Regarding Sajjad Haidar's Jan. 17 letter, "Treatment of foreign students": I was a postdoctoral fellow at Akita Prefectural University for 9½ years. I had four Chinese and three Philippine colleagues, and I never experienced or saw any kind of physical assaults. Not even heated words.
However, I do recognize the problems in obtaining justice or even being heard when complaining to university authorities. I filed a complaint with the president of Akita Prefectural University about nepotism and fraudulent use of tax money. The president warned me in a letter against such serious accusations, but concluded that he had to investigate the case.
More than a year passed and the president retired due to age. Two days before he retired, I received a letter in which I was told that the president didn't want to reply to my accusations. I sent three or four letters to the new president. No reply. I was denied a chance to meet with him in his office and was told that my letters had not been read. They finally did read my letters, but then refused to reply.