European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 25, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                June 1985 the stars and stripes Page 17 within the warm atmosphere of a members Are anything but Anonymous to each a photo Bers who were raised in a religion they drifted away from return to a spiritual Awakening is an ingredient of the but for most it is not a blinding Light but a Subtle infusion of the program for recovery consists of 12 including an admission the person is powerless Over Alco hol and that Only a surrender to a higher Power of ones own choosing will effect there Are also Steps in which the member cleanses the emotional baggage of the soul by talking about trying to change negative patterns and making amends to those he the last the involves helping still suffering Aas dont prowl streets for them or Force people in who have made it Clear they would rather keep the program is for those who want not those who need they if a member sees a fellow sufferer at the he May approach him quietly and Tell him How he he May invite the person to a besides the 12 a is based on 12 Trade one of which is the principle of the closest thing a has to a members Are free to Tell families and friends they have but at the Public level of radio and they Are instructed not to identify themselves As the reasons Are by rotating the leadership at All a has kept the organization grass a housewife is As important As a a typist As important As a movie the second reason is should a Public figure proclaim he was an a member and then drink people who might Benefit from a could be tempted to conclude it Doest not that is unfamiliar with As they Are although a does no scientific research on the sobriety of its it does Survey its population from representative groups every three a 1980 Survey conducted with volunteers at meetings showed that half of All under three did not continue attending another 25 percent but did not stay sober through their first and the remaining 25 percent stayed sober the first the Survey also showed that at a typical 35 to 40 percent Are sober less than one another 35 to 40 percent sober from one to five and the remain ing 20 to 30 recent sober five years or extrapolating from these the Survey suggests that a randomly selected member of the a population with less than one years sobriety has a 40 percent Chance of going through the next year without a member with one to five years has an 86 percent Chance of not drinking the following after five the figure goes up to 92 a takes no positions on outside and it stays out of it wont even respond when the organization is in the late a major Magazine published an Arti Cle entitled alcoholics Anonymous cult or cure it came Down pretty heavily on the cult says Bob and members were writing in to Headquarters demanding we do Bill Wilson was still alive then and he knew what to Wilson died in 1971 and the died in both in 50 the Only real change in a has been in its tremendous the increasing number of women and Young people and an upswing in dually addicted the poly addiction sometimes touches off controversy at meetings when the focus seems to be turning toward not a Chesapeake attending a meeting mostly made up of younger thought he was hearing too much about there Are people in this room who dont even know what a Quaal Ude looks he the name of this group is alcoholics anon not Quaal Udes at other the majority of the members Are Cross addicted and anecdotes about popping pills and taking Street drugs Are easily most members feel that if an individual is an he belongs at a meetings regardless of what else he was addicted Many experts have tried to explain Aas Success with such explanations As free group the spiritual Awakening Wilson the sense of or a substitute dependency on a instead of Wilson said a would work for almost except for an unfortunate few who Are incapable of meetings Are the same throughout the and a new York actor making a movie in Alaska prepared himself by getting Telephone numbers of a members and a meeting list in even inthe same meetings take on their own one meeting on new Yorks fancy upper East for is characterized by the number of Mink Coats As Well As the length of sobriety of its members and less affluent members often joke about those people think they hit their Bottoms when things got so bad they had to fire the quips one but everyone is made to feel at Home at every Telephone therapy is a Staple of the recovery program and strangers Exchange numbers without sus i  believe it when i walked says a new yorker who grew up on Staten its the Only place i Ever found where people dont want anything from they just want to they told me to keep coming nobody had told me that for a Long they told me to Call up at three in the morning if i Felt like a and they meant they would stay on the Telephone with me for they would meet me for they did More for me than my drinking buddies would Ever dream of and they wanted but they did want they themselves wanted to stay sober and that How they do old timers say they get More out of helping a beginner then the they say being with someone who is suffering keeps it and makes them realize they were once As sick As the person needing and if they drank they could go right and being Good they have a slogan for it you cant keep it if you dont give it