For those of the third and fourth floors of Gries, Walsh and Clemens who were in their rooms around 4:30 last Monday, I probably asked you to participate in my poll. It was a simple, completely anonymous poll. Just had to write down the number of people you’ve kissed since you’ve been here at school. I got some sighs and groans, but for the most part, the participants laughed and jotted down a number for me.

I got back to my room and tallied 68 boys’ and 68 girls’ numbers. (I know it’s a small sample size, but I couldn’t just knock on doors all day here.) I had my expectations; I thought that the average boy number would be significantly higher than the average girl number simply because there are a significantly larger number of girls here on campus. (I checked SLU’s Web site, by the way, and the ratio is 60/40, not 70/30, which I had heard somewhere else.)

OK, so this is how it panned out. The boy average was 3.64 and the girl average was 2.94. So I guess it’s fair to say that guys, on average, kiss more people than girls kiss. Furthermore, there were 21 girls who reported not kissing anyone at all, while only 10 guys could say the same thing. Then, I wanted to know the average for the people who were kissing (that is, I took out the zeros). For 47 girls, the average was 4.23, and for 58 boys, the average was 4.27. So, with the first numbers being less for girls and the second numbers being about equal, why is it that both the boys and girls I polled thought the girl number would be higher?

Even though it was anonymous, a lot of people offered out their numbers and a lot more. Both guys and girls who were chilling with their friends when I came a’ knocking laughed and helped each other remember their good nights and especially the nights they were trying to forget. Oddly enough, some people discreetly scribbled a number to jab into my little boxes. In a community this dense, kissing and telling are not preferred dinnertime conversation and-my personal favorite-Saturday and Sunday morning breakfast talk. Not everyone was blurting out high numbers, though. A lot of the girls who hadn’t kissed anyone were just as proud as the girls who kissed six boys. In contrast, not one guy shared his “zero” with me aloud, but instead, it was almost scarred into his face like he was ashamed. (Just to let those guys know, a lot of girls would find that very attractive.) Kissing isn’t a contest anyway. I think that you have to kiss a couple toads before you find your frog, but I also think after kissing too many toads a self-respecting frog is going to hop away.

For all those who didn’t participate in my poll, how many people have you kissed since you’ve been at school? Freshmen, think about this. Just six months ago you probably didn’t know those people. Laugh and reflect-are you embarrassed? Are you proud? How do you compare with the 136 people polled?

Maria Reilly is a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences.