Cupid's arrows strike campus

Sitting in the lobby of the Main Library, sophomore Bekka Potter and freshman Beka Sinders look more like best friends than lovers.\n"We're both really 'femme' looking," Sinders said. "We catch people off guard all the time. It's fun."\nPotter chimes in: "Yeah, when I say 'my girlfriend' people just kind of blink at me."\nA comfortable aura surrounds the couple of a year and five months. They are more concerned about whether they should venture downstairs for a smoothie than they are for their plans for Valentine's Day -- or rather the questioning looks directed toward them when they link hands as they exit the lobby.\nLove it or hate it, Feb. 14 is very much a part of American culture -- celebrating both heterosexual and homosexual love -- at least it would appear so by the number of roses sold for the day. According to www.aboutflowers.com, an estimated 156 million roses were sold in 2003 for Valentine's Day.\nSophomore Owen Sutkowski was one who did not buy one of those 156 million roses. He said he's been out six years and in that time he's dated a lot of men, but he's only had a significant other on one Valentine's Day.\n"I always get what I like to call the 'dead dog' expression when I tell someone I'm single," Sutkowski said, "People always say, 'Oh, I'm sorry,' or 'Oh, there's someone out there for you.' That doesn't bother me, but deep inside, I think it'd be nice to have someone."\nBut Sutkowski is looking to change his luck. He made it a personal goal for himself to have a date on Valentine's Day.\n"It's a nice excuse to ask someone out," he said.\nInstead of one person catering to the other, Sutkowski's idea of the perfect evening is to spend time together.\n"We would make a whole dinner together -- appetizers, dinner and dessert," he said. "Then, we would find a nice romantic song and slow dance in my apartment."\nIU sophomore Nick Heck said he is "talking to a guy" who goes to Purdue University, so the two can't be together on Valentine's Day, but Heck told him on the phone what they would do if they were together.\n"When I picked him up, I would have a single rose," Heck said. "When we got to the restaurant, the other 11 would be waiting on the table. Then we'd drive out to Lake Monroe and take off the T-tops on my Camaro and turn up the heat so we could look at the stars. It's fun to do something outside when it's chilly because it's nice to have to be close to someone."\nPerhaps those perfect evenings exist only for those who are unattached. Potter and Sinders struggle to remember how they spent Valentine's Day last year.\n"What did we do?" Sinders asks Potter.\n"I think we went out the week before," Potter answers. "It's too crazy on the actual day."\nSt. Valentine is surrounded by myths, as no one is quite sure who the actual man was. In fact, according to www.thehistorychannel.com, the Catholic church has a record of three St. Valentine's, all of whom are martyrs. One legend tells of an emperor who decided his men would make better soldiers without wives and families, so he banned marriage for the men. Valentine disagreed with the decree and married couples in secret until the emperor found out and Valentine was put to death.\nAnother legend begins with Valentine in prison falling in love with the jailor's daughter. He sent her a love letter before he was sent to death and signed it, "From your Valentine."\nAlthough the myths all deal with heterosexual love, Sutkowski said he believes Valentine's Day is more about celebrating any kind of love.\n"Love is in all capacities on Valentine's Day," Sutkowski said. "I know kids who get cards from their parents. Love has so many levels."\nHeck also believes Valentine's Day is about more than just one specific type of love.\n"It's just geared toward love in general," Heck said. "Anyone can be in love."\nBut the government disagrees. \nOn Wednesday, a constitutional convention begins in Massachusetts, and one of the items on the list to discuss is gay marriages. Currently, an amendment which would define marriage as a heterosexual institution but still allow for gay civil unions seems the most likely to pass, but the amendment wouldn't take affect until November 2006.\nSutkowski doesn't see what the fuss about gay marriages in Massachusetts is about.\n"With all this finger pointing in Massachusetts, it's just silly," he said. "Gay marriage is not harming anyone, it's loving someone. How can someone stand against that?"\nWhile Sutkowski doesn't have to worry about marriage anytime soon, the thought of it lingers in the back of Potter's and Sinders' minds.\n"We plan on getting married someday," Potter said of she and Sinders, "but where it's legal, depends on where we live."\nBut that problem is in the future. For now, the two need to figure out how they will spend Feb. 14 up in Lafayette for a color guard competition.\nBoth appear unworried, as Sinders said, "We'll figure something out."\nSutkowski said he has one potential date for Saturday in mind, but he isn't worried if it doesn't work out.\n"I've always thought of Valentine's Day as a cop-out for couples," he said. "You should show how much you care about someone on a regular basis. Everyday should be Valentine's Day."\n-- Contact staff writer Kathleen Quilligan at kquillig@indiana.edu.