In the same vein, Pforzheimer's David J. Kim '01 says his participation in the dating game wasn't only for his own benefit.

"I was doing it for the House," Kim says.

Questions and Answers

Enter the House committees, which organized each event independent of one another.

"It's a good way to poke fun at the fact that we don't have much dating here," Raymond D. "Lano" Williams '00, president of Winthrop's House Committee, says.

Williams adds that the event is a longtime Winthrop tradition, which died out in recent years.

Game rules vary from House to House. Both Quincy and the Yard game were modeled on MTV's "Singled-Out" in whichone contestant narrows down a field of 50 willingmembers of the opposite sex.

Winthrop's game echoed "The Dating Game," inwhich one contestant is allowed to choose fromthree fellow singles. In Pforzheimer, the audiencechose dates for the contestants, who then had toreturn a week later to reveal the results of theirdates ... la "The Love Connection."

Just like their TV counterparts, the questionsat the dating games ranged from the erotic to themundane.

Walsh says her favorite question was, "If youwere an ice cream flavor, what would you be andhow would you lick me?" Walsh points out that thequestion's wording was unusual at best, which didnot escape her date, Checchi.

"He said, 'If I'm the flavor, why am I doingthe licking?'" Walsh says.

Contestant Kamil E. Redmond '00 of Pforzheimerasked her would-be dates, "It's Friday night. Howdo you get me in the mood?"

One man "said he would come behind me, placehis hands on my shoulders, run his hands down tomy fingertips and repeat until warm," Redmondsays. "I was thinking, 'Oh no, oh no.'"

The prize for the most suggestive instructions,though, goes to Michael W. Lin '00 of Quincy. Linhanded a banana to each bachelorette, onespectator says, and asked her to bite off as muchof the fruit as possible.

The first-year version of "Singled Out" wassomewhat more sheltered. Competitors were askedwhether their ideal dates would be short or tall,what sort of transportation they would take to aformal, and what their perfect spring breaks wouldbe.

"They weren't as sex-oriented as the questionson MTV, but they were interesting," says winnerMelissa M. Debayle '02.