Students vie for night of romance in dating game

As the threat of another Valentine's Day spent solo looms overhead, some Penn students decided to make some love connections of their own. On Saturday night, in the basement of Hamilton College House, two brave students attempted to find their potential soulmates in the second annual Penn "Dating Game." College freshman Lucia Leone and College sophomore Dave Punda put their potential love interests through a rigorous interrogation in the hopes of making a match and enjoying a free dinner anywhere in Philadelphia. Organizers Susan Pologruto and Jennifer Bible, both Hamilton House graduate associates, transformed the building's basement into their own version of the timeless match-making game show. Though Chuck Woolery was not in attendance, more than 30 of the contestants' friends and classmates did their part by cheering on the contestants and the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes. The contestants were not able to see their potential dates because they were blocked by a large screen, so they had to choose solely based on the answers -- not to mention the varied reactions of the audience members. Leone, who went first, asked her three contestants a series of questions -- some of which had sexual connotations -- in order to determine which guy would be her dream date. The biggest audience reaction came when two male contestants agreed that the movie that most describes their sex lives is Deep Impact. The audience also laughed when the male bachelors were required to use their best pick-up lines, especially when one attempted the hopelessly unsmooth "I like your shoes" approach. However, the humor took a sour turn when College freshman Prescott Johnson, a Daily Pennsylvanian sports reporter and one of the contestants, stunned the audience -- as well as Leone -- when he answered that the riskiest thing he had ever done was be involved in a hit-and-run accident. In the end, however, it was College sophomore Andrew Margolies, a Daily Pennsylvanian photography editor, who won Leone's heart -- and a free dinner. Perhaps the answer that put Margolies over the top was his response that the compliment he gets most often from girls is that he's the "best kisser in the world." "I decided to play because I wanted a date," Margolies said, when asked why he decided to participate. Leone said she would like to go to the nearby White Dog Cafe because she has never been there. Next to the stage was Punda, who escalated the level of sexual tension in the room by asking one contestant which ice cream flavor she would say described her and why. "Vanilla, because I taste really good," was the reply from one contestant, who turned red in the face before a chorus of hooting audience members. For another question, Punda declared that he loves clubs and asked the girls to dance for him. He then proceeded to judge their performances by audience reactions. And though each of the women received their fair share of applause, Punda chose the one, College freshman Aqsa Khan, who got the loudest screams. Punda later said he chose his date because of her dancing prowess and because she said she'd bring along a stereo, lots of whipped cream and a copy of the Kama Sutra if stranded on a desert island with him.