Candlelit dinners, deep red roses and gold-ribboned boxes of chocolate are hallmarks of a well-spent Valentine’s Day.And — for some — abrupt heartbreak and last-ditch efforts to find a sweetheart are staples of the holiday.James Honeycutt, communication studies professor and author of next year’s “Scripts and Communication For Relationships,” said the anticipation of Valentine’s Day can be the straw that breaks cupid’s arrow for some couples.”Lots of relationships end two weeks preceding Valentine’s Day,” Honeycutt said of the holiday he referred to as Hallmark Corporation driven. “They’re forced by the nature of the day to make a commitment, and if they don’t want to, they end it.”Melissa Doss, animal sciences sophomore, said she has experienced the horrors of a Valentine’s Day date gone awry — the dreaded Valentine’s Day breakup. Any dreams of red roses and chocolate came to an abrupt end — Doss said she discovered on Valentine’s Day that her sweetheart had been unfaithful.He broke up with her that day, Doss said. In today’s modern world, Honeycutt said those left alone on the holiday of love might turn to unconventional methods such as the Internet, speed dating or the practice of taking out personal advertisements as ways to meet that special someone.”Because of the fast-paced society, people don’t have as much time to invest in the relationship — they’re investing time in their career,” Honeycutt said. “I would say it’s harder because of the fast-paced society to find the time to invest in an exclusive other. [On] the Internet, you can always meet acquaintances.”New technologies for dating have aided the demand for instant gratification in relationships, Honeycutt said. “Fifty years ago, happiness was the result of the relationship,” Honeycutt said of the former “work-it-out” mentality employed by couples. “Today … they’re really looking for a person who is sort of a soulmate … We’re a disposable society, so persons are just chunked.”Andrew Niemen, human resources junior, said in an e-mail he took out a personal advertisement in The Daily Reveille in January as a means to broaden his dating options, and then let potential dates come to him.”I took an ad out in the Reveille because I’m fairly shy and have a small circle of friends to meet people, so my network is small,” Niemen said. “I’ve gotten about a dozen responses, and I’ve met two people. They unfortunately didn’t work out, but it was an interesting adventure.”Nieman said he chose to take an ad out in the paper rather than investing time in an Internet dating profile to streamline the responses.”The campus personals gave me a chance to see who’s on campus and around my age group without wading through 45-year-olds or married folk just interested in sex,” Nieman said. Research has shown the personal ad approach to dating may be less productive than online or speed dating, Honeycutt said.”People are basically putting positive information out there,” Honeycutt said. “Historically, men describe themselves as success objects … Women describe themselves basically as sex objects.”Students looking for a special match turned out in the hundreds for the University Student Activities Board’s fourth annual speed dating event Tuesday.The event was offered in two sessions, with 43 students attending the first session and 76 attending the second, said Mallory Trochesset, assistance director of Campus Life.”Most of the feedback says they were just interested in the process and in meeting other people in general,” Trochesset said. “Maybe two or three had written down that they were really serious about finding a date … I think people were just excited about the opportunity to meet other people and to see what was going to happen from there.”Kristian Lewis, international studies freshman, said he went to speed dating primarily for social interaction.”[I came] just to have fun,” Lewis said. “Most of the people who were talking about coming, I already knew.”While speed dating is a viable option for meeting people — it allows attendees to meet several potential mates within about an hour — it is not the best option for forming long-term relationships, Honeycutt said.”It won’t tell you anything about particular interests [or] values, it’s also highly reliant on visual cues,” Honeycutt said. “There’s an old saying that you can’t judge a book by its cover. However, you can tell if the book is an encyclopedia, if it’s a comic book, if it’s a drama. In speed dating, you can get a general indication of what the person will be like.”Aaron Sievers, mass communication sophomore, said he was unlikely to attend a future speed dating event — unless it’s only for laughs.”There’s just a big enough pool of people that I don’t have to online date,” Sievers said. Honeycutt said Internet dating is essentially the anti-thesis of speed dating.”It’s sort of the opposite of speed dating too because you’re reading, you’re text messaging, things like that,” Honeycutt said. “But the research on the long-term viability … It’s not very [viable].”According to a news release from eHarmony.com, 236 members marry on average each day.”Many eHarmony members find long-term, satisfying relationships that lead to marriage,” said eHarmony CEO Greg Waldorf said in the release. Eric Resnick, owner and lead consultant with profilehelper.com, said there has been about a 400-percent increase in the number of college students and recent college graduates who seek consulting with profilehelper.com within the last year.Online dating is a way to broaden someone’s options in the dating world, said Resnick, whose company works to helps people navigate the world of Internet dating.”All online dating is one more avenue to meet people who aren’t currently in your regular social circle,” Resnick said. “It broadens your options at your convenience. Dating sites are open all night long.”Nora Lagneaux, biology junior, said  — no matter how desperate — she would never try online dating.”There are just a lot better ways to meet people,” Lagneaux said. “That’s ridiculous. I think it probably hurts their chances.”—-Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]