http://tinyurl.com/q4fgj
Maharishi sued for not protecting students
ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 28, 2006
Two federal lawsuits claim the Maharishi University of Management in
Fairfield doesn't protect its students.
The lawsuits were filed separately in U.S. District Court by John
Killian, 23, a former student, and the family of Levi Butler, a
student who was killed in a stabbing on campus in 2004.
Butler was stabbed several times in the chest with a paring knife on
March 1, 2004 in the campus dining hall. The attack came several
hours after Killian was stabbed in the face with a ball point pen.
Shuvender Sem, 26, of Lancaster, Pa., was found not guilty by reason
of insanity in the attacks and committed to the Iowa Medical and
Classification Center at Oakdale.
The lawsuits, filed last Friday, claim the required twice-daily
regimen of meditation was dangerous for a mentally ill student.
``In particular, transcendental meditation can magnify psychological
problems, including the likelihood and severity of aggressive and
violent behavior,'' the lawsuits said.
The lawsuits say university employees ignored the first attack,
resuming classes and blaming the attack on Sem's improper meditation.
Sem was placed in the custody of Joel Wynsong, the university's dean
of men, and taken to Wynsong's apartment on campus, where he stole a
paring knife, court documents said.
He then fled the apartment and went to the dining hall where he
stabbed Butler, records show.
The lawsuits allege the university was negligent for failing to
recognize the threat Sem posed to students, reporting the initial
attack to authorities and keeping Sem away from other students after
he attacked Killian.
``We are very much looking forward to have the opportunity to bring
to light the events that lead to Levi Butler's death,'' said Stephen
Eckley, the Butler family's attorney.
Bill Goldstein, a lawyer for the school, said he was unaware of the
lawsuits and would have to review them before commenting.
****
If Sem had only been involved in twice-daily TM, that might have
been OK, but students were being told to meditate 10 minutes out of
each class hour, effectively doubling meditation time, clearly not
suitable for an unstable guy like Sem, who should have been allowed
to opt out of participation in these extra TM sessions.
Bob Brigante
http://geocities.com/bbrigante/updates2006.html
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing
http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/UlWolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
To subscribe, send a message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Or go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
and click 'Join This Group!'
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
