“I don’t have time to date!” Laura Andrews said when asked about dating on the Internet. “I’m not interested.” A Math and Computer Science junior, her books crowd her notebook off the table. It seems ironic that her reasoning is based on lack of time, for that is one factor in why people search for a partner online.

Allison Ferry, a senior at Sacramento State, does not think she could trust online dating. “I would want to know someone in person,” she says.

Peter Ruibal describes the classic Internet love myth: “My girlfriend knew a girl who met a guy online, and they moved in together,” the computer engineering junior says. “They went to Utah and he took all her money.”

However, finding love through the impersonal keyboard, screen and network works for some. Terri Gallietta found her current long-term boyfriend through the net.

“This is the best relationship I’ve ever been in,” Gallietta says.

One Internet dating service, Match.com, has over 12 million members, and they claim to have hooked up 89,000 people in the last year alone.

Erik Lipps thinks it works, and from his experience, his friends have had good relationships. However, he sees a certain aura surrounding Internet dating. “It’s like, ‘Oh, he met that girl on the Internet,'” he says.

Pete admits to looking for love with a mouse in his hand. Last August, Pete joined Match.com and started scanning the screens for a potential girlfriend. He found plenty of pretty photographs, but often was disappointed by the actual person.

After chatting online for a while with one woman, Pete went over to her house for dinner. She was “real heavy” and not exactly what he thought from her photo, but they enjoyed their time together and still keep in touch. He met another nice girl, and after a few dates of rockclimbing, he found that she wasn’t exactly what he was looking for, either.

“What I’m looking for is not what is out there,” Pete says.

I became interested and tried myself. I joined www.collegepersonalsonline.com for free, put in some generic answers about myself and posted a photo (yes lads, a real photo). Scanning the pages, I found some interesting men and a few who were less than desirable, as well. It seemed like a honest way to chat with others, and not too different from online “friendship” networks such as friendster.com or the soon-to-be-relaunched sixdegrees.com site.

Indeed, Internet dating it is not too different from dating any other way. Pete revealed that the girls he met told him that they received up to 50 e-mails a day. Many girls receive more attention than they respond to. It seems that Internet dating usually progresses from chatting online to going on “regular” dates.

“Overall, I recommend it highly,” Pete concludes.