August 31, 2002

CONTACT:
Linda Simmons Hight
Media Relations Director
Church of Scientology International
6331 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 1200
Los Angeles, CA 90028-6329
Phone (323) 960-3500
Fax (323) 960-3508
E-mail mediarelationsdir@scientology.net

VALLEY RESIDENTS RUN, CYCLE, SAIL, RIDE HORSEBACK AND ROLLERBLADE FROM ST. PETERSBURG TO PARIS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS CAUSE

Valley residents John Radich of Montrose, Lance Miller of Glendale and Tracie and Jesse Morrow of La Crescenta returned home this week with other Los Angeles-area team members after participating in a unique 4,000-kilometer “multathlon” through nine countries. They started July 16 in St. Petersburg in the Commonwealth of Independent States and finished in Paris August 20.

In this first-ever “multathlon"—a coined word meaning “many contests"—the athletes ran, cycled, sailed, rode horseback and rollerbladed through Russia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Holland and France.

But this was far more than a summer outing for the physically fit. The Multathlon had a serious purpose: To tell people from all walks of life about the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the little-known 1948 document that guarantees a host of basic human rights for countries subscribing to it, as the Bill of Rights does for Americans. The athletes met with mayors, state and federal government officials, religious leaders and media. They appeared in newspapers in a half-dozen languages as they continued on their journey.

The five-week crusade ended with a packed ceremony in the Paris Trocadero, the square where the Declaration was originally signed in 1948. France was chosen as the site of the closing ceremonies because of the country’s worsening human rights climate, according to Leisa Goodman, Human Rights Director for Church of Scientology International, sponsor of the event. “International human rights organizations regard France as the most religiously intolerant country in Western Europe, so it was fitting that we held the ceremony there to send a message to the French government.”

The 2002 Multathlon was the fifth consecutive annual marathon for human rights conducted by the Scientology Church whose international headquarters are in Los Angeles. They work with a broad group of religious and human rights groups including Buddhists, Christians, Muslims and Hindus. The Multathlon was also supported by the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance and by Friends of the United Nations, a non-governmental body that mobilizes support for the United Nations and its programs.

Forty-eight-year-old veteran ultramarathon runner John Radich, owner of a fitness training center, said of his participation: “As an American, especially after September 11, I felt I had to do more. I have often run for the benefit of nonprofit groups, but the Multathlon was my chance to be involved in a very important and international issue. If national leaders applied the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, conflicts between nations would end.”

Lance Miller, 44, owner of Outernet Media Inc. in Glendale, says he is always up for adventure. He climbed 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado at 14, earned his pilot’s license at 19 and sailed the Atlantic at 20. He came to Los Angeles in 1984 to work for the U.S. Olympic Committee. That experience, he says, taught him that people from many cultures and many countries could get along, as long as they had a common goal.

“I learned that if a group - any group, no matter how diverse—had a common goal to work toward, they could achieve anything. I saw this again in 1998 when I lead the European Human Rights Marathon for the Church. When I was asked to participate in the 2002 Multathlon, I could not imagine saying no. Human rights issues strike at the core of every individual on Earth, and when we make human rights our common goal, we can all live in peace on the planet.

Tracie Morrow from La Crescenta was, at 18, the youngest member of the team—and the sole female. Tracie graduated from La Crescenta High School in June and will start her freshman year at UC San Diego this month.

Her brother, Jesse, a 2000 graduate of La Crescenta High, had just finished his freshman year at UC Irvine when he and his sister set out on the Multathlon. With a double major in physics and computer engineering and with straight A’s his first year, Jesse was ready for the physical rigors of the Multathlon as a break from the books.

Both young people are committed to the principles they represented as well as to a new organization formed this year by Hollywood school principal Mary Untiedt—Youth for Human Rights, a project of the International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance. Said Tracie: “Youth for Human Rights has produced a booklet called ’What Are Human Rights?’ that explains human rights to schoolchildren. Kids really can understand these things if presented in the right way.”

Untiedt, who accompanied the athletes, and the Morrow siblings hosted events and seminars in major cities on their route, with local children reading out articles from the simplified version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as they appear in the booklet.

“Many children face illiteracy and poverty. Their lives are at risk from drug peddlers and other human rights violators,” said 20-year-old Jesse Morrow. “Where do you start to teach respect for the rights of others? You start with children.”

Mike Loumeau of Hollywood also participated in the Multathlon.