>A big question is why didn't Dr. Mao mention this essay during the defense. I read the "why had this not been brought up to me four years prior when I submitted my dissertation proposal" as just one example of Dr. Mao's continual poor advising. Others are mentioned throughout the series.
Mao and the department have a strong motivation to find work that predates both the papers in question so they can present a possible sequence of events in which neither parts consciously copied the others work.
