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The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL
Tuesday, February 20,1990
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International students
get help with English
By ANDY KEHOE
Of The Battalion Staff
Living in a foreign country can be
exciting, but if you’re unable to
speak the country’s native language,
it can be a frightening situation.
Through the Conversation Part
ners program, Rita Marsh-Birch of
the Texas A&M English Language
Institute is trying to make the En
glish language a little easier for in
ternational students.
With the annual program, Marsh-
Birch will match up one interna
tional student from her oral skills
classes with one American student
who volunteers to spend time talking
to the newcomer.
She said this pairing of students
will encourage learning the English
language outside the classroom and
serve as a cultural interaction for the
foreign students.
“It’s very important for these stu
dents to have English contacts away
from the class,” Marsh-Birch said.
“Conversation Partners gives them
an opportunity to sit down face-to-
face with an American to practice
speaking and also learn more about
the American culture.”
Student volunteers are recruited
from several organizations. Among
them are the U.S. Students Associa
tion, Student Y Association, and the
local Pi Kappa Phi chapter. Also, vol
unteers are required by professors of.
certain Linguistics and Honors His
tory courses.
The volunteer campaign began
during the third week of the semes
ter. Currently, 107 student volun
teers work with 112 international
students.
“This year’s volunteer turnout has
been about average,” Marsh-Birch
said. “I’m still looking for a few more
to make the numbers even.”
Foreign students participating in
Conversation Partners hail from 27
different countries, including China,
India, Japan, Peru and Turkey.
Marsh-Birch said all international
students will benefit from working
with a partner.
“Many of these students have
studied the English language in
books for years,” she said. “But now
they will actually be able to practice
speaking it, which is extremely im
portant in the overall learning pro
cess.”
As part of its year-round Cultural
Activities Program ELI is planning
its spring trip to San Antonio. Activ
ities such as these are reserved for
full-time ELI students, those inter
national students taking 25 hours of
English a week.
Other annual activities include a
summer trip to Austin, country-
western dancing at the Texas Hall of
Fame and a visit to the Blue Bell
Creamery in Brenham.
Deanna Wormuth, ELI coordina
tor, said the trips encourage a com-
E lete immersion into the English
inguage.
“They let the international stu
dents have a chance to learn about
American culture in a more relaxed
setting,” Wormuth said. “They can
have a fun time while learning.”
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Luby’s Cafeteria manager, Class of ’87,
dies of heart attack, buried in San Antonio
Armando Cigarroa, 26, Class
of’87, died Jan. 13 of a heart at
tack in San Antonio. He was a bi
omedical science major.
Services were Jan. 14 at Saint
Anthony’s Catholic Church in
Harlingen with Father Adrian
Correa, Class of ’78, and Father
Samuel Arizpe officiating.
Cigarroa was employed by Lu
by’s Cafeterias as a restaurant
manager.
Survivors include his wife,
Anna Cigarroa; his parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Roberto Cigarroa; a sis
ter, Alejandra Cigarroa; and five
brothers, Joe, Robert, Valentine,
Ernest and David Cigarroa.
Williams continues with campaign
Mourning gubernatorial candidate reaffirms plans
Battalion File Photo
STAFF & WIRE REPORTS
Republican Clayton Williams,
who stopped making campaign
appearances last week after a
plane crash killed five business as
sociates, confirmed Monday he
will continue his race for gover
nor.
“I’m going to keep it going,”
Williams told the Associated Press
after attending the funeral of one
of the victims of the Wednesday
plane crash near Putnam, which
is located near Abilene.
Williams suspended his cam
paign and withdrew TV advertis
ing after the plane crash that
killed four of his longtime
friends, two of which were Texas
A&M graduates, and the pilot.
The crash is being investigated
by the National Transportation
Safety Board, the Federal Avi
ation Administration and Mitsu
bishi, the manufacturer of the
plane.
The cancellations fueled spec
ulation that he would drop out of
the race despite leading in the
polls over GOP opponents Texas
Railroad Commission Chairman
Kent Hance, former Secretary of
State Jack Rains and Dallas attor
ney Tom Luce.
Mona Palmer, deputy press
secretary for Williams’ guberna
torial campaign, told The Battal
ion Wednesday that it was not a
time to campaign.
Monday, in Austin, however,
his campaign manager Buddy
Barfield read a statement by Wil
liams that said the Midland busi
nessman considered dropping
out of the race but decided to
continue.
“I realize there may be some
rough roads ahead, but I’m sure
that — God willing — this cam
paign and I will gain the nec
essary strength to plow ahead,”
Williams said in the statement.
“So, starting tomorrow, the
Clayton Williams campaign will
be back in the saddle,” he said.
On Monday, Williams attended
Clayton Williams
the funeral for Randy Kidwell,
the last funeral for the plane
crash victims.
IJarfield quoted Williams as
saying, “I’ve just been through
the roughest time of my life, and
believe me the pain of the last few
days will take a long time to ab
sorb.
“In the first couple of days af
ter the crash, the heartache and
the grief were so overwhelming
that I did consider dropping out
of the governor’s race.”
But Williams said the widows
of the plane crash victims encour
aged him to continue his cam-
paign.
He will make his first campaign
appearance Tuesday in Dallas af
ter visiting his newborn grand
son. Then he will go to Bryan-
College Station to meet with
A&M students at 5 p.m. in the
Grove.
Williams’ television commer
cials began again Monday and a
new round of campaign ads are
scheduled to start Tuesday, Bar-
field said.
Barfield said Williams’ private
plane will not be used for a while
to allow Williams’ company pilots
more time to mourn.
“They’ve got some grieving to
do,” Barfield said. “It would be
pretty tough to put one of his pi
lots back up in the air.” He said
Williams will depend on his sup
porters to provide air travel for
the next few days.
Barfield said Williams appre
ciated the moral support pro
vided by other candidates, both
Republican and Democratic,
since the plane crash.
But he said he doesn’t expect
any of them to pull any punches’
for the remainder of the cam
paign in the March 13 primary.
“Everybody has got to get out
there and start executing their
game plan,” he said. “As of to
morrow (Tuesday), we’re back on
the campaign trail.”
Barfield said he didn’t know
whether the past few days helped
the campaign.
“We have not evaluated this or
looked at this as an opportunity
to further the campaign,” he said.
“This has been a very grieving
time for us.”
Campaign staffers have
planned rallies in which Williams
will lead voters to absentee poll
ing places after Wednesday,
when the absentee voting period
begins. Absentee voting ends
March 9.
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