Fraternity introduced at inaugural meeting

Communication and culture undergraduates, graduates and professors filled Ashton Center-Mottier, the department's new building, Wednesday afternoon for its 2000 welcome reception. The reception was held to start the new academic year and inform students about what the major has to offer. \nThis year's program offers a new chapter of the national honors fraternity, Lambda Pi Eta. Senior Sam McCormick, founder and brigadier general of the newly initiated Kappa Alpha Chapter, said he is excited to share the society with prospective members and nonmembers. \n"The group will be open to everyone," McCormick said. "While there will be requirements to be met for the national fraternity, there will simultaneously be an ongoing reading group open for anyone in any major of study."\nTo become a member of LPE, a student needs at least 60 hours of college credit, the completion of 12 semester hours in the department of communication and culture, a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.0 and a GPA of at least a 3.25 in all communication and culture classes. \nThe fraternity brought many new faces to the welcome party. Junior Heather Tuttle said the main reason she attended the reception was the opportunity to ask students and professors questions about her major.\n"I am pretty clueless about where I am going with my major," Tuttle said. "I came here to network and meet people who might have some insight on what classes I should take, where I can go with this major and what I can do after graduation."\nOther students said they attended the party merely for the party atmosphere: the food, the punch, the free handouts and the crowd. Danielle Bader, a sophomore and communication and culture minor, said she wanted to interact and become part of the community. \n"I don't want to be in a corner. I don't want to be a little hermit crab," Bader said. "It is important for me to form relationships with people because I never know when I may be working side by side with them someday."\nWhether it is for contact purposes, recommendations or just for some friendly advice, student-professor relationships seem to be on the top of every communication and culture major's list. Jeremy Jacoby, a sophomore, said he chose the communication and culture department mainly based on the reputation of the professors.\n"It's not so much about a professor's personality," Jacoby said. "I like professors who are knowledgeable and like to teach and who are here solely to teach. And that's why I like the communication and culture department. The professors here want to teach what they are teaching"