The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, January 21, 2000, Page A5, Image 5
This Day In USC History
January 21, 1981 — The 10th floor of Capstone House
flooded.
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Looking for i€W&
in cyberspace
Matchmaking Web sites make finding a date easier, faster
by Mackenzie Craven
Assistant Etcetera Editor
ver wanted to create an ideal
ft date? Imagine. The perfect
girl/guy with the right eye color,
hair color, height, weight, etc. It is even
possible to find someone who shares
the same eccentric tastes.
Along with many other tasks, cy
berspace even makes finding the per
son of your dreams available with the
click of a mouse.
After you input the data of the per
son of your dreams, the computer mag
ically searches its files and, voila,
the person’s name and e-mail address
appear.
These services are easy to find us
ing a simple Yahoo! search.
Although each site is a little dif
ferent, the concept is basically the same.
The sites have the individual en
roll in their club and enter a profile.
Then, the real fun begins.
The individual is matched with that
perfect person based on their crite
ria.
Clients can be as critical as they
choose.
It isn’t face-to-face, so there are
no hard feelings.
In addition to being matched with
that special person, clients can browse
other clients’ ads, and even if that per
son isn t a perfect match according
to the computer, they can research and
decide on their own.
The pluses to this system of on-line
dating: It’s fun, interesting and it was
created to match people no matter how
many miles apart.
The minuses: Some profiles take a
long time to fill out, and there is the
risk of getting hunted down by some
one who might cause harm.
Three sites were looked at and com
pared.
. Although they have different qual
ities, their basic purpose is the same.
The College Club site is used for
more than a dating service.
The main purpose is for an e-mail
account and college forum.
But there is also a matchmaker op
tion.
Clients can compose their profile
and then go to the Match U link. On
that page, the client can be matched
with someone who has a similar pro
file.
The profile is simple and takes on
ly a few minutes to fill out. The short
essay questions can be filled out, if de
sired.
On the Matchmaker site, clients
are sent to a link for their city.
If their city is not listed, they can
choose a city where they would like
to meet with someone.
The profile consists of 19 essay
questions.
The membership is free for 14 days;
then, clients are required to pay a
monthly fee.
The site is easy to follow.
Each part of the profile is identi
fied with a green or red arrow, indi
cating whether that person is like
(green) or different (red) from the
client’s profile.
AWVN.com is an Internet site pri
marily based on finding someone to
date.
The two options are men search
ing for women and women searching
for men.
The search is narrowed by a vari
ety of categories: geographic location,
physical characteristics, lifestyles or.
photos only.
The client tells the computer the
type of person he/she wants.
They can choose a smoker or a non
smoker.
They can also chose to find
someone who has children or who does
n’t.
The site also has a romance center
where clients can get dating advice
or read about other stories that have
taken place within the Internet sites.
Looking for love online
If you’re looking for the love of
your life on the Internet, compare
three of the more popular sites:
E-mail account m
PROVIDED ^
Free service
PROVIDED ^
Users mat I
BROWSE ADS ^
Instant M
MESSAGES ^
See who has
YOU ON THEIR LISl^
See if your mail
HAS BEEN READ
Establish ad
OR PROFILE
I
Brad Waiters The Gamecock
South Carolina not so
‘cold to New Englander
Has winter weather finally gripped
the Southeast? Well, I guess you could
call the weather here winter. The tem
peratures in Columbia have finally dipped
down into the 30s and even into the 20s
(it’s about time; it is January, for cryin’
out loud). My guess is it won’t stay this
way for long.
However, to a New England na
tive, this weather feels much more like
early spring than the dead of winter.
And trust me, I have lived through
-some veiy cold winters — ones so cold
*and with so much snow it seemed as
though, from November to March, we
were out of school more than in. Hell,
we even had snow on Easter once. Yeah,
that’s right, the middle of April.
After being in South Carolina for
more than a year, I have to admit that it
does seem a bit cold. I don’t know about
anyone else, but I got used to (and loved)
the 71) degree weather we were having when classes started.
But I realized when I went home for winter break that
40 degrees isn’t half bad for the middle of winter. The entire
time I was in Connecticut, I was absolutely freezing. In fact,
I don’t think the temperature rose much above 30 degrees.
My friends, who all attend the University of Connecticut
or other Northern schools, made fun of me for complaining
about the freezing weather. That is when I seriously began to
^wonder if I could ever make it through an entire New Eng
land winter again when I could barely make it through a month.
