WEDNESDAY, APRIL 28, 1999

Faculty group not dating service

By Arnold V. Cruz

On-Line Forty-Niner

Cal State Long Beach philosophy lecturer Warren Weinstein felt the need to interact with intelligent, single individuals who were also faculty members at the university. About a month ago, Weinstein decided to do something about it.

He sent an e-mail to recruit other CSULB instructors who felt the same way in hopes of establishing a faculty singles group.

"Although it was risky to try and form the group, I was gambling to find out that other people felt the same way I did," Weinstein said.

About 20 people responded to the e-mail message which was sent to College of Liberal Arts faculty and to several lecturers on campus.

Friday marked the first meeting for the group. About eight people met at Weinstein's home for food, conversation and to watch a movie.

"It was a real friendly feeling," said Weinstein, who has been at CSULB for five years and is a single parent. "I was surprised to see how quickly conversations started."

Deborah Hamm, faculty coordinator in the CSULB College of Education, attended the meeting.

"It was just about people getting together and talking about who they were," said Hamm, also a single parent. "The purpose of the group was to socialize."

According to Weinstein, the purpose of the group is not really aimed at trying to find singles a date. Its real goal is for single faculty members to meet and engage in activities with people who have similar likes and interests.

"This isn't a dating club, but if people meet and start dating that's fine," Weinstein said. "It's [the group] is about just having compatible people doing activities together."

"People had a good time," Hasan Hasan said, a professor of mathematics who also attended the gathering. "People were very open to talk with."

Other activities the group will engage in includes attending sports and theater events, movies and discussion groups.

"People who have known or seen one another professionally over many years finally get to talk to one another in an informal way and find that they have a lot in common," Weinstein said.

"The people are very interesting and I liked that," Hamm said. "The group was very diverse."

According to Weinstein, married people and single people have different social needs.

"There are social events that involve couples, but there aren't that many that include single people," Hasan said.

Weinstein is planning an end of the semester banquet on May 14 at a restaurant. He hopes to recruit more single faculty members for future meetings and events.

For interested single faculty members, one may contact Weinstein at (562) 985-4330 or visit www.wweinste@csulb.edu.