Open the first attached document (<issue_number>.idt). It contains a table with
two rows and two columns, where in the second column, both cells are merged.

In the file format (the content.xml inside the zipped file), the table is
described as follows (syntax shortened):
<style name="fixed_height">
 <row-properties optimal-height="false" height="0.2in">
</style>
<table>
 <row style="fixed_height">
  <cell/>
  <cell rows-spanned="2">some text</cell>
 </row>
 <row style="fixed_height">
  <cell/>
  <covered-cell/>
 </row>
</table>

That is, the file describes a table with two rows, both having a fixed height,
and the second cell in the first row covering two rows.

The expected outcome when loading this document is that the overall table has a
height of 0.4 inches. However, it hasn't. In fact, the text in the merged cell
is so long that this cell grows automatically, also growing the table this way.

Chosing "Row/Height" in the context menu of this cell reveales that in fact
Writer created a row which has the "Fit to size" flag set, i.e. grows dynamically.

While this can be explained with the differences in the two table models (in the
table model, and in Writer internally), it simply means that there is *no* way
to generate a table with a fixed height, except with Writer itself. In
particular, external applications creating OASIS documents don't have a chance
to describe a fixed-height table with cells spanning multiple rows, since those
tables will always end up with a /dynamic/ height after being imported in Writer.