This is a 'snapshot' of my complaint against M. Hancock, member of the British Parliament. A fuller description of my grievance can be found here
This is an excerpt from a letter from Newcastle University. I had pointed out that a couple of questions on our third-year exam paper were mathematically identical to a couple of questions on our previous year's second-year exam. They denied this completely (as you can see)
Hancock was able to elicit the opinion of a friend of his, a Professor at Southampton University. The letter below does say Senior Lecturer but Hancock let slip later that it was actually a Professor - unfortunately of unknown identity. This professor agrees with Newcastle's statements.
It was when I disputed this professor's opinions that Hancock started getting out of order. I later received a letter from another Professor whose statements support my point of view. (Those who know about British Universities will know that this letter is actually quite bold - you have to be very careful criticising University standards, and you can never criticise your own Universities standards on pain of dismissal irrespective of whether your criticisms are factually true or not. It is in this light that you have to consider the qualifications in the initial part of the letter).
Anyway, I forwarded a copy to Hancock - and he totally ignored me. A year later I complained to the Liberal Party's Education spokesman.
Furthermore, Hancock must have contacted Newcastle University and expressed his support for them. That is the obvious implication in the letter below. Given that they are quoting Hancock on the basis of a phoney opinion given in a previous letter )above), aletter which is completely wrong, that tells you something about their appalling academic standards : standards sometimes decribed as 'excellence'.
I have only contacted two MPs - Clelland (when I lived in Newcastle) and Hancock. The tone of their letter implying that I have contacted a great mass of them, is very sympomatic of the type of information they have tried to impart to me during the course of my 'dispute' with them. For one thing, during this time I have never received a single communication from the Mathematics Department itself - yet this Nicholson (Academic Registrar) insists on telling that they have given me 'full and clear' information.
This is a 'snapshot' of my complaint against M. Hancock, member of the British Parliament. A fuller description of my grievance can be found here