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THE BATTALION
3A
Thursday, January 17, 2002
Eyes Wide
Shut
From marriage to living nightmares, blind dates
result in a variety of experiences
By Lyndsey Sage
THE BATTALION
as also witre
•rest from
it is a peace 1 .
>sitv.
Mentioning “blind date” is enough to
lake palms sweat, hearts race and butterflies
Butter in nervous stomachs. Dating is nerve
d. Bcking. but when neither partner knows any-
ad a set ofjBjng about the other the adventure of dating
•t s,x nw ®Becomes a whole different story. However, as
^"^pJBustin Wyatt, a sophomore engineering
discovered, once the nerves settle, a
n uor a f i '®|j n( j date may not be as dreadful as one
under f l, « h ' an ';, c , lpate '
ose kinds of » When Wyatt was in high school, he agreed
telv new. be | t0 a blind arranged by his cousin's girl-
reased expotewi en( H- and the friendship cultivated from the
11” Jate continues to remain strong.
I “We ended up going out three more times
Ind eventually dated for half a year. We
became good friends and continue to talk
juite a bit now,” Wyatt said. “It is something
nericans kne i would try again.”
the region ^ Some, like Wyatt, who have dared to trust
n ° W •mlTiJ 16 ' 1 ' matchmaker, are able to tell happily-
CLietl. altc || ver . a f ler stories of their blind date.
^dernSI An S e,a Wilke ’ Class of 2()0() ’ is one of
^ reesbaSB 1086 P eo Pl e - ^be said she never anticipated
cind ofoonil 16 s ' ,11 ple twist of fate when she was set up
with a co-worker's brother last winter.
I “I was nervous, because I hate blind
Bates,” Wilke said.
I A year later, she tied the knot with her
Blind date. Their matchmaker, thinking they
would get along well, set the couple up for
dinner before Christmas break last year. Chris
^^^^J/ilke said the atmosphere of the date was
ling to have relaxed, almost like talking to a best friend.
Alexande: “pj e was a gentleman,” Angela said. “I felt
ave Universe”'
e driven entr:
money ffi
bers with ev
;t. He adds:
ow long the ■
r interest
w ill last,
to see whetri
in interest
iERCENI:
1 University
IR
NG
f *^Bce 1 talked too much, but he was a good lis
tener and conversationalist."
I After the initial blind date, they met again
for New Year’s and, since marrying three
days before Christmas, they have been
together ever since.
The romantic side of blind date success
stories can be amazing, but there are those
who try to block out blind date nightmares.
Josh Black, a sophomore at Baylor
University, would rather forget a blind date
from this past year.
“I don’t even remember the girl’s name, so
that should tell you something,” Black said.
“One thing that started the date off bad was
that 1 had to ride in the cargo compartment of
her Explorer to the party, which was 20 min
utes away. Then, during the date, she kept
getting a little too close for my comfort.”
Set up by a mutual friend. Black said he
spent most of the evening trying to avoid his
date. He said he was so miserable that he lied
to end the date early.
“I told her that since 1 was pledging, I had
a curfew of 10 o’clock, which was not true,”
Black said.
To avoid such negative experiences, an
individual should devise a fail-proof escape
plan. As with any potentially dangerous
undertaking, blind dates should be
approached with caution. Preparing a back up
plan so a quick escape is possible, planning
to first meet over drinks and avoiding an
extended time commitment are vital to creat
ing a safe dating environment.
Whether the date ends as friends or foes,
most participants view their blind date as a
positive experience.
“(Blind dates] give you a chance to branch
out from the norm and meet someone new,”
Katie Birdsong, a sophomore business major,
said. “1 would recommend trying it if you
ever have the opportunity. The worst that can
happen is that you aren't a match, and you
never have to see your date again.”
Yet for Birdsong, a certain blind date
holds significant value.
“My parents met on a blind date and have
been married 26 years,” she said. “You never
know what will happen.”
FRANK CHANCE • THE BATTALION
LIFE WITHOUT FOOTBALL
Students explore alternative weekend
plans during the off-season
The
lively
ake GREAT ended,
and
)2
rom:
By Thomas Phillips
THE BATTALION
college football season has
leaving students with hours of
free time on weekends to pursue activi
ties precluded by an autumn of attending
Aggie games.
B For some, the spare time and
approaching spring allow abundant
opportunities to explore leisure activities.
| Kyle Boothe, a junior finance major,
said he enjoys attending Aggie basketball
games. “You get to sit down and relax,
and I like that about them.”
T Boothe said he enjoys the slow pace of
the spring semester, which lacks the prac
tices of pulling football tickets, fighting
stadium crowds and fulfilling his duties
|a member of the 12th Man.
Boothe said basketball and baseball
»ames make for an easy afternoon or
SVening of entertainment.
T probably enjoy those better than I
do football games, just because you get to
sit down and watch a good game,”
Boothe said. “And it’s a lot easier to get
tickets to basketball and baseball games.”
