‘Lets Integrate Our Curves’: Students Seek Casual Encounters on Site ‘UChicago Hookups’
- Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:26pm by
Emily Esfahani Smith
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CHICAGO (AP / THE BLAZE) — They acknowledge they’re nerds and sometimes use words only a nerd at a school known for churning them out would understand, but the students at the University of Chicago — including one who is tired of being looked at as “a human calculator” — now have their own online matchmaking site.
Called UChicago Hookups, the site is advertised as the creation of U of C students to meet the needs of other U of C students who haven’t found love in Stable Isotope Biogeochemistry, Eighteenth-Century Aesthetics or any of the courses at a the gray, severe campus that looks like the birthplace of the headache.
Students can register to meet someone who has posted under the headline “Awkward Nerd Looking for Bookish Girl” or “Lets Integrate Our Curves” or even “Aqueous Explorer Looking for an Impromptu Trans-Pacific Adventure.”
In the month it has been in operation, UChicago Hookups says it has more than 300 registered users who have sent more than 1,300 messages.
Here is what the homepage of the site looks like:
As might be expected at a school that boasts of Nobel laureates as other schools brag about NFL draft picks, some of the pitches include a willingness to “make some apple tea to calm your nerves” or a “bit of Marxist conversation.“ One post is titled ”Lie Tangent To These Curves,” which conceivably is designed to weed out those who don’t know what “tangent” means.
But there are also plenty of posts with obscene headlines and even more obscene and crass notes that could have come out of any frat house or junior high locker room, like the one that concludes, “And, of course, don’t be fat.”
Studious UChicago students are seen in action below:
School officials, who are more than happy to find experts on what is happening in Japan, Libya or any Supreme Court brief a reporter can think of, refuse to talk about the site.
“No comment,” university spokesman Jeremy Manier said.
But the creators have plenty to say about why they did what they did. And much of it came back to the school’s reputation — cemented in the 1990s when Inside Edge magazine ranked it 300th out of 300 colleges and universities for having a good time — the place where “where fun comes to die.”
The site’s introduction includes the motto, “Where Fun Comes to Thrive.”
“We’re trying to change the ages-old stereotype that UChicago students are severely sexually deprived,” it says, a sentiment echoed by someone who responded to an e-mail sent to the site but identified himself only as an undergraduate named Steve.
Perhaps not surprising given the academic demands of a school like the University of Chicago, most of the posts are from people looking for a way to relieve stress. What they aren’t looking for is a long term commitment. Posts are littered with phrases like “no strings attached’ and “after-finals fun.”
One notable exception was “Awkward Nerd,“ who said that if he finds the right ”Bookish Girl” he’s confident the two will “turn out to be soul mates.”
Some of the comments don’t sound worthy of students at one of the most prestigious universities in the United States, raising suspicions among a few students about the hundreds of registered users the site says it has.
“That doesn’t seem like University of Chicago students,” Lucas Loots, a 20-year-old philosophy student, said of the raunchier entries.
But others disagree, saying the site reveals something they have known about the school for a while: College kids are college kids wherever you go.
“Some of the stuff you can tell is some frat boys making up stories,” said Katherine Futrell, a 22-year-old psychology major.
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Comments (62)
Longshot35
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 11:28pmI think this is another story that shows just how different BYU is from many other schools. So many people were critical of BYU for kicking that kid off of the basketball team. Hurray for BYU!
Report Post »paperpushermj
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 11:28pmI think the 3 trollops on campus are going to get a lot of action this semester.
Report Post »drattastic
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 9:49pmHorny young men trying to get laid ,what else is new ?
Report Post »Big Texan
Posted on March 20, 2011 at 11:24amI guess some days this is considered “ breaking news ” .
Report Post »saneromeo
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 9:43pmI keep thinking of what a joke a nerd hookup site is, it used to be called the library but I guess everythings on an E-book now, all I know is they need to remember their “pocket protectors”!
