Traditional romance has lost its appeal
By Rebecca Horowitz, Wendy Elsenhart and Sabrina Steele
Special to the Kansan
Many say traditional romance is dead or at least in short supply among college students these days. Lifestyles of many KU students seem to prohibit the old-fashioned concepts of dating.
Between women fighting for equal rights, corporate careers and different values of what relationships are these days, many college students say they just do not have the time for romance.
"Chivalry is dead with equal rights," said Jay Homburger, Rochester, Minn., senior. "Traditional romance was Juliet the helpless princess that Romeo had to rescue. Now Juliet has to fight her own way out."
Kristen Schildberg, Grandview, Mo., junior, winces at the subject of romance. To
her. romanticism is a lost cause.
"Girls still have romance, but a lot of guys have lost it. It's just hard to find a nice, dedicated person anymore," she said. "Men start a relationship after 15 minutes. Then the next day there's no more relationship."
That's not exactly true for everyone.Many students still have relationships,but they lack time or money to go out on formal dates.
Scott Goodman, Kansas City junior, has had a serious girlfriend for more than three years. He said they both have jobs, go to school, work on separate careers and are independent people. "Ithink it's romantic to lounge around and watch movies," he said.
When Kristy Ray, Salina junior, first met her boyfriend of three and a half years, he would often take her out to dinner or a movie. Now, they stay at home and rent movies. "It's kind of like now he's got me, so we don't have to go out anymore," she said.
Nontraditional students, however, seem to have the most difficult time with traditional romance. For these students, finding the time is a problem.
Robyn Wilbur, a 28-year-old nontraditional student from Lincoln, Neb., said that women do want romance but that there is no time. "The caring and the intimacy isn't there, mainly because there's no time. With two kids, homework and tests, my mind is always scattered."
Dena Brasher, Fort Worth, Texas, senior said she thought the large size of the University is one of the main factors for inhibiting romance. Coming from a small school in Fort Worth, she said, it seemed as though there were more couples there.
Scott Custer, Leawood junior, said lack of money is a problem. He and his girlfriend of four months also go out when they can afford it.
"I'm pretty poor, but when I get money, I
like to take her out to a nice dinner," he said. "Otherwise, we just hang out with friends at a restaurant or in someone's room."
For single students the reason for not going out on dates simply might be a matter of not wanting to wait around for a date.
Shawn Fapp, Topeka junior, said that she does date occasionally but that she does not have a boyfriend. So she usually goes out to bars with a group of friends on the weekends.
Marcy Smoots, McLouth sophomore, said that she went on dates once in a while but that she usually had more fun going out with a group of friends.
Quoc Truong, Wichita freshman, said he is a bit disappointed with dating at KU.
"It's boring," he said. "All there is to do is eat, sleep and study.I heard college is supposed to be the best years of your life.I have a little glimpse of hope.I have yet to find out what's there."
Students squeeze soaps into class schedules
By Jennifer Freund, Julianne Peter and Michelle Zimmerman
Special to the Kansan
Utley Bush, Miami senior, was surprised when he found out that Palmer Cortland was gay.
Bush, a soap opera fanatic, viewed Cortland, a character on "All My Children," like a friend or family member, he said.
"I've been watching 'All My Children' since I was in grade school," Bush said. "You start to relate to people when you watch for that
long."
Bush is one of many students at the University of Kansas who are hooked on daytime soap operas.
Chris Alonzo, Topeka senior and a communications major, scheduled classes around his favorite soap opera, "The Young and the Restless," during his freshman year, he said.
"Now I just watch it on Tuesdays and Thursdays and ask my friends what happened on the days that I missed," Alonzo said.
Monique Garcia, Wichita senior, said that as a freshman, she also had picked classes that wouldn't interfere with her soap opera.
She began classes at 7:30 a.m. so she could be finished by "Days of Our Lives," which airs at noon.
Garcia said the early classes and sleepless nights spent studying for tests had not bothered her. But TV no longer holds any weight for her as a senior, she said.
Shawna Jope, Kansas City sophomore, and Jill Stolz, Pittsburgh, Pa., junior, said
they didn't schedule classes around their favorite daytime television shows. However, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday they meet at the TV lounge in the Kansas Union between classes to watch "The Price is Right" and "The Young and the Restless," they said.
Melissa Young, Topeka junior, said she had time to watch only ten minutes of "The Young and the Restless." Although she didn't plan it this way, she walks from Robinson Center to the Union to catch the soap opera between classes, she said.
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