The weather was part of the reason I came to USC. I re
ally don’t think I could get up for class in the morning if it were
10 degrees with a wind chill of 25 degrees below zero. I know
I must sound like I am preaching here, but my goal is to
make native Southerners realize that as chilly as it may be here,
it is 10 times worse in New England.
Here is a little technical information about the freezing
New England weather I had to endure for the first 17 years of
my life.
Today, for example, a wind chill advisory has been issued
through tonight in my home state of Connecticut. For those
of you who don’t know what a wind chill is, here is a quick
example. The temperature is forecasted to be a bone-chilling
10 degrees (which is bad enough), and the wind chill makes it
feel as if it is 25 degrees below zero (much, much worse).
Basically, you can’t go outside for more than 10 minutes
with any part of your body exposed, or you risk getting frost
bite.
Oh, what a fun way to spend a weekend. Cooped up in
your house with your parents and the heat cranked up, watch
ing reruns of television shows that you wouldn’t watch nor
mally. But under the circumstances, what choice do you re
ally have? It’s either that or spend “quality time” with your
parents. That is how many of us New England teen-agers had
to spend our nights when it got that cold.
Since I have been in South Carolina, I realized that I en
joy the mild winters and rare snowfalls. I have friends who are
native to this state and say they wish it would get colder and
snow more here. When they say this, I wonder why. Why on
earth would anyone on earth want it to snow? It is such an
inconvenience.
And then the answer comes to me ... the grass is always
greener on the other side.
For native South Carolinians, snow is a novelty that is thor
oughly enjoyed if and when it ever snows. I wish that I could
see snow as a joy instead of as a hassle. And for native Yankees
like me, a mild winter is a novelty.
I guess what I am trying to say is that while we walk around
Columbia in light winter jackets and maybe a pair of gloves
and a hat, we should think about my Connecticut counterparts
who have to deal with below-freezing temperatures and inch
es and inches of snow.
Ann Marie Miani
is a sophomore
journalism major
and editor of
etcetera. She can
be reached by e
mail at:
gckfeatures®
yahoo.com.
1
Campus Notes
■ Professor to lecture
today on free speech
The S.C. Association of Scholars, in asso
ciation with the Intercollegiate Studies
Institute, presents a public lecture, “The
Betrayal of Liberty on America’s Gun
puses,” by professor Alan Charles Kors
at 2 p.m. today in the RH Theater. For
more information, call professor Jeffrey
Poelvoorde at (864) 596-9103.,
■ Macintosh group
holds meeting today
The USC Macintosh Users Group will
meet from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. today in
Room 210 of the School of Music. For
more information, call Marc LaFountain
at 777-6144.
■ Deadline nears for
leadership conference
The Office of Leadership Programs an
nounces the 14th annual Student Leader
ship Training Conference. The theme of
this year’s conference is “The Art of
Leadership: Painting Your Palette.”
SLTC will be Feb. 5 from 8 a.m. to 3
p.m. The final deadline for registration is
Jan. 28 in the Campus Activities Center.
■ Council features
speaker on Russia
The World Affairs Council Distinguished
Speaker Series Luncheon presents “Rus
sia After Yeltsin,” featuring Dr. Gordon
Smith, author of “State-building in Rus
sia: The Yeltsin Legacy and the Chal
lenge for the Future.” The luncheon will
be at 12:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Capital
City Club. Cost is $20 for WAC mem
bers and $25 for nonmembers. For more
information, call 252-2197.
■ Habitat for Humanity
holds interest meeting
Students interested in participating in
Habitat for Humanity can go to the or
ganization meeting 7:30 p.m. Wednes
day in RH Room 304.
■ CORRECTIONS *
The Gamecock strives to report the facts
correctly and responsibly. If you come
across any inaccuracies in our reportage,
please let us know.
4- “ THURSDAY, January 20, 3:30 PM/ Russell House 315
4- - MONDAY, January 24, 3:30 PM/ Russell House 315
4- - MONDAY, January 24, 5:30 PM/ Russell House 315
‘SPORTS CLUBS ONLY*
4-- TUESDAY, January 25, 3:30 PM/ Russell House 315
4-- WEDNESDAY, January 26, 3:30 PM/ Russell House 315
4-- WEDNESDAY, January 26, 7:00 PM/ Russell House 315
V_/
Student Government
Russell House 110
777-2654
* Attendance at one Workshop is
required for all student organizations
receiving or applying to receive
Student Activity Fee Funds.