Daily Bulletin

UW expert comments on cults -- shortened from a release from the UW news bureau

Aggressive recruiting on campus Catharine Scott, UW's associate provost (human resources and student services), says campuses all across the country are taking steps to ensure their students aren't harrassed by groups who aggressively recruit new members. "We're not talking about religion -- they could be selling widgets for all we care," says Scott, "The only thing we're concerned about is how our students are treated, and we won't allow them to be aggressively solicited by religious or any other groups." She describes aggressive recruiting tactics by groups who have approached students repeatedly, not taking 'no thanks' or 'I'm not interested' for an answer, and as arguing with students about why they should be interested and why they should attend meetings. Scott encourages students who are approached by groups to come to meetings or join as new members to ask whether a group is officially recognized by the Federation of Students. "The FEDS recognize a lot of religious clubs -- we want them and we welcome them," she says, "but they all conform to an agreement not to aggressively recruit on campus." Scott says UW students have a right to their privacy, and that's why rules about aggressive recruiting exist.

The negative, fearful view of cults that associates them with "mind control" is a myth that is fading in Canada, said Lorne Dawson, an associate professor of sociology and religious studies. Cults, or new religious movements, as experts on religion refer to 'non-traditional' religions, are neither so one-dimensional nor are their leaders the black-hearted monsters we have been led to believe.

Dawson said his findings and those of colleagues who study the sociology and psychology of new religious movements refute the popular misconception that cult equals evil.

For the vast majority of members of new religions, he said, research shows that such groups as Wicca, Soka Gakkai and Shambala Society (to name just three that are currently gaining in popularity in Canada) have a positive, and usually brief, influence on people's lives. The positive aspects of the majority of new religions far outweighs the negative aspects, with only a few ending in violence and tragedy, such as the Branch Davidians (Waco, Texas), Jonestown and the Order of the Solar Temple (Switzerland), yet these few have grabbed the most media attention.

Dawson, whose popular courses at UW and McMaster University on new religious movements draw more than 700 students each year, is the author of Comprehending Cults: The Sociology of New Religious Movements, published by Oxford University Press Canada in 1998.

Newcomers to such groups "are seekers", says Dawson. "Usually, they are also young adults with social or psychological issues to work out" who are attracted by belief systems offering benefits now, rather than in the promised hereafter. "Say you are 22 and feeling confused -- as we all do as very young adults. You meet people who say 'We are serving a great purpose, serving humanity' and you join them. Within the group, you work through your own issues and then go back to university or working life, having had the space and time to work out what your purpose and ambitions are."

For 90 per cent of new recruits, this identity growth cycle, "takes about two years." Dawson said. "Then they usually become critical of the new religion or its leader, or their friends leave, or they want more flexibility and fewer rules, or they object to the demands for cash donations these groups make or something sours and they depart, sometimes in stages."

Given that most members of new religions 'graduate' to a stronger sense of both self and purpose than when they joined, gaining maturity in the process, Dawson calls new religions a positive force in our culture. "All the evidence refutes the popular misconception that these groups are coercive or that they are brainwashing people," he said.

State-of-the-art microscopes in use -- reprinted from the annual report of the faculty of engineering

Using a recently acquired atomic force microscope, Professor Pu Chen and other members of the Waterloo Centre for Interfacial Engineering (WATCIE) are combining microscopic study with large-scale observation of membranes built from liquids, polymers, organic solids, or detergents. With applications as diverse as oil recovery and drug absorption, interfacial engineering is having an important impact on many new biomedical and engineering technologies.

Professor Marios Ioannidis is taking an inside look at porous materials like rock and bone using a new laser scanning confocal microscope which provides 3D images of the voids and channels within porous media. Understanding the microscopic structure of reservoir rock, for example, helps predict its ability to store and transport petroleum. Learning more about the microstructure of biological tissue and how it responds to environmental changes may have important implications for the treatment of cancer.

Professor Eric Jervis has built a multiphoton confocal microscope and is putting it to work in the emerging field of tissue engineering. This technology will eventually allow scientists to construct tissues for transplantation and to regenerate tissues following organ failure. Using multiphoton confocal imaging and other techniques, Jervis and his group are exploring some of the gaps in our knowledge of the structure and organization of tissues and biofilms.

Buskers, books and more

Tricia Mumby from Courseware Solutions tells professors "It's not too late -- if you still haven't ordered your fall 2000 courseware, please contact Courseware Solutions as soon as possible to insure shelving before the beginning of classes."

And finally, a note to students about the tuition fee deadline -- fee payment documents must be received by August 29, as late fees begin August 30. If you have not received your fee statement, please contact the cashier's office on the first floor of Needles Hall.

Avvey Peters
alpeters@uwaterloo.ca

Editor of the Daily Bulletin: Chris Redmond
Information and Public Affairs, University of Waterloo
credmond@uwaterloo.ca | (519) 888-4567 ext. 3004
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