Students look for love in 'Dating Game'

Over 100 people attended the event game show-inspired event at the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity house, held as part of LoveFest '99. Over 100 students crammed into the Alpha Chi Rho fraternity house last night to watch their friends and classmates in one last attempt to find a little love before Valentine's Day. This opportunity was provided by "The Dating Game," which was sponsored by the Tangible Change Committee in conjunction with the Vice Provost for University Life, the Social Planning and Events Committee, the Undergraduate Assembly, the InterFraternity Council, the Panhellenic Council and UTV13 as part of the week-long Lovefest '99 celebration. The game followed the format of The Dating Game television show, and was hosted by College senior Brad Taicher, the president of UTV13 and former host of the channel's Love Shack. Contestants were chosen from a campus-wide pool of students who provided the most intriguing response to the question "Where is the most unique place you have ever had a sexual encounter?" The game took place in four rounds, each of which featured four contestants. The contestant from each round who received the loudest audience response -- as determined by Taicher -- was the winner. Taicher spoke to all of the participants just before they took the stage. "'Don't be shy' was the last thing I said to them," Taicher said. The contestants took Taicher's advice to heart. What followed was a no-holds barred show that featured a partial strip-tease, extremely free discussion of the intricacies of the contestants' love lives and audience interaction throughout. "All the questions were open," Taicher stated. "There were very few setups in this show." This left the contestants with a large degree of freedom to use -- or abuse. The first winner, College junior Dan Fraidstern, took full advantage of his freedom. In response to the question "If you could give your penis any nickname, what would it be," he brought the house down with the reply: "Geoff Owens," referring to the 6'11" College junior and starting men's basketball center. The next round kept the standing-room-only crowd on their toes. Wharton junior John Jungblut asked the three female contestants to strike their sexiest pose for the audience. In response, College senior Cindy Hou climbed up on a chair, turned around, and bent over -- a move which turned out to be the most memorable part of the evening for many audience members. "The funniest part was definitely when [she] bent over and you could see her light blue panties," College junior Saryn Chorney said. Similar antics followed in the last two groups. Many of the audience members were watching their friends compete. While most expressed their support through raucous cheering, some were simply embarrassed for the contestants. Tangible Change Committee Chairperson Samara Barend agreed that the event was a success and said she hopes it becomes a tradition. "It's just one more way to help people find a little love," the College senior said.