For Boothe, this and the fewer people
in the community than during football
game weekend, makes inviting guests to
town for the weekend easier.
“If my brother wanted to come to
town or a friend from another college,
then I could show them around town
and it wouldn’t be so busy,” he said.
Outdoor activities also intrigue
Boothe, an avid hunter and fisherman,
which he said he pursues in the mild
Texas winter and spring.
“You do have more time on the
weekend because there’s no football
game,” Boothe said. “I usually get
lazier in the spring semester because
I’m tired of school and I want to just
have it done with. So I do a good
enough job in school and try to enjoy
myself the rest of the time.”
Other students spend the semester
anticipating the end of the school year,
10
orts Editor
ly Chief
rg, Design Dirtf
Vrr Director
Photo Editor
Ladio Producer
ough Friday during
summer session i f ■
nil
sriodicals Postage
The Battalion,
ixas A&M Univeisn 1
. News offices are
ax: 845-2647: *
FRANK CHANCE • THE BATTALION
waiting for an extended vacation.
Lindsay Lynch, a junior marketing
major, said she looks forward to the
approaching summer months. She said she
plans to spend the spring checking out the
Aggie baseball games and playing with
her pet dog, Maggie, but said that she
struggles to remain focused oh her studies.
“The spring semester is more diffi
cult than the fall, because I seem to
check out a little bit earlier,” Lynch
said. “When spring break comes, I
never really check back into school.”
With her friends, Lynch said she
hopes to relax from the overwhelming
fall semester and have little trouble
filling her time between classes and
volunteering with Young Life, a stu
dent outreach program geared toward
junior high and high school students.
“We can always catch a great movie,
spend a lot of time at Research Park.
It’s going to be spring and start to get
warm,” she said.
Better weather. Lynch said, keeps her
motivated during the spring. On the
weekends, Lynch said she will spend
time recovering from the week.
“I use the weekend to catch up, and I
typically do better (in school) in the
spring than in the fall,” Lynch said.
For Zach Stowers, a sophomore gener
al studies major, the spring semester
brings back a yearning for diamonds —
baseball diamonds.
“Spring reminds me of baseball and
all those memories,” the former high
school baseball player said. “In high
school we used to play in the Brenham
baseball tournament every spring, and
I’m going to miss that.”
Without football games, Stowers said he
has time for other activities like exercising.
“The weather’s better and you can do
more stuff outside,” he said. “I’ll proba
bly need to study a little more and I’ll
definitely play more golf.”
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS
Dido’s nomination
revoked
LONDON (AP) - Chart-top
ping singer Dido had her
nomination for a British best-
newcomer award revoked
Wednesday, after officials
realized she wasn't that new
after all.
The singer, who rose to star
dom after rapper Eminem
chose her song "Thank You"
as the backing track to his
chart-topper "Stan," was
nominated Monday in the
category for a Brit Award,
Britain's equivalent of the
Grammys.
Observers pointed out that
the 30-year-old Dido, whose
real name is Florian Cloud
De Bounevialle Armstrong,
had been nominated for
best female artist the previ
ous year.
The Official U.K. Charts
Company, which compiled
the list of eligible artists,
said Wednesday it had
made a mistake and apolo
gized to Dido, her record
company, the Brits and lis
teners of British
Broadcasting Corp.'s Radio
1, who vote on the winner
from the list of nominees.
Dido said the mistake didn't
bother her.
"I think it's quite funny. It's
so silly," she told Radio 1.
"You just don't question it. If
you're given a nomination,
you don't think 'Oh, am I eli
gible?' You just don't know
the rules. I don't know if any
one knows the rules."
Dido is still up for best
video, best female solo
artist and best album, for
"No Angel."
Harding evicted
from home
VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) -
Tonya Harding's landlord has
filed a lawsuit to evict the for
mer Olympic figure skater and
her roommate from a three-
bedroom riverfront home.
Landlord Dale E. Anderson
claims Harding and her former
manager Linda Lewis owe him
$4,530 in rent, according to
court documents filed
Monday in Clark County
Superior Court.
Harding, 31, and Lewis have
been renting the 1,300-
square-foot three-bedroom,
two-bathroom ranch house
overlooking the Columbia
River since August 2000, court
documents say.
On Jan. 9, they were served
a three-day notice either to
pay their $1,195 monthly rent
for November, December and
January, plus late fees, or
leave, the documents say.
The lawsuit seeks to have
Harding and Lewis pay the
rent and late fees, move out
of the house, forfeit their
deposit and pay an additional
$450 in attorney's fees.
Neither Harding nor Lewis
could be reached for comment
Tuesday. They're scheduled to
appear in court Jan. 25.
Once a top figure skater,
Harding's life has been
swirled in scandal since a
knee-whacking attack on rival
Nancy Kerrigan before the
1994 U.S. National
Championships and the
Winter Olympics.
Harding pleaded guilty to
hindering prosecution and
was stripped of her national
championship title.