Report Post »YouGottaProblemWithThat
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 7:25pmBig Bang in real life. I love nerds!
In 1917, when Albert Einstein established the theoretic foundation for the laser in his paper “Zur Quantentheorie de Strahlung, his fondest hope was that the resultant device be bitchin’.
Hello, I‘m sorry to inform you that you’ve been taken in by unsupportable mathematics designed to prey upon the gullible and the lonely. Additionally, I am being blackmailed with a hidden dirty sock.
If that was slang, I’m unfamiliar with it. If it was literal, I share your aversion to soiled hosiery.
Report Post »clinicalminded
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 6:46pmWhy is this retarded story on here?
Report Post »CaptainSpaulding
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 6:29pm100 ugly frat boys
100 gay guys
5000 porn web boards
1000 work from home web boards
20 lesbians
2 fat girls
-the make up of the site
Report Post »Big Texan
Posted on March 20, 2011 at 11:22amLOLOLOLOLOLOL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LMAO ! Too funny and probably very accurate !
Report Post »Karama
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 6:08pmGreat idea spreading STD’s and unwanted pregnancies wonderful idea. I thought going to college was supposed to raise your intelligence. I guess not, these people must have missed how fast HIV has spread and how getting knocked up before you are ready can ruin your life.
Report Post »Chiox
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 10:50pmDepopulation – Bill Gates’ “Ted” speech.
Report Post »notreally
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:47pm“Hook ups”: a slimy animal description for animal behavior, as in “If it moves, hump it.” The best gift to Islam to condemn the depravity of the West.
Report Post »Big Texan
Posted on March 20, 2011 at 11:18amAnd these “hookups” are more depraved than the accepted Islamic practice of taking 4 year old wives exactly how ????????
Report Post »chips1
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:34pmWhat is this STD talk? I thought they all carried pocket protectors!!!!!
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:30pmprobably found in a commie college book once owned by Stanley Ann Dunham, but still, no wonder why gonorrhea is at major levels in this age group. they will be so thrilled when they’re all diseased.
“socially repressed”?! …. talk about nothing but communist propaganda…
from “Communist Take Over of America (1963) 45 Declared Goals”:
Report Post »#26. promote homosexuality, degeneracy and PROMISCUITY as “normal, natural, healthy”
chickenfried
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:26pmFinally…hope for Chris Matthews and Larry O’Donnell.
Someone tell ‘em quick…their repression is interfering with the comedy on PMSNBC.
Report Post »chickenfried
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:27pmOh yeah…Maddow might get lucky too.
Report Post »barrycooper
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:19pmWhat they neglected to mention was that 299, which beat us by one point, was West Point.
U of C students are a self-selecting group who like to read really hard books, and wrestle for long periods of time with ideas most people find boring. This struggle, though, has produced a lot of foundational work in a lot of fields, for a lot of years.
A hookup website is not one of those ideas. I like this, too, since it means they are behind in something it’s not bad to be behind in. It’s a severely disciplined place, and I doubt this site will get all that much use.
One thing I don’t think we will see is a live sex demonstration. That would be for Northwestern, where Bernardine Dohrn, ironically enough, teaches in the LAW School. Flaky stuff, on both counts.
Report Post »Libertarian
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:57pmNothing out of Illinois surprises me at this point.
Biblical morality starts at the family. How we define morality is important, it is why government cannot and should not teach, maintain or educate us on this topic. Secular morality is defined on the individual’s “feeeeelings”, it is why there are no benchmarks.
The defining game has been played for years. It is why contemporary dictionaries had to insert the word “classic” in front of liberal when defining Jeffersonian thought. It is why there is a clear divide how we look at the constitution, positivist vs originalist. It is why a socialist and capitalist define economic freedom differently. One side believes the fruit of labor should be equal through government mediation (force), while the other believes an individual has a right to the fruit of their own labor.
