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MYLES GARRETT POSTER PAGE 6
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DRAFT DAY 2017 THURSDAY APRIL 27 AT 7 P.M. IN PHILADELPHIA, PENN. BROADCAST ON ESPN
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AIR SHOW
DOYLE TO COMMAND BLUE ANGELS Cmdr. Eric “Popeye” Doyle, an Aggie from the Class of 1995, will serve as commanding officer of the famous Blue Angels flight demonstration squadron for their 2018 and 2019 air show seasons. Doyle, who previously served as the commanding officer for the U.S. Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadron 113, said seeing the Blue Angels at an airshow in Houston was part of the inspiration that led him to a career in the cockpit. — Staff Report
FILE Cassie Stricker — THE BATTALION
The English Language Institute teaches students how to be proficient in the language, as well as other practical skills about American culture.
Company P-2 Senior, Dominic Gaeta (left), and friends walk the second half of the 2016 March to the Brazos.
English Language Institute finds future in flux Corps to march ELI faculty express concern, 18 miles, support frustration over possible closure local families By Brad Morse @bradsmorse53
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or more than 40 years, the English Language Institute has provided students with resources to become proficient in English. However, after a review from the university, ELI finds its future uncertain. Formed in 1966, ELI has provided services ranging from English proficiency courses to courses focusing on American culture. In May of 2016, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts Pamela Matthews informed ELI she was going to close the English-intensive part of ELI. “She gave us one year notice, so we would all be gone at the end of this May — the whole faculty,” said interim director and lecturer Mike Downey. “She said that the part that didn’t fit the university mission, as she put it, is that we have always, in order to serve university students, we’ve always had a way of paying for ourselves, by bringing in students who are taking the English language only classes.” Downey said most of the students who
take these courses are not enrolled in the university, but they are trying to be admitted, and need to pass an English proficiency test. “They pay the same fees as university students, they have the same privileges, and once they complete our courses, they can apply to the university, and many of them do, although a lot of them end up elsewhere,” Downey said. “That’s the part the dean wants to close, and did. So that meant we are no longer essentially funding ourselves. That money paid to keep the program going.” In an emailed statement, Matthews said despite ELI shutting down, students who need resources in English proficiency will still be serviced. “At a time when universities, including Texas A&M, are thinking strategically about how best to serve their students, ELI had evolved into a program that provided intensive language training primarily to individuals who were not Texas A&M’s students, but were here only to study the English language,” Matthews said. Matthews said there is work being done to find a solution that is as agreeable as possible. “Many individuals from various offices on campus are working to find the best
structure and location for language learning services to our international students. Our primary responsibility is to help them thrive as Aggies. In times of constrained resources, we must be strategic about using those resources wisely to help TAMU’s students succeed,” Matthews said. Many students who use the services ELI offers are graduate students, who will end up teaching courses and labs. Downey said if the services they offer are cut, the quality of the instruction those graduate students can offer would suffer. Lecturer Cathryn McIntyre said she felt they were given several vague reasons for the shutdown. McIntyre said throughout the whole process, communication from the university was minimal at best. “I reached out, personally. I sent two letters to [Dean Matthews], but I don’t know if she read them. My friend, who was terminated in May [2016], reached out including visits, letters to the president and the dean. She had meetings and she also felt like it was very vague,” McIntyre said. “I do not know if there is any other reason other than money for the university for shutting us down. Maybe. Facts are completely different from how you feel.”
ELI CLOSURE ON PG. 4
March to the Brazos hopes to raise $160,000 for March of Dimes. By Lauren McCaskill @lemoct21 The Corps of Cadets has been marching toward their goal of raising $160,000 for the March of Dimes, an organization whose mission is to fight premature birth, since the beginning of the fall of 2016. More than 2,300 cadets will participate in the 41st annual March to the Brazos Saturday to show support for March of Dimes and families and babies in the Brazos Valley area. The march is 18 miles, beginning in the Quad, going through Main Campus, West Campus and the Animal Science Teaching, Research & Extension Complex near the Brazos River. Between 1977 and 2016, the march raised more than $3 million for the March of Dimes, according to the Corps of Cadets website. This march is a way for the Corps to give MARCH OF DIMES ON PG. 4