Tuesday, April 26, 1988AThe Battalion/Page 3
State and Local
Professor claims students have
few problems in learning Chinese
By Christina De Leon
Reporter
For many people, the thought of
learning Chinese implies a compli-
pated task, if not an impossible one.
However, Chinese professor Dr.
Susan Shen of the Texas A&M mod-
languages department says
learning Chinese is not any more
difficult than learning other foreign
languages.
What makes Chinese so different,
then says, is that it is a tonal lan-
uage, which means it relies on four
iistinct tones and a variety of picto-
raphs, called characters, to commu
nicate a message. Indo-European
languages like English have a pho-
tietic alphabet that indicates how a
word is pronounced, and therefore
Ivhat it means.
“Chinese doesn’t have an alpha
bet,” Shen notes, adding that the
Chinese character does not tell how
^ word is pronounced. Students
past learn how an object is pro
nounced separately from how it is
represented in the characters.
At the end of the first semester,
jSlien says, a student masters about
300 Chinese characters, most of
vhich concentrate on everyday vo-
labulary.
Graphic by Teresa Lagace
This phrase, written in Chinese, means ‘Chinese education.’
She says that to read a newspaper,
a person must know the meaning of
approximately 3,000 characters.
In addition, the students also
must learn to write the eight basic
strokes which make up the endless
number of character representa
tions.
The students in Shen’s class learn
to speak, write and rear! Mandarin,
or standard Chinese, which is the of
ficial language of China and is writ
ten horizontally. Shen says more
than 100 dialects of Chinese exist,
some of which are written vertically,
such as in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
Because learning Chinese requires
more memorization than learning
other languages, Shen says, taking a
Chinese class is a good way for stu
dents to improve their memorization
skills. It also takes about three years
of Chinese classes before students
can begin reading and analyzing
Chinese literature, she says.
The A&M Chinese program does
not offer Chinese literature classes
because it is a two-year program that
just began last fall, Shen says. It
could expand in the future depend
ing on the success of the two-year
program, she says.
Although students must accustom
themselves to the differences in
learning Chinese, Shen says, most of
her 21 students are learning the lan
guage fairly quickly.
Terry Helton, a chemical engi
neering graduate student from Fort
Worth, says the hardest part about
learning Chinese is pronouncing the
four basic tones. He says the mean
ing of a word can change from a
compliment to an insult if the tone is
pronounced incorrectly on similiarly
pronounced words.
“It does take practice,” Helton
says, adding that the use of Pinyin in
Shen’s class has helped in teaching
the students to pronounce words
correctly.
Pinyin is the official Chinese spel
ling system that uses Roman letters
to approximate how a Chinese word
is pronounced.
Paul Wyatt, a junior English edu
cation major from Houston, says stu
dents studying Chinese have a lot of
opportunities to practice at A&M.
He says many Chinese international
students have been especially help
ful as practice partners.
Both Wyatt and Helton say they
hope to become fluent in Chinese
eventually through both study and
perhaps a visit to China in the fu
ture.
El Paso diocese
tries to raise funds
for amnesty loans
EL PASO (AP) — The Catholic
diocese wants to raise more
money to lend to destitute immi
gration amnesty applicants as the
May 4 deadline approaches.
The diocese could use about
$43,000 in addition to the
$15,000 that has been contrib
uted or promised, the Rev. Rick
Matty said Monday.
The Immigration and Natural
ization Service charges $185 per
person or a maximum of $420
per family for amnesty applica
tions, and some eligible for the
program can’t afford the fee, said
Matty, director of Diocesan Im
migrant and Refugee Services,
which helps aliens apply for am
nesty.
“There’s a perception that peo
ple can find the money,” Matty
said. “We contend that in some
families, especially single-parent
families, it’s not that easy.”
Last month, the diocese began
loaning money for application
fees to people or families who fall
below federal poverty levels and
have good amnesty cases. Matty
said the El Paso Diocese is the
only one in the nation that pro
vides interest-free loans to pay
amnesty application fees.
Under the Immigration Re
form and Control Act of 1986,
people who have lived in the
United States illegally since be
fore 1982 are eligible for amnesty
and temporary residency. The
application deadline is May 4.
Amnesty recipients may even
tually apply for permanent resi
dency and citizenship.
The diocese has lent or has
loans pending on the initial
$12,500 that constituted the loan
fund; the money ran out last
Thursday, Matty said, and about
50 or 60 people remained in line
for loan applications that day.
