The Seekers

On Valentine's Day at Harvard, love isn't in the air, but hidden in envelopes campus-wide.

Pending the results of an Undergraduate Council committee meeting, the 809 students who filed Valentine's Datamatch forms will learn their romantic fates today or tomosrrow.

For only one dollar, students who completed the 35 questions of the Datamatch survey, sponsored by the Council and the Harvard Computer Society (HCS), will receive a list of their 10 best matches from Council members tabling in dining halls around campus.

These same Council members are responsible for questions such as: "It's Friday night. What do you do? a) study b) go clubbing c) have lots of sex d) go the Grille e) wish you were having lots of sex." Other queries on the Datamatch form ranged from appropriate date behavior to favorite exotic locations for sexual fantasies.

Council representative Jinesh N. Shah '98 brought the Datamatch to campus last year after members expressed interest in carrying to Harvard the match-up services usually found at high schools.

This year's tally of 809 participants is up nearly 100 from last year but still falls a little short of Shah's hopes. "I would have liked to have more," he said.

While neither Shah nor Justin T. Lin '98, project coordinator of the Datamatch, could hazard a guess as to what kind of person might choose to participate, Lin noted that first-years comprised about one-half of the Datamatch pool.

According to Shah, this is a drop from last year, when first-years made up almost 60 percent of the group.

Gender ratios were about even for this year's Datamatch.

"It was pretty balanced," said Lin. "We didn't see any big discrepancies."

About three-quarters of participants filed their Datamatch forms through the HCS web site, according to Lin.

Lin said it seemed most students entered the Datamatch with a light rather than a longing heart.

"I don't think people participated with really that much a sense of seriousness about it," said Lin. "I would think most people participated out of a sense of fun or curiosity."

Students also downplayed the seriousness of the Datamatch, saying they viewed the questions on which their romantic futures hinge as more humorous than insightful.

"They were kind of random," said Michael W. Chen '96.

Some claimed they participated for the fun of the process, while many said they gave in to pro-Datamatch peer pressure.

"I had a really annoying entryway-mate who forced me to," said Scott A. Taylor '99.

One student cited a unusual reason for taking part in the romantic roulette.

"My boyfriend and I were trying to see if we could get each other," said Heather L. Bowie '96.

Harvard students who are counting on Datamatch's algorithm to bring them true love may be pleasantly surprised by the outcomes.

Shah, who said he considers the Datamatch "a pretty accurate gauge of compatibility," said last year's version yielded at least one campus couple.

"If you look at your top 10 results, there's probably a good chance that you might get lucky," Lin said.

Of course, before students can make it to that stage, they'll have to contact their matches, a step which Shah deems unlikely.

"Most people will look at [their compatibility list]; most won't call," he said.

Students seemed to agree they would call a person from their list only if they already knew the person, a scenario which Lin labels quite possible.

"If a lot of your friends enter, there's a good chance that someone you know will be on your list," he said.

Shah encouraged students to contact their matches, regardless of prior familiarity.

"If someone wants to try to get something more substantial out of it, more power to them," he said.

This year's version of Datamatch is a collaboration between the Council and HCS. The Council wrote the questions for the Datamatch, while HCS created a Datamatch web site and provided the algorithm for determining the matches, Shah said.

Last year, a company outside of Harvard worked out the technicalities of the Datamatch, but when HCS offered its services for this year, the Council accepted.

"It's always been an idea that our members have had in the past," said Lin. The Council will pay HCS 65 cents of each dollar that students dole out for their match sheets, according to Shah.

HCS has proven to be a very flexible partner for the Council, Shah said, especially since professional computer match-making services are completely swamped with requests this time of year.

"They've been very, very good about the whole thing," said Shah.