????: "Richard"
????: FRI, 19 MAY 2006 10:37:03
??: Regarding your comments to the NCCU student newspaper
????: 1 ???
Yang, Ming-Tzong
Secretary-General
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan
19 May 2006
Dear Professor Yang,
I am puzzled by remarks you were quoted as saying to an NCCU
(student)
newspaper, to the effect that (English translation) the university was
following Ministry of Education directions in the handling of my case.
That comment was made despite the fact that Mr. Kao Chiang, president of
our university, delayed enforcing a legal Ministry ruling for more than
two years. Moreover, his administration has delayed the full benefits of
that ruling up to now.
Do you consider this acceptable? If so, why have a Ministry appeal
process at all? Is it because our university wishes to pretend to a
democratic process that it doesn't really believe in?
Apart from the legal Ministry ruling in my favor, dated 8 January
2001, the Ministry of Education has issued numerous warnings in the form
of letters to Mr. Kao requesting that he follow regulations.
Is this your idea of following laws? Do you think the Ministry of
Education issues letters to the president of a university because it has
nothing better to do?
Why do you think warning letters for compliance are issued if the
university was in compliance to begin with? Why do you think the
university was forced to finally comply with the Ministry ruling of 8
January 2001 two years later?
The university must have been in the wrong to begin with. Are you
proud of the fact that it took National Cheng Kung University two years
to comply with the law? That's not something I would be proud of or
boast of to a student newspaper. After all, educated people read
newspapers and they will make up their minds based on the moral
principles that, presumably, were part of their education. Moreover, the
fact that no official has yet been punished for this official misconduct
should embarrass you, not encourage or embolden you.
You're not supposed to rationalize decisions made by your superiors
when those superiors are clearly in the wrong. You're not supposed to
defend the actions of your superior; you're supposed to defend the law.
And if a legal Ministry ruling is not the law then I'd like to know what
is the law in Taiwan? No "ad hoc" committee (a phrase you're quoted as
using in the NCCU article) can replace the law of a country. No lawyer
can replace the law of a country. No official, regardless what his
official title is, can replace the law of a country. It's precisely
because many officials at our university do not understand these basic
principles that our university has been dragged through this mess.
Your quoted words to the NCCU newspaper continue (in English
translation): "De Canio's numerous petitions let the Ministry of
Education continuously ask investigation, which provoked the university.
[He thought that] if the Ministry of Education did think this is
improper, they could investigate themselves. The University will
cooperate completely."
What do you mean by "provoking" the university (though I admit
that's only an English translation of the word you used; still I assume
it's close to the word you used). Who provoked whom? The university held
secret meetings; the university circulated a secret letter; the
university presumably solicited a student to write a malicious letter
(why else would a student complain of a grade eight years later, the day
before a scheduled dismissal meeting?); the university violated numerous
basic legal principles, boldfaced by the Ministry Appeal ruling; the
university delayed enforcing that ruling for more than two years; the
university contested an American citizen's right to appeal even after
the appeal process was completed and the university fully participated
in that appeal process; the university continues to simulate meetings in
my case as if those meetings were legally authorized.
Who provoked whom? Since when does a university have the right to
"review," "contest," or even "approve" a superior ruling of the Minsitry
of Education? That's not the law, Mr. Yang. That's against the law,
unless the law has no meaning at all.
Once again I urge you to consider the consequences of defying the
law. Whatever benefits a few officials get in the short run will not
benefit our university in the long run.
One thing I assure you: this case will not be over until I receive
the full benefits of the legal Ministry ruling of 8 January 2006. That
includes a formal apology and complete compensation. No "ad hoc"
committee will deprive me of my rights or even "approve" those rights.
My rights in a democracy are insured by the law and, specifically, by
the legal Ministry ruling of 8 January 2006.
Sincerely,
Richard de Canio
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
National Cheng Kung University
Tainan, Taiwan.
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