“We originally projected a
need for $60,000,” he said. “I still
stand behind that, but judging
from the lines of people we’ve
seen, that’s a conservative esti
mate.”
One contributor has promised
to give $5,000 in the second week
of May. Matty said he was happy
about the $5,000 pledge, but
added, “that’s 20 loans. That’s not
all that many loans. You see the
need for more.”
ullock supports changes for equitable funding of public schools
I AUSTIN (AP) — Comptroller Bob Bul
lock, not revealing specifics of his plan, said
Monday the state should sell bonds and use
state education funds in new ways to make
sure Texas public schools offer quality pro
grams to all students.
The state is now appealing Austin State
Jlistrict Judge Harley Clark’s decision that
the current funding system is unconstitu
tionally inequitable to students in low-
wealth districts.
I “We believe we have turned up some
funding mechanisms,” Bullock said in a
Monday speech. “Oh yes, it’s not tradi
tional, but these are not traditional times.”
Bullock pitched his plan to aides to Gov.
Bill Clements Monday, and planned to dis
cuss it with legislative leaders later this
week.
The comptroller spoke Monday to the
Equity Center, a group that includes offi
cials from many of the school districts that
filed the lawsuit challenging the current ed
ucation finance system.
Bullock and state Treasurer Ann Rich
ards, who also addressed the group, both
said they side with the districts that are chal
lenging the system.
“There’s no way around it,” Richards
said.
“Taxpayers in some districts pay more to
get less, and that’s not fair,” she said.
After her speech, the treasurer said she
had no specific proposals concerning school
financing, but said there would be a “jillion”
ideas tossed around in coming months.
“There is going to be a different scenario
every other week,” she said.
Bullock said he was not ready to give de
tails of his plan, but drew a standing ovation
from the Equity Center members after
promising to work for changes that could
help poorer school districts.
“We have tentatively proposed, basically,
the use of certain state bonds which have
been authorized, but unissued, which will
eventually, if they are not used, dissipate
and be gone with,” Bullock said.
“Furthermore, we do propose taking
part, a very small part, of the public school
fund which was created for the very pur
pose of schools in Texas today, and to be
used for operational money as well as the
construction of facilities in Texas,” he said.
He was referring to the Permanent
School Fund, the interest from which is
called the Available School Fund and is allo
cated to school districts.
Bullock said Clark’s ruling was correct
and that lawmakers should re-work the
school finance system even if the decision is
overturned on appeal.
“Yes, we do have discrimination in fund
ing and it works to the detriment of our stu
dents and it works to the detriment of fu
ture development of Texas,” he said.
“I’m firmly convinced that if you people
from the poor school districts would come
forth tomorrow and tell the leadership of
Texas that you didn’t have enough money
to suit up a football team, the governor
would call the Legislature in session tomor
row and the problem would be solved be
fore dark,” Bullock said.
“And I ask you, why should we do less
for the student in the classroom than we
would do for the football player on the
field?” he said.
BEEF PROMOTION!
LET’S
KEEP
GOING!
VOTE YES
May 10
at your county
extension
office
FACT!
FACT!
Beef is coming back because
beef producers are fighting back!
Today, more consumers are eating more beef
and cattle prices and profits are up.
Let’s vote to continue The National Beef
Promotion Program. It’s working! May 10,
vote “YES”!
The program is controlled by producers.
Cattlepeople run it. It’s not a government
program.
Each state decides how to spend 50 cents
of every dollar.
FACT!
Beef importers and all producers pay their
share — $1 per head. This money is invested
in consumer education, promotion, advertising
and research.
FACT!
Only 5% is allowed for administrative costs.
95% of every dollar is spent on the program itself.
The Beef
Checkoff
Aggies
You are eligible to vote in the Beef
Referendum if you owned one or
more beef or dairy animals at any
time between October 1, 1986 and
March 31, 1988.
To vote absentee, report to Room
129, Kleberg Center Wednesday,
Thursday or Friday (April 27, 28,
29). Samille Stovall will provide you
with an absentee ballot.
Remember, Friday, April 29th is
the last day that absentee ballots
will be available.
Ballots must be received in the
Extension agent’s office in the
county of your permanent residence
by May 3.
Mason Hogan ’87 Animal Science
Stacy Stone ’87 Animal Science
Teresa Anthony ’89 Animal Science
O.D. Butler
Head, Department of Animal Science,
Emeritus
Chairman, Texas Beef Referendum
Steering Committee
NATIONAL BEEF
PROMOTION IS GREAT!
VOTE YES
’88