements, established religions, and other honorable groups also recruit and raise funds. However, these actions are incidental to an honorable group's main purpose of improving the lives of its members and of humankind in general. Destructive cults may claim to make social contributions, but in actuality such claims are superficial and only serve as gestures or fronts for recruiting and fund-raising. A cult's real goal is to increase the prestige and often the wealth of the leader.
A destructive cult appears to be innovative and exclusive. The leader claims to be breaking with tradition, offering something novel, and instituting the ONLY viable system for change that will solve life's problems or the world's ills. But these claims are empty and only used to recruit members who are then surreptitiously subjected to mind control to inhibit their ability to examine the actual validity of the claims of the leader and the cult.
A destructive cult is authoritarian in its power structure. The leader is regarded as the supreme authority. He or she may delegate certain power to a few subordinates for the purpose of seeing that members adhere to the leader's wishes. There is no appeal outside his or her system to a greater system of justice. For example, if a schoolteacher feels unjustly treated by a principal, an appeal can be made to the superintendent. In a destructive cult, the leader claims to have the only and final ruling on all matters.
A destructive cult's leader is a self-appointed messianic person claiming to have a special mission in life. For example, leaders of flying saucer cults claim that beings from outer space have commissioned them to lead people away from Earth, so that only the leaders can save them from impending doom.
A destructive cult's leader centers the veneration of members upon himself or herself. Priests, rabbis, ministers, democratic leaders, and other leaders of genuinely altruistic movements focus the veneration of adherents on God or a set of ethical principles. Cult leaders, in contrast, keep the focus of love, devotion, and allegiance on themselves.
A destructive cult's leader tends to be determined, domineering, and charismatic. Such a leader effectively persuades followers to abandon or alter their families, friends, and careers to follow the cult. The leader then takes control over followers' possessions, money, time, and lives.
If you know someone who belongs to a group that demonstrates a significant number of these warning signs and you would like more information on how to deal with destructive cults or mind control, go to http://www.factnet.org (http://www.factnet.org).
Now have a look at Thought Reform Exists
We Strongly recommend that you read the Influence Continuum
We Strongly recommend that you read the CODE OF ETHICS FOR SPIRITUAL GUIDES
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you finally wrote something really worthwhile.
thank you.
what is your story? will you share with us your experience?
I know cedu lies too!
Keep it up, compadre.
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all you anonymous out there register under a name so you can be sent private messages. do not fear posting as it is our right to expose them as the fraudulent child molestors they are.
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If I am responding to an anon, i will be anon, otherwise you all can count on me for the same.
Occasionally I make positive comments as anon too.
that is what I wanted to say.
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On 2004-12-15 19:59:00, Anonymous wrote:
"you finally wrote something really worthwhile.
thank you.
what is your story? will you share with us your experience?
I know cedu lies too!
Keep it up, compadre."
I may have/ or may not have wrote that.
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please tell me hla isn't still like everything they are describing. my grandchild was placed there recently. if it is as bad as it was in the 70s how can we get this child out? can you provide any other informatin or head me in another direction? Your help is vital and very much appreciated
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It disgusts me to hear these stories that all of you are bringing forward. I was pulled from Boulder Creek Academy (one of the few remaining cedu schools of any stature) in August of '02 after 22 months. Boulder Creek seemed to be pretty much void of the molestation and absolute abuse you all are describing, but that in no way means that I do not believe it. These people had the power to do all that, so why wouldn't they?
I want to help in any way I can against any sort of cause that can bring cedu to its knees. I was not hurt in the ways you are describing, but I witnessed the lies, deceit, and certain degrees of abuse of power firsthand.
To the credit of the teacher who posted here, she/he is correct. If there was one group of cedu "staff" that had the students' well-being at heart 100% of the time, it was the un-contracted teachers. Much thanks to them for doing the best they possibly could to help us.
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I was a Cedu student for almost exactly 1 year, when the 'core' staff decided to go off and start the Cascade School. I was on my 'OutwardBound' (The first one that Dennis Crowell ran without Craig Cass along, in Mineral King)when most of the students were told of the move, and was greeted with the news of the Cascade move before we could even shower or eat, upon our return from OB... I made the decision to leave CEDU and join the other staff and students leaving for the 'new school', on my birthday (which coincidently was the official day that marked the beggining of Cascade School and was celebrated as founders day from then on). There was the typical birthday thing with a house around the pit, at lunch time, and I was told directly after that, that I needed to go pack my belongings and be off the property by 2:30pm.
