[Fwd: Happy Teachers Day & other matters]

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Happy Teachers Day & other matters
Date:	Fri, 28 Sep 2007 15:32:15 +0800
From:	Richard <rdca25@gmail.com>
To:	ydpc@mail.ncku.edu.tw, kailing <kailing@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, jtchen@mail.ncku.edu.tw, mspf@mail.ncku.edu.tw, skao@mail.ncku.edu.tw, minhuitz@mail.ncku.edu.tw, yang <yang5692@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, Christina Chen <chencf@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, leemay@mail.ncku.edu.tw, luhy@mail.ncku.edu.tw, ªL©ú¿A <linmt@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, hljian@mail.ncku.edu.tw, tvjiangrace@yahoo.com.tw, Lai <chlai@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, hclu@mail.ncku.edu.tw, tsaim@mail.ncku.edu.tw, pjchiang@mail.ncku.edu.tw, z9208044@email.ncku.edu.tw, shhuang <z6808007@email.ncku.edu.tw>, hsm36@mail.ncku.edu.tw, sulinyu <sulinyu@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, chyl <chyl@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, linam <linam@mail.ncku.edu.tw>, z8909001@email.ncku.edu.tw, z7209004@email.ncku.edu.tw, z6902002@email.ncku.edu.tw, z8208005@email.ncku.edu.tw, lydialee@mail.ncku.edu.tw

28 September 2007

Dear Colleagues,

    I wish all of you a happy Teacher's Day. At the same time, I remind you of  two unresolved cases of inappproriate conduct against a teacher at our university.
    I am referring to the false and unsupported accusations that Chen An-chuen and Liu Ge-jen made against me several years ago, implying I failed Ms. Chen unfairly.
    You know the facts by now, but they bear repeating:
    Eight years after receiving a failing grade, Ms. Chen accused me, in a secret letter, of unfairly failing her. She had no proof but her claim, made eight years late and in secret.
    Another former student, Liu Ge-jen, supported Ms. Chen's claim in a faxed statement to the court, after I initiated court action against Ms. Chen. Mr. Liu had no proof other than Ms. Chen's claim. If there were a doubt, it should favor the accused, not the accuser. That's a basic principle of civilized law.
    But what doubt was there? What reasonable person would favor an accusation made eight years late, in secret, and with no documented proof other than a classmate's claim? One hopes two of Mr. Liu's former students do the same to him one day. As the saying goes, "What goes around, comes around."
    Both of these former students of mine are now, I regret to say, "colleagues." Whether their letter writing was a factor in their employment should be considered. I certainly question whether students who accuse their teacher in this manner are people we want on our faculty.
    In any case, I want this case formally resolved. I am asking that these two face a full or special committee to explain on what reasonable basis they accused their teacher of unfairly failing a student—a serious accusation, assuming one has moral values. Failing to give a reasonable basis, they should be punished accordingly.
    As for the related issue, I expect my colleagues, based on principles of human rights as well as reciprocity, to petition the university president to issue a formal apology with commensurate monetary compensation for human rights violations against me, just as you would expect if your reputation was compromised at an American university.
    I hope my colleagues cooperate in this matter, if only to uphold the reputation of our university. Otherwise, I will continue to pursue channels outside the university.

    Sincerely,

    Richard de Canio
    Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
    National Cheng Kung University
    Tainan, Taiwan