Morality is no different, it is why us limited government people should concentrate more on raising our own families in a moral environment. Government has no place in teaching morality, when the parasite (liberalism) enters the body politic it will infect every limb and extremity of it; it will promote degeneracy of every kind.
Ask Cicero
Report Post »Libertarian
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 8:03pmYa my jab at Illinois was not so much at the state, but rather an indirect one at the president.
The degeneracy of this country is rampant in all of its doings – economics, politics, churches and finances. We are slowly moving from desensitization to indifference, indifference on its way to acceptance.
Whether Edmund Burke said this (disputable) or not it is a great quote. It is applicable to our times. “Evil prevails when good men say nothing”
Report Post »SheriS
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:25pmThis garbage coming from what most in the Midwest consider one of the very elite schools and difficult to get into! Guess that are following the typical left view of life! Very pathetic! Parents I hope you enjoy payint the big bucks to have your children become sex perverts!
Report Post »mossbrain
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:51pmSex perverts, ha, how old fashioned can you get lady. You’re not a Ruth Buzzy look-a-like are you? Go back to your rocking chair and knit some stockings to calm your nerves.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:35pmnot ”perverts”, but communist, promiscuous, venereal disease-ridden morons.
“Communist Take Over of America, 45 Declared Goals” (1963):
#26, promote homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy”
nothing healthy about a college nerd with an IQ of 160 and dripping with Clap six days after he hooks up with Buffy the dorm joke.
Report Post »teachermitch32
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 6:36pmMossbrain….ha, ha. That’s a funny handle! Oh, you’re not kidding. Sorry.
BTW, does it mostly grow on the north side, or do you routinely have to do a rotation to keep it even.
Report Post »Cherynn
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:17pmNerd Sex. whats the world comming to?
Report Post »Chiox
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:02pmChicago universities have always been voted the worst place to party. That’s because majority of the students go clubbing/bar hopping on the north-side of the city. The schools are located on the south side close to where the gang shooting occur weekly or daily depending on the weather.
Yes, it‘s close to Obama’s house, along with other radical thinkers like Wm. Ayers.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:42pmwhat young moron thought this up and probably did so in Prof. Ayers’ living room. no wonder why it sounds straight out of “Communist Take Over of America, 45 declared Goals (963)”: #26, promote homosexuality, degeneracy and promsicuity as “normal, natural, healthy”
Report Post »islandlady
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:50pmOh My Gosh!!!!! The sixties again which brought new stds, lost souls, pain, and unwanted pregnancies. Another reason to make sure my kids attend BYU.
Report Post »What happened to saving yourself for that special person?
The best intimate encounter is with someone you love and adore.
I just don’t understand this.
Catharsis
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:42pmAll the power to them.
Report Post »drbage
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:41pmIsn’t this the same UChicago that gave us the famous lecturer on Constitutional Law–Barack Hussein Obama?
Report Post »Chiox
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 10:56pmSame one! Also not far from his Crack buddies, SEIU, Acorn, Wm. Ayers, Rev. Wright, Jesse Jackson and a huge population of radical thinkers.
Report Post »Steel Awesome
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:40pmI wonder if the STD rate will rise at this campus.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 5:38pmright thru the roof, especially in the men’s room 6 days after their little “fun time”. the guys will see how much fun venereal disease is. most of the young women won‘t know they’re diseased until they have to see a gyne or have to run to get a free obama-abortion
Report Post »thetreyman
Posted on March 21, 2011 at 12:06amits hard to have a VD if your a virgin and the way they made this story out to be is that these people are.
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:38pmWTF? Born too late.
Report Post »http://guerillatics.com
supertas
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:35pmMan, I can’t stop laughing, really.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:34pmI do not know weather to laugh, cry, or just groan in disbelief over this.