We were not privy to much of the decision making processes that went into the move, so I really don't know what the motivation was for most of the staff. Much of what I've been reading here about sexual abuse is news to me, but not really surprising. I do remember one staff being asked to resign after he was caught with his hand in a female students cookie jar...The verbal and mental abuse seemed to be the most common (that I know of)
I too have been in raps/propheets, where the pressure to 'cop out' to 'dirt' was so immense, that I had to make up some devious deeds to cop out to. On one occasion, in my 'I want to Live' propheet, the pressure to cop out was so bad, that I made up a lie about trying to poison my mother. I was then made to TELL my mother this, which understanably strained our relationship for quite awhile. Between 'Power Tripping Interns' and undertrained and sometimes dysfunctional staff, I did witness mental abuse in many forms while I was there.
There are still things I look back on fondly. Mostly relationships, and the bonds that are built between peers under durress. Outward Bound was amazing, but the first one was ruined with the news of the staff leaving, so I did a second one at Cascade. Also did a 28 day trip along the John Muir Trail, from Yosemite to Mt Whitney. I was scheduled to go on the '86 Italy trip, but it was cancelled after the US airstrikes on Libya... It wasn't until shortly after I left that I realized that I was merely a dollar sign to many at of the staff at Cascade. The whole line about 'this will always be your home' quickly changed to 'We heard that you are not doing very well on your own, so we don't want you to come visit and poison our environment'.
I had no idea about the Cascade School closing until a couple days ago, and I am still somewhat shocked over it. I have lost touch with almost all of the people I once knew from Cedu/Cascade. I miss them all, and hope that everyone is doing well...
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On 2004-12-25 19:46:00, Anonymous wrote:
"please tell me hla isn't still like everything they are describing. my grandchild was placed there recently. if it is as bad as it was in the 70s how can we get this child out? can you provide any other informatin or head me in another direction? Your help is vital and very much appreciated"
You might petition the family courts in the child's home jurisdiction for custody or at least for a writ of habeas corpus. Ask around, though. Start your own thread. I know for a fact there are people in these forums who have been in your shoes and who would be glad to share what they've learned.
Nothing is denied to well-directed labor, and nothing is ever to be
attained without it.
--Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)
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Rudy is in Santa Fe as a "Consultant". Do a google search. You'll find him. And for the person who was "100%" sure that he was there in the early 70's, he was not. He started at Cedu in 79 or 80. Before that he lived in Los Angeles, before that Western Massachusetts and before that from Pennsylvania where he grew up.
I knew him well in the "pre-Cedu" days.
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[ This Message was edited by: iknowcedulies on 2005-04-15 13:13 ]
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I can't believe it -- Rudy is still doing the devil's bidding. These ed consultants are the worst offenders in my book. They sell lies and misrepresent themselves as experts. The only qualification most of them have is experience working as line staff at an abusive school.
When are people going to start suing these motherfuckers.
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what benz does is fraud and taught to him by the synanon racket that molested many and thought they helped everyone . they used us to fuck us up while saying "our program works if you do whatever we say" "we are about making friends"
whenever they accuse their victims of something they are projecting that means it is them who are guilty of whatever they are saying, whatever they say it is really the other way around they have conned many with their "i am your friend " crap. they only care about themselves and brainwashing you with their be loyal crap. they have quite a racket and think they are all so loyal. what about those you ruined ? guess there is an excuse for that ? [ This Message was edited by: wiseup on 2005-04-15 13:17 ]
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I'm blown away reading these posts, I hope you are still reading the replies. I was in cedu from 1973 to 1975. I think you are talking about Rudy (I can't remember his last name right now)from the 70's who is now deceased and they are talking about some guy named rudy bentz who was there later. My memories of allgood and meltzer and danielle are a little different. This is the first I've been hearing of molestation. I'm sorry, no matter how I feel about them personally, I have a hard time beleiving the physical abuse stuff. Mental, yes, but I can't see eric beating the shit out of some kid. allgood was a queen, I agree, but more like queen bee. I would like to talk to you more on my board which is called therapsheet. Here's the url: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/therapsheet/ (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/therapsheet/)
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I was at Cascade shortly after you founded the place. It was a nightmare. We were all convinced that this was the best place for us, even though something registered as being VERY wrong. Danielle was at Cascade, hell she taught me how to knitt. Most of us knew Michael was gay, it was obvious. I felt sorry for Danielle. Profeets and raps were torture on a new level. The anger and agression that people were attacked with was surreal. They never taught us how to let go of the anger they brought up in us. They charged up the anger had us beating pillows (which I beat until my hands were bleeding) yet it just lingered there waiting to be set off again.
