This page maintained by David Gerard.

Victoria University of Technology, Scientology and me


Victoria University of Technology, in sunny Melbourne, Australia, is where I had the account I was using when I started on my merry path of criticising Scientology on the Internet. Unfortunately, VUT is run by jerks. Ask the students or staff. Indeed, they act very like they've been swallowing Hubbard Management Tech. (I am not implying that they have; they run the place that badly, however.)

I haven't got everything here, and it certainly isn't strung together as coherently as it might be. But you can start on the following:


a.r.s, 15 Aug 1995: *ahem* OK, Cult ...

In which I announce the first signs of the letters from da Ho'. Spit, curse.

Letter to Info Tech, 14th August 1995

A response to my first Ho'-note (paraphrased from memory), to inform Info Tech that Helena Kobrin is blowing smoke. (Recipient's name deleted.)

Letter to Info Tech, 23rd August 1995

A paper letter from me to Info Tech, detailing every way to get in touch with me at the time. This was handed to them at the meeting, along with about a hundred pages of Web printouts.

a.r.s, 28 Aug 1995: Helena Kobrin complaint about song

A post containing a letter to my postmaster from Scientology lawyer Helena Kobrin. This complaint got my account locked for a day.

[That locking of my account, by the way, was what got me pissed-off enough to make CoS-chasing my main hobby. So Helena can take responsibility for this Web page, the Melbourne pickets, up to thirty posts a week since that time ...]

a.r.s, Nov 1995: Rev Dr David, the Scientologists, Haddon Storey and Victoria University

My long explanatory tale after the second time my gerdw@cougar.vut.edu.au account was locked, in November 1995. (If you have an archived copy of this with the header intact, please let me know.)

Memo-pattycake with Ian Rae

After a meeting with Uni administration (see above entry), myself and the SRC engaged in this amusing game with Professor Ian Rae (then one of the Deputy Vice-Chancellors) and the University administration. The aim being to get the account unlocked with the minimum of fuss or loss of face.

a.r.s, 13 Dec 1996: Rev Dr David's account troubles update
a.r.s, 20 Dec 1996: Rev Dr David's account is back ... supposedly ...

Announcement of word from on high that my account would indeed be unlocked.

(For the curious: 'finger' didn't reveal anything potentially libelous. In fact, VUT's firewall refuses outside 'finger' connections ... not to mention 'telnet' and 'ftp' ... damned nuisance sometimes. The 'politics' referred to here was Suburbia leaving APANA in late 1995.)

The account was finally unlocked on January 2nd 1996, and life continued more or less as normal.


Mid-1997: I finally lost all VUT access, after a complaint from the CoS which was in fact completely spurious, but which served to bring to VUT's attention that I had had no official position to justify an account there for about a year at that stage ... and volunteer SRC helper and hanger-on didn't count for this purpose. Ah well :-)


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