ere we are again, folks, back on
the college scene for another episode of “The
Dating Game, ” brought to you by your local
love-lorn At Ease hosts. This week, in honor
of Valentine’s Day, we are making a special
guest appearance at Texas A&M University,
asking Aggies their opinions on dating.
In order to find a wide variety of people to
play our game, we visited the Sterling C.
Evans Library, the Memorial Student Center,
Rudder Tower and several of the dorms on
campus.
Let’s get the ball rolling with our first topic:
Who is asking who out?
We asked ten female members of our
studio audience whether they had ever asked
a guy out. Of the ten, only two had not taken
the initiative and made the first move. Those
gals who had asked guys out said they saw
nothing wrong with starting things off.
“By asking a guy out, I’m just showing him
that I’n^ interested,” said one student. “Guys
ask girls out — I don’t see why they can and
we shouldn’t.”
Yet all of the gals felt that it is not as
acceptable for gals to do the asking as it is for
guys. They said that the double standard is a
reflection of the way most people are brought
up, rather than the way women want things
to be. They said that it’s simply hard to break
an old habit.
Ten male members of the audience were
asked the flip side that question. When asked
if they had ever been asked out by a gal, the
response was not overwhelming, with only
six out of ten guys answering yes.
Roughly half said they felt funny going out
with a gal when she did the asking, except if
the date was a dorm or sorority function,
while the rest said they don’t mind at all being
asked out by gals.
“I find it very flattering to be asked out by a
girl, ” said Tim Washer, a sophomore
business major. “It’s nice for a change. ”
ifZ
als asking guys out on dates
brings up the second category of today’s
survey: Who pays?
“If I ask a guy out, I make it understood
that I’m paying, ” said a female freshman
bioengineering major. “I don’t feel
uncomfortable with that at all. ”
Of the ten females from our studio
audience, not one of them said she minded
paying when she did the asking, and eight
out of ten said they didn’t mind paying some
of the time or going dutch when the guy did
the asking.
Payee Durham, a sophomore psychology
major, said that she and her boyfriend either
take turns paying or go dutch. But she added
that he payed for everything at first.
The guys who were interviewed agreed
with this system for the most part. A
whopping 9 out of 10 guys said they pay 100
percent at the beginning of any relationship.
Once a relationship has been going for a
certain amount of time, most feel that sharing
the financial responsibilities is acceptable.
“Everyone has outgrown the standards
which say that the guy has to pay all the
time,” said Randy Keith, a sophomore
marketing major. “This is the ’80s. Girls
should be able to pay if they want to. ”
The typical rule of thumb followed by
couples is whoever has the more disposable
income does the paying.
But as far as the casual, guy-ask-gal-for-
the-first-date dating goes, it remains standard
for the guy to pay. In fact, most gals think if
the guy doesn’t pay for the first date, that is
grounds for dismissal.
Mel Wylie, a senior applied mathematics
major, related an experience which reflects
the feelings of many gals who have to pay for
a first date: “I went out with a guy (no names
mentioned, but Rob for short) and on our
first date, he said he had to cash a check
because he didn’t have enough money. Half-
seriously, I said I could pay until he got cash. I
couldn’t believe it! He took me up on my
offer and I ended up paying for the movie! ”
■ he matter of a gal having to pay for
the first date introduces our next subject of
the day: Dating pet peeves.
In this section, our players have chosen to
remain anonymous since they don’t want
their comments in this publication to
influence their dating futures at A&M.
Our first contribution comes from a gal
who has been on a fair share of dates, many
set up through mutual friends. She said her