Ramtha eyes 1,300-acre ed center
Science for Life International hopes to buy land by July's end
The Olympian/June 17, 2000
By Scott Wyland
THURSTON COUNTY -- Four students at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment have presented preliminary plans to the county for a 1,300-acre education center that would teach "cutting-edge" environmentalism, such as using water in a way that enhances its life-giving properties.
The proposal is in an embryonic stage, as no land has been bought and no funding has been obtained to build what one partner said would be a $100 million-plus complex.
The complex would be on Bald Hill Road just south of 133rd Avenue.
The four students are spearheading the project under the name Science for Life International.
Although they attend the Ramtha School near Yelm, neither the school nor the school's founder, J.Z. Knight, are involved in the project, said Carol Lawson, a partner in the venture.
However, Lawson said Ramtha, the 35,000-year-old Atlantean warrior whom Knight claims to channel, supports their goals.
"Ramtha's philosophy has always been pro-life," said Lawson, a Canadian with a background in business and finance. "He's always encouraged us to clean up the planet."
Details still unclear
Science for Life hopes to buy the land from John Meek, an East Olympia resident, by the end of July.
Meek was out of town Friday, but his wife, Margaret Meek, said they plan to meet with Science For Life in the coming week to discuss such things as a sale price.
"It is a possibility they will buy," Margaret Meek said. "Nothing's positive until we sign papers."
Lawson wouldn't say how they planned to pay for the extensive project, other than through a mixture of private and public funding.
Once the money is obtained, the school will take two to five years to complete, she said.
The complex would have about 70 buildings, including a 5,000-seat lecture hall, laboratories, greenhouses, livestock shelters, a medical clinic, dormitories and 50 houses for students with families. There also would be helicopter landing pads, walking paths and a campsite.
"I don't know if it's pie-in-the-sky," said Mike Kain, a county planner. "It's so big. Cost at this point is so nebulous."
New ways with water
The school would teach how to distribute water, grow crops, raise livestock and construct buildings in ways that boost public health, use resources efficiently and minimize environmental impact, Lawson said.
Examples would be increasing organic crop yields through hydroponics, beefing up livestock without using growth hormones, and moving water through a circular "vortex" system rather than through straight pipes, she said.
Emphasis would be placed on application, she said. "We don't teach people theory. We want to show people how to do it."
Instead of having a formal curriculum like a university, the school would allow students to choose as much training as they need, be it one class or six months of study, Lawson said. The group has yet to determine the tuition structure.
A cornerstone of the center would be schooling people, especially public officials, on the concept of vortex-style water systems, Lawson said.
Water systems in this country work mainly on an "explosive" principle, she said. That is, water is pushed outward through long, straight pipes.
When water is channeled in this manner, it picks up pathogens from the pipes and loses electrical properties crucial for fueling the body, Lawson said. "So we're not getting any energy out of our water. So it's making us sick. The state of water in the U.S. is poor."
Conversely, when you move water in an inwardly spiral motion, it generates electricity, much the way a whirling turbine does, she said. The principle is based on Nicola Tesla's theory of energy currents moving and regenerating in circular patterns.
"All energy in nature works off a vortex," she said.
Phil Brinker, senior environmental health agent for Thurston County, said he never heard of enhancing water quality this way. Tom Frare, an Olympia city engineer who specializes in water systems, said he knows of no vortex model being used anywhere in the world.
"That isn't to say that it isn't being done someplace," Frare said.
Lawson argued that the proposed technology is "all cutting edge." "Basically, what we're looking at is teaching the teachers," she said.
