BY DAVID BORJA, For Triton’s Call

Mangilao,  Guam – As she looked across the room at all of the new inductees, Mariah Ramos reflected back on her similar situation a semester earlier.  “It was a pretty cool experience to be inducted like this last semester because this recognizes all the work that I put in for Communications.”

Mariah now sees Lambda Pi Eta through a different lens, as she would be helping honor seven new students. Lambda Pi Eta  Alpha Beta Eta Guam Chapter held its 2nd induction ceremony on Oct. 23 to the delight of parents, supporters, and most of all, it’s new members.

Lambda Pi Eta was brought into fruition by students of the Department of Communication at the University of Arkansas and promptly founded by faculty member Stephen A. Smith in 1985. The ceremony name stems from letters out of the Greek Alphabet which are L (lambda), P (pi), and H (eta) for their representation of the philosopher Plato’s 3 means of persuasion: “Logos for logic, Pathos for emotion, and Ethos for credibility and ethics.”

She said her experience to be a chance at something fresh. “I’ve been a member of Comm Society for awhile now, so I’ve always been involved in helping our major grow.” When she heard that Lambda Pi Eta was going to be implemented, she wanted to be apart of it because, it not only recognized her work in the classroom but also that it was situation she could be apart of to do something new.

As they stood in line to receive their certificates, a lighting of three candles took place (the three candles representing the modes of persuasion); One could listen and hear that the current members exhibited a sense of prestige.

In order to be part of  Lambda Pi Eta, one must have completed the following: 60 semester hours in an undergraduate credit course, have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.0, completed the equivalent of 12 semester hours in courses in communication, maintained a grade point average of at least 3.25 in these courses, and be in the upper 35% of their graduating class.

In addition, they must be in good standing with their institution. Just hearing these prerequisites alone, one could tell that you’d have to be the cream of the crop.

The seven new members included: Kreeshia Aquino, Eric Bacarella, Swetha Kotwal, Yvonne Manglona, John Mugol, Erica Pangelinan, and Rianne Peredo. Mariah admitted it was a “weird but funny feeling” that she now oversees new inductees for the fact that she is younger than most of them.

“As a Vice-President now of Lambda Pi Eta, I can see that the new crop of members will do a good job in continuing to do well in their courses while contributing to the honor society.”