Thanks to Alec and John for your most recent expressions of support. I
would love to join in the discussion re the exam system but will have to
bite my lip and do the urgent things first.

As you will know from Kirk's summary of the Kumanichi article a few days
ago,
two of the Kumamoto Prefectural University foreign teachers (Sandra Mitchell
and Cynthia Worthington), have received notice to quit both jobs and houses
by the end of March. Out of the ten English teachers who spoke out against
the discriminatory policies of the Prefecture and University in October
1997, Sandra and Cynthia are the only two still faced with the immediate
threat of "termination". They were the only women among the ten, and are
also the Vice-President and President of the union formed by the teachers in
July 1997.

There are many ways that people could support them, and all those around
them who see their struggle as an important stand for real educational
values and human rights, and against discrimination.
First: On Tuesday, 8 March. Sandra and Cynthia will file an injunction
(karishoubun) at the Kumamoto District Court in Kyoumachi. This asks the
court to keep things as they are until there is a full court hearing.
Your presence at the courthouse steps at 12:45 p.m. would be a valuable sign
of support.
On the evening of March 8 at 6:30 p.m. there will be a "houkoku shuukai"
(report back meeting?) at the SangyouBunka Kaikan (The big brick building
between Iwataya Department Store and Densha-dori).

For those who would like to offer help, there are many things that need
doing. In particular, there is a lack of people who can translate and
word-process. Kirk has been maintaining the homepage and would really
appreciate help inputting texts. Mailouts too are labour intensive.

Some of the people in the PUK Teachers' Support Group you could contact:
Prof. Hanada, Spokesperson, (Gakuen Daigaku, Tel:(096)364-5161,
<hanada@...>; Mr. Otsuka of the Kumamoto gakkou jimu roudou
kumiai[Kumamoto School Office Workers' Union] (Tel (home): (096)381-3267),
Ms. Satou Youko at the Yama-neko-ya restaurant in Ni-oo-dori (Tel:
343-6431); Mr. Kirk Masden (Gakuen Dai), <masden@...>; Mr. Joe
Tomei (Gakuen Dai), <mtomei@...>;
Dr. Cynthia Worthington (Ken Dai, Tel
(home)::(096)245-3419,<mango@...>; Ms. Sandra Mitchell Tel
(home):(096)242-4615,<mitch@...>; Mr. Dan Kirk (Ken Dai, Tel
(home:(096)282-2602),<kirks@...>; ; Mr. Paul Beaufait (Ken
Dai, Tel (home):(096)365-5650,<PABeaufait@...>; ; Mr. Farrell
Cleary (Ken Dai, Tel (home):(096)364-8694)<fcleary3@...>; .

Farrell Cleary,