I conformed as a result of the "Cascade way." I left 6 months before my graduation under bad circumstances. I lost everything as a result of not knowing how to cope with the situation or who to turn to. I lost the bond of trust and ran away. Maybe it would have been different had my father not absused me.
I never did learn how to effectively deal with life situations and as an end result I call people on their bs, and it doesn't fly in 'real life.' People in general don't want the truth and when you're the truth police you end up isolating yourself. Even now, I prefer to be alone, friends are too expensive- in all aspects.
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What Are Some Characteristics of a Cult?
Authoritarian in their power structure
Totalitarian in their control of the behavior of their members
Pyramidal structure
Uses thought reform techniques
Isolation of members (physical and/or psychological isolation) from society
Uses deception in recruiting and/or fund raising
Promotes dependence of the members on the group
Totalitarian in their world view
Uses mind altering techniques (chanting, meditation, hypnosis and various forms of repetitive actions) to stop normal critical thinking
Appear exclusive and innovative
Charismatic or messianic leader who is self-appointed and has a special mission in life
Controls the flow of information
Instills a fear of leaving the group. (See AFF)
Article:
What messages are behind today's cults? by Philip Zimbardo, Ph. D. from May APA Monitor.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
©Copyright by Carol Giambalvo, June 1995 except where noted
Carol Giambalvo
P.O. Box 2180
Flagler Beach, FL 32136
Phone: 386-439-7541 Fax: 386-439-7537
[email protected]
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you mean like the Marines? The Air Force, the Army? Religion, medical associations, schools and colleges? All of which have to conform to standards of behavior which is the norm for functioning in that environment. People can be persuaded to do things that are harmful and dangerous, i.e., Jim Jones, but in most instances the structure of civilization is the result of organized cultural norms and mores. If you compare CEDU to the Marines, that's good for me.
Maybe there is room up in the woods in Utah or Oregon for those that cannot conform to society. CEDU teaches the kids to conform to what is expected in today's society.
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Did you send your kid to CEDU?
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yes, is this a trick question? setting me up for a flame mail? hope not. We just made the best decision we could for our child. He has done well.
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On 2005-02-08 20:08:00, Anonymous wrote:
"yes, is this a trick question? setting me up for a flame mail? hope not. We just made the best decision we could for our child. He has done well."
i'm sure this is what you hear every month before you send those criminals their $6,500.00 check, but i doubt your kid is really doing as well as you think. one day he'll tell this himself, but this won't happend until after he's left Cedu. until then keep telling yourself that you "made the best decision for you child", however, in the end i think you'll find that Buyers Remorse is a Bitch!!! ::nod::
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On 2005-02-08 20:08:00, Anonymous wrote:
"yes, is this a trick question? setting me up for a flame mail? hope not. We just made the best decision we could for our child. He has done well."
Is that you, Mom? As we have discussed at length this year, I don't want you to feel bad...Just to know that those years HURT my future self. I thought we had been over that; I was BRAINWASHED when I said I would have killed myself if you hadn't sent me here.
-blownaway
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dear blownawaytheidahoway,
I am a mom of a CEDU son, but no, I'm not your mom. I'm sure I would be honored to know her, and you too.
I hope you are doing well out of BCA and that you are happy. I hope you can look back on your years there with some good memories and use the tools you learned towards a happy, productive future. Take care. A mom.
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On 2005-02-09 06:23:00, Anonymous wrote:
"
On 2005-02-08 20:08:00, Anonymous wrote:
"yes, is this a trick question? setting me up for a flame mail? hope not. We just made the best decision we could for our child. He has done well."
i'm sure this is what you hear every month before you send those criminals their $6,500.00 check, but i doubt your kid is really doing as well as you think. one day he'll tell this himself, but this won't happend until after he's left Cedu. until then keep telling yourself that you "made the best decision for you child", however, in the end i think you'll find that Buyers Remorse is a Bitch!!! ::nod:: "
Like Buying Betamax!
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This (the below) is great.
You forgot a few other things though.
The use of highly emotional content to behaviorally anchor feelings about the group
The use of "love bombing" See the book "Snapping"
This is the hugging and music and bonding tools. It is used to reward and to punish. They take it away and they give it when it serves their purpose.
Public shunning and ridicule of individuals who do not conform totally to group beliefs and norms.
Splitting.
You can't win no matter what you do. You can't get out of the circular reasioning process. When you find an irrational situation in the geoup, it is blamed on you - you are considered crazy if you see the sunshine and they don't. Yet, the next day they will talk about the sun and, when you remind them that they said it didn't exist, you are deliberately undermining the group or school and you are comitting treason. The truth is the lie and the lie is the truth.
