Hi there, I was visiting my wife, who is an assistant professor at the University of Macau and during a long extended Portuguese lunch (almost 3 hours), I had the opportunity to talk with an administrator at UMAC who voiced disappointment that John Bear sent mail to UMAC that was promptly returned as "Address Unknown." Now, I'm not sure what happened, but I can assure everyone that UMAC is a legitimate, bricks-n-mortar university, perched high upon a hill overlooking Taipa bridge and the Macau peninsula. Would love to get to the bottom of this mystery! For those interested, the University of Macau site is: www.umac.mo BTW, they do offer a PhD in several fields, however only God knows what the application process entails, who the advisors are and how does one (barring going to Macau and cornering one of the professors in a cafe) actually get information on their programs. Cheers! Peter Jak
Thank you for the information, Mr. Jak. We'll certainly 'make better' with the next revision. John Bear
I may have (inadvertently) been responsible for this situation. Five or so years ago I came across the 12th edition of Bears' Guide in the library at my workplace (the Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong, now the Open University of Hong Kong) and noted two things: that the OLI was not listed in the Guide, and that the University of East Asia was included in the list of institutions operating nonresidential degree programs. As I had worked at the UEA's successor, the University of Macau, between 1990 and 1994, I knew some of the history involved -- specifically, that UM no longer offered distance learning programs and that it was the privately-managed Asia International Open University that had taken over those programs and should be listed instead of UEA in Bears' Guide. I wrote to Dr. Bear passing on this information. IIRC, the 13th edition no longer listed the University of East Asia (and did list the OLI). It is quite possible that, in making inquiries about the University of Macau, Dr. Bear directed his letter to me and that the letter was returned because my address (not the University's) was unknown to whatever mail room clerk handled it. Best I can come up with, anyway. I miss the long Portuguese lunches -- one of the best perquisites of working in Macau! Bruce Taylor Hong Kong
