Dear Colleagues,

An Ex-APU Lecturer has filed suit in the Oita Local Court and applied for a provisional disposition that will preserve their employment status at APU [1]. The investigation in this type of case is rigorous, and the results have a great significance. In other words, if Ritsumeikan loses this case, it will be damaged to quite an extent. From the various arguments that have been articulated by both sides in a variety of forums, it seems likely that the lecturers will win their case; and even if the Trust appeals, it seems likely that they will lose. There is no doubt that the decision by the Trust to use monies gained from students paying for their education to fight this sort of court case will lead to a decline in the social evaluation of Ritsumeikan as an educational institution. I believe that the Board of Trustees bears a heavy responsibility for deciding to go down this path. As a member of the academy, I strongly hope that a settlement is reached as quickly as possible and that no further damage is done to the social trust placed in Ritsumeikan. I would like to call on all those who feel the same way to articulate their wishes by supporting those who have been fired, by providing financial support (see http://www.geocities.jp/apuunion/), or by signing an appeal to APU to continue their employment (see http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/ or, in English, http://university.sub.jp/apu/saiban/english/).

[1] For newspaper reports of the decision to file suit, see http://ac-net.org/rtm/No/46. Reports in Japanese have been published in Asahi Shinbun (27 May 2006) Oita page, Kyoto Shinbun (27 May 2006), evening edition, Oita Godo Shinbun (27 May 2006), and others.

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Editor: Toru Tsujishita tjst@rtm.ac-net.org ( College of Science and Engineering, Professor )

English version is sent to 404 foreign faculty members