Disasociation:
All of this brings on a crazy feeling where you are not sure what is up and what is down. You are hypnotized, suggestive and vulnerable to be coerced to any action such as doing injustice to peers.
In-group and Out-group dynamics. The insiders who have done the propheets are considered superior and the general non-cedu public "dont get it"
On 2005-02-08 14:55:00, iknowcedulies wrote:
"What Are Some Characteristics of a Cult?
Authoritarian in their power structure
Totalitarian in their control of the behavior of their members
Pyramidal structure
Uses thought reform techniques
Isolation of members (physical and/or psychological isolation) from society
Uses deception in recruiting and/or fund raising
Promotes dependence of the members on the group
Totalitarian in their world view
Uses mind altering techniques (chanting, meditation, hypnosis and various forms of repetitive actions) to stop normal critical thinking
Appear exclusive and innovative
Charismatic or messianic leader who is self-appointed and has a special mission in life
Controls the flow of information
Instills a fear of leaving the group. (See AFF)
Article:
What messages are behind today's cults? by Philip Zimbardo, Ph. D. from May APA Monitor.
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©Copyright by Carol Giambalvo, June 1995 except where noted
Carol Giambalvo
P.O. Box 2180
Flagler Beach, FL 32136
Phone: 386-439-7541 Fax: 386-439-7537
[email protected]
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I am a graduate of CEDU (RMA) in 92. I worked at Hidden Lake Academy in GA in 97-98 under Rudy and Jill Benz.
I knew Buccalatto ( owner of HLA), he is the guy who sent me to RMA and I don't know what I was thinking going to work for him. It didn't work out. All the staff there were dirty control freaks, with no intent of helping kids- they were there to fill the empty tanks that housed their meaningless and massive egos. I've been long gone, and heard Rudy isn't there too. There were sooooo many dirty staff there, Im surprised it's survived this long
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I think I know you. Welcome to this good site!
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To MOM,
I respect your hope and I don't want to shame your decision, but the kids that are posting on this site are right (unless you are a Mormon) who believes you are going to be a God and rule ruthlessly over your assigned planet - like the Staff of CEDU.
I have investigated cults for 35 years and, I am behavioral scientist who studies social systems such as churches, business environments and schools. I have explored cedu's history and their current system extensively from the outside and from the inside.
My conclusion: CEDU is a dangerous, abusive cult
Your kid MAY survive and be fine. Nevertheless, he is not likely to thank you for this when he reads the research later in his life. This industry is currently being brought to it's knees by a plethora of lawsuits. CEDU Boulder Creek Academy, and the "just closed" Rocky Mountain Academy (Brown Schools) is being sued by 25 families for "child abuse." If that isn't telling enough to scare you and make you question the integrity of CEDU Brown Schools, then the problem is probably with you and not your child.
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Dear Mom,
I have a son who recently graduated from BCA. He did well and does not regret his experience there. Please Private Message me and we can talk more.
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Dear Mom,
I have a son who recently graduated from BCA. He did well and does not regret his experience there. Please Private Message me and we can talk more.
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all you anonymous former victims as either staff or kid get usernames so you can get private messages.
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MY BEST ADVICE WOULD BE TO GET THAT KID OUT OF THERE ASAP. I USED TO WORK THERE WHEN IT OPENED AND BELIEVE ME, NOTHING GOOD CAN COME FROM IT...
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You worked there? Me too. I was there in '94 and '95. You sound like you could be one of a couple of people. maybe john? deanna?
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On 2005-02-18 10:04:00, Anonymous wrote:
"I am a graduate of CEDU (RMA) in 92. I worked at Hidden Lake Academy in GA in 97-98 under Rudy and Jill Benz.
I knew Buccalatto ( owner of HLA), he is the guy who sent me to RMA and I don't know what I was thinking going to work for him. It didn't work out. All the staff there were dirty control freaks, with no intent of helping kids- they were there to fill the empty tanks that housed their meaningless and massive egos. I've been long gone, and heard Rudy isn't there too. There were sooooo many dirty staff there, Im surprised it's survived this long"
i'm glad to see your post. reading it again, it occurred to me you might be patrick. anyway, i'm not here to guess identities. we all had a fucked-up time there and i guess it's reassuring to me to hear i wasn't the only one who left with scars.
i did hear from some of "my kids" after i had left (as well as some staff), and some of the things they told me were quite disturbing.
it seems that the staff that remained, in order to protect themselves from what apparently is only being legally dealt with now (10 years later) told incredible lies to the kids and to other staffers who were my friends in order to discredit me and statement i had made about them and the program.
