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news
High-pressure
groups hit CSULB
By Christine Shin
On-line Forty-Niner
With the mosaic
of people that tile together a university community, some
newcomers may not know where to place themselves in the social
arrangement of things.
Some join the Greek life and some join the honor society.
Some run for student government and some run track and field.
Others want to belong somewhere but just don't know how. These
are the individuals that high pressure groups prowl upon.
At Cal State Long Beach, religious, political and social groups
use pressure recruiting tactics to approach students who may
appear lost, overwhelmed or lonely.
"New students are especially vulnerable to these groups,
who are initially very friendly with parties and volleyball
games, because they're looking for friends and community,"
said Mary Kay Will, United Methodist campus minister.
High pressure groups can also include the credit card companies
or the gyms that try to swindle students into memberships.
Students sign up and then realize they can't afford membership,
according to Will, but fail in the attempt to get their money
back.
Losing money is one thing; losing your life or control of
your life is another. Some recruits from organized groups
that are more cult-like are never heard from again, Will said.
Fortunately, CSULB has never experienced anything as extreme
as the collective suicides of the religious cult Heaven's
Gate. But even the less severe experiences can be drastic.
"One student couldn't take the pressure of a particular
group for not recruiting other people that she left CSULB
after only one semester," said Will. "Once you're
in, it's harder to get out."
If a group is harassing or stalking an individual, there is
help out there. The University Police can advise students
to counseling centers or direct them with getting restraining
orders if the criminal elements are there, according to Sgt.
Bonnie Myers, University Police crime prevention.
The University Police and the University Interfaith Center
are trying to get the word out to students who may not be
aware of the high pressure groups through talking to students
in the University 100 classes and through a green and white
pamphlet in this spring's SOAR packet.
"The pamphlets are an attempt for education of hopeful
prevention of difficult situations that students can get involved
in," said Will.
While some groups may have official club status through the
school, students may assume that they are healthy groups.
This is not always true. The following are some ways to identify
high pressure groups: they tend to isolate the individual
from family, friends and other groups; they may ask to give
up control of life, thought and decisions; they may promote
crises with school, career or love life; they may resort to
frightening the individual to the point that one stops making
decisions and asking questions for oneself.
Students can get help or additional information from Student
Life and Development at (562) 985-4181, University Police
at (562) 985-4101 and the University Interfaith Center at
(562) 985-4369.
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