By Adrienne Andros
Dating at BYU has steadily evolved since the sixties, according to some students and alumni.
One of the dominant stereotypes associated with BYU dating today is the originality of dates some students find themselves on.
'You find a lot more creativity and cuteness here than at other places,' said Sarah Allred, 20, a sophomore from Oklahoma, majoring in linguistics. 'A lot of people here are into creative ways of asking people out.'
Creative dates in Provo include watching a movie on a portable television up in the canyon and going miniature golfing with the clubs taped to your legs.
'Creative dates that are simple and thoughtful are fun,' said Jeremy Horner, 21, a sophomore from Malvern, Penn., majoring in accounting. 'But overly creative dates are weird, corny, and pretty much unacceptable.'
But how long has creative dating been around? Fred Streuling, an accounting professor at BYU, who graduated from BYU with his Masters in accountancy in 1964, said that it wasn''t very common to go on very creative dates back then.
'There wasn''t much creative stuff,' Streuling said. 'It was more straight-laced.'
Bob Parsons, Director of the Romney Institute of Public Management, and who graduated from BYU with his Masters degree in economics in 1966, said that dating was pretty simple in his day.
'We didn''t go up to Salt Lake,' Parsons said. 'There was no freeway.'
There were a lot of dorm and club activities that people brought dates to, he said.
But today, it''s more common to venture off campus for dates. Place like Trafalga, Movies 8, and Regal Lanes are all crawling with students on the weekends, Horner said.
Parsons said dates in the sixties were usually in groups and most the time, took place on campus.
'There were a lot of dances,' Streuling said. There were dances for everything from preference to student body elections, he said.
Preference brought about a rare event in the sixties: women asking out the men. Besides the big dance, the women didn''t usually take that initiative, Parsons said.
'It was somewhat taboo, unless it was a preference dance,' he said. 'It''s more acceptable today.'
Several women at BYU agree.
Nowadays at BYU, women do a lot of the asking, said Kerri Bell, 22, a senior from Hollister, Calif., majoring in animal science.
'The boys got kind of lazy,' Bell said. 'I think they kind of expect it.'
But some of the men do not agree.
Horner said that it bugs him that women wait around to get asked on dates. They want to take on liberal roles, but don''t prove themselves, he said.
'If women want to be business people and leaders, they can at least ask someone out,' Horner said.