| Name |
Views and Comments | Date |
| Margaret marsde |
What has been the outcome with respect to the lawsuit considered/initiated by the relatives of the murdered Levi Butler against the Maharishi University? |
6/8/2006 |
| vtn2007@yahoo |
I agree with Dr. Kai Druhl said: 'There were certainly initial benefits for some of the students but the promise of complete enlightenment is just not true ... it just doesn't happen and I saw how this intense meditation can damage some students, particularly if they have mental problems.'
I m an international student studying in MUM. I have been here for 4 months already. I m really geting shock of this place since my first comming here. I m so tired of living, studying and eating vegetarian food here. I m new to USA, I came to USA for studying, not for Meditation, I m not meditator. I m thinking that i've choosed a wrong University. I really want to get out of this place now, but i can not. Most of international students here don't like meditation, but they have to do it, otherwise we will have the problem with our grade (Meditation is the required course). We are forcing to meditate around 6 times per day, 7 days a week. Some students are now becoming meditator, some are not. And I found some fews of those Meditators are looking uncommon.
In MUM, people treated Maharishi like thier god. Every words they said were about Maharishi and Meditation. They eat no meat, but vegetarian food. I thought this place is not the United State.
I wish i could leave this place soon, and I won't come back here.
It will became a sad experience in my life.
One of MUM student |
5/24/2004 |
| Bill Goldstein |
I was rather surprised by the Guardian's sensationally inaccurate coverage in Your May 2 article on Maharishi University of Management in Fairifeld, Iowa. I provided reporter Barnett the phone number of the local Chief of Police and his Lieutenant for information on how the March campus tragedy was handled. My communication to the reporter is attached. Mr. Barnett neglected to contact this objective source of information and relied instead on information from a former faculty member who converted himself to a brand of fundamental Christianity which considers the University's programs anathema to his current religious views, along with bulletin board emails from other individuals also ill qualified to provide objective or factual information.
The assailant was a new student at the University who had been here six weeks. It has since come to light he had a rather serious history of psychiatric problems which included violence. Under US law, designed to preclude discriminating against student admissions based on mental or physical handicap, Universities here are precluded from inquiring into the mental history of applicants. And Mr. Sem , until that tragic day, had appeared as a quiet and well mannered student; he had done nothing to indicate to the University his inclination to violence or mental problems. His first aggression at the University against Mr. Killian in the classroom appeared as a very brief , minor event which subsided as quickly as it occured, an apology resulted and order was very quickly restored, though Mr. Sem was taken into the custody of the Dean of Students and his parents contacted and a plane ticket obtained for him to return home the next day. There was no immediate need to contact the police to restore order, the parties involved were isolated, and the University was dealing with the internal investigation of the incident to determine its causes and the disciplinary consequences for the student.
Not all acts of aggression or assaults on college campuses result in reports to the outside authorities. Universities may prefer to deal with less serious student discipline issues through their internal disciplinary procedures rather than setting the University up as a regular criminal adversary to one of their students in court proceedings This is not the basis for spinning a headline "Cover Up", but simply one of the practicalities and sensitivities of campus life. The standards for such criminal reporting vary from campus to campus in America and are generally not hard and fast. . Maharishi University of Management recently convened a special Campus Safety Study Committee, on the heels of the Butler tragedy, which is looking at these issues and standards very carefully. Its members include the Director of the local Mental Health Center and the Lieutenant from the local police force, along with University Administrators. Its recommendations on these issues should be forthcoming shortly.
The TM program enjoyed by all the students and faculty at this fully accredited university has also been employed in the most high stress institutional environments, i.e., psychiatric insitutions, prisons and probation programs throughout the United States. Research on the benefits and efficacy of these programs and the lack of any adverse side effects has been very well documented by numerous scientific studies . It is ironic that reporter Barnett references some casual, absolutely unverified comments from a disaffected faculty member for the contrary implication.
The Readers of the Guardian deserve more thorough reporting than was provided. To this end we invite The Guardian to Iowa to properly "uncover" the nature of this unique institution and its approach to education.
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5/4/2004 | |