Report Post »LAM2
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:18pm“meet the needs of other U of C students who haven’t found love”
Snow – the sad thing is that hooking up has nothing to do with love. Love is a commitment of the will to the true good of another person. These students are going to feel as empty after their hookups, if not moreso, than they did prior. As someone who looked for love in all the wrong places during college, trying to find love via sex was a path fraught with misery.
Report Post »supertas
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:33pmNerds are people too.
Report Post »ManThong
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:40pmYou don’t need no stinking web site.
Just move to the north side and enroll at Northwestern.
Earn college credits at the same time
Report Post »Showtime
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:48pmSo much for morals.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:52pmNot enough unwanted pregnancies from this group of people. Force immorality do defuse their defenses so they repent to the masses.
Report Post »stevefim5
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:53pmNow college kids need extra help hooking up with casual sex now? What is the world coming to!
Report Post »Gold Coin & Economic News
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:54pmWhat, Craigslist isn’t enough?
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:04pmgiven the academic demands of a school like the University of Chicago, most of the posts are from people looking for a way to relieve stress.
Report Post »————
Yeah right . Guess nerds have never heard of yoga ? Meditation? Prayer ? Sleep ?
They want to relieve stress ..sure why not
hersey10
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:14pmI just entered that chat room to see what it was all about , the level of conversation taking place in there was what you’d find in a bowling alley bathroom . I brought up Qaddaffi , Bill Ayers , and the supermoon tonight and nobody had a clue .
Report Post »Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:23pmEven nerds can get STD’s. Safety first. Ensure your torpedo has the proper latex barrirer and force fields are set to maximum.
Other than that, have fun.
Report Post »HappyStretchedThin
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:29pm…because as ALL college students know, stress relief is the ONLY consequence of sex…
Report Post »avenger
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:33pmI think they tried this in the roman empire on a low tech way…history scholars know the results…
Report Post »DogTags
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:36pmI blame their parents for rearing them with secular humanistic moral relativism. The fact that there is no widespread outrage demonstrates our moral depravity in this nation.
Report Post »cheezwhiz
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:44pmhersey10
Report Post »I just entered that chat room to see what it was all about , the level of conversation taking place in there was what you’d find in a bowling alley bathroom . I brought up Qaddaffi , Bill Ayers , and the supermoon tonight and nobody had a clue .
———-
Are you sure it was a nerd chat room and not the White House internal chat room ?
Rational Man
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 4:47pmThis is probably how our president came to be……………..
Report Post »Mannax
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 6:43pm@SUPERTAS
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 3:33pm
Nerds are people too.
Yes, they are pale lonely nerds who need to get out from behind their computer and see what else is in the world… or wait till they are out of college and have a good job then go looking.
Report Post »thetreyman
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 6:59pmwow! collage kids wanting to hook up. i dont know how this is a story.
Report Post »Dick Blitskreig
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 8:24pmDamn funny.
Report Post »Thatsitivehadenough
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 9:14pmA closer study of communism shows that one of the things communism needs in order to spread is to destroy things like morals, marriage, the family unit. Divide and conquer.
I never realised how our culture was being manipulated back in the 60‘s and 70’s. Now I understand.
Report Post »encinom
Posted on March 19, 2011 at 11:55pmAt least they are not repressed, emotionally stunted mormons at the ultimate nanny school BYU.
Report Post »Physicist_In_Training
Posted on March 21, 2011 at 12:05amI love it!! “Integrate our curves…“ ”Lie tangent to these curves…” That’s cute. Obviously the person writing the article doesn’t even get the humor of that turn of phrase, if he/she thinks that “tangent” is the only part meant to speak to fellow nerds. At the very least, the students leaving those comments have already demonstrated themselves to be thoughtful people who think in the long-term…I think perhaps the assumption that many here have about this site only being a breeding ground for premarital sex should rethink their premises. Two thoughtful, intelligent people whose passions lie in studying their respective fields are less likely to engage in such behavior without developing a meaningful relationship first.
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