for john lang: it bothers me to this day that you were told some ugly lies about me. i have always been hurt and saddened by the situation, and am troubled that i never had a chance to resolve it with you personally. just for the record: i NEVER, EVER made any disparaging remarks about you or told stories "out of class." i heard from one of our former kids that you were manipulated by rudy and others into believing i had made certain statements, which i never did.
i freely admit to torpedo-ing kristen. she was a no-good cocaine addict with really bad personal problems that she callously got me involved in and i have no regrets about outing her.
but let me repeat: NEVER did i make any disparaging remarks about you to anyone, staff or student.
well, i feel a little better just saying it, but i hope that someday you may actually read this and understand what happened. i valued your friendship deeply and hope you are doing well today.
sg
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Are you saying that you worked at HLA? Or were you a student at HLA? My curiosity is peaked as to who you are, but I seriously doubt that I know you. I've blocked those horrid days out! I wasn't there long.
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MEL WASSERMAN IS DEAD...DIED SEVERAL YEARS AGO.
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GOOD
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i am a former employee. i was there in '94 and '95. were you there at the same time?
i don't blame you for not wanting to remember...
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I was there in 97, spring and summer. I got fired. You were a little before my time. I wondered for a long time after I left what went wrong, then one day I realized that it wasn't me, it was them- I questioned myself for a long time and felt like a failure. It really hurt me.I still have a bad taste in my mouth when I think of those days. Do you live in GA?
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On 2005-03-09 08:04:00, busted wrote:
"I was there in 97, spring and summer. I got fired. You were a little before my time. I wondered for a long time after I left what went wrong, then one day I realized that it wasn't me, it was them- I questioned myself for a long time and felt like a failure. It really hurt me.I still have a bad taste in my mouth when I think of those days. Do you live in GA?"
i live in ny. i can identify with your feelings. the system there just isn't set up to help kids. if that was your goal, you would naturally feel like a failure. it's just something you wouldn't be able to accomplish there.
what were you fired for? who dropped the axe? rudy? len? curious as hell...
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Rudy was actually very nice to me and stayed out of it, Len was oblivious. Im still not exactly sure what happened. Im a graduate of a cedu school and stepped on a lot of toes. you can email me and we'll talk more...
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The whole experience hardened my heart, I was so niave. I thought I could help kids b/c I went through it too. I thought I would be such an asset, little did I know. The day I left campus for the last time, I questioned the whole world, is everyone as dirty and dishonest? Just thinking of it makes me cringe. It toughened me up though. I don't trust anyone as much as I did there.
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I have copied all the message in this thread that are relevant to HLA into a new thread on the HLA forum. You can continue the discussion there if you like.
http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?to ... m=41#90992 (http://fornits.com/wwf/viewtopic.php?topic=8859&forum=41#90992)
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While Eric Melzer and Michael Allgood were with CEDU in the 70's Rudy Bentz didn't start there until Feb 1981. Rudy was not part of the creation if Cascade in 1984 and at the time of his departure had been with CEDU longer than any other staff member that wasn't a Wasserman.
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Is there a possibility for a class action suit?
I'm just curious, have people been molested by the staff there, whether at CEDU or Cascade?
'87 graduate?
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to the annonymous poster who says he was there in the early 70's and talks about the sexual abuse by eric and allgood, please contact me via private message. I was there from '73 to '75 and want to talk to you,
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Wow, it's been a along while since I have been to this forum. I am saddened to see claims of sexual abuse by former students. I can't say I ever heard of such a thing while I was a student there. I am not discounting anyone's experience and I truly feel for you if you did experience abuse of any kind. While I do not agree with all the CEDU philosophies, I did take a few things that have helped me. After spending close to six years in and out of EGBS, I learned to take what works and leave the rest. Twenty years out also helps. *lol*
I do wish for those that are hurting and struggling to find peace. I had a really hard time adjusting to the real world when I got out, fell on my ass more times than I can count.
It takes time to acclimate all this stuff, it did for me anyway, and sort through what rings true and what does not.
I am here for anyone who wants to talk about their expereinces. I am no therapist, just another who was there.
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::bump::
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On 2004-11-05 12:37:00, Anonymous wrote:
"i was a techer at cascade school and wondered ... i thought th emethods used were wrong but i needed a job. thought my students were great. i felt awful about how they were ripped away from everything. i left as soon as possible. those group encounter sessions were awful. i had no idea all this was going on but i believe it. but i think thr teachers were pretty out of it. we worked without a contract and had no say in anything. i thought the whole thing was a bit cultish.
wow. "
I went to cascade. Who were you? You can e-mail me at [email protected] if you want to remain anonymous on this board.
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Mel Wasserman died? Ding dong the witch is dead...