The four-minute timer was set. Thirteen single Penn State girls were anxiously waiting at desks. Then thirteen single guys filed into the room and the speed dating began.

The Model United Nations club hosted its first "4 Minute Mingle" fundraiser last night in the Willard building. Modeled after the latest dating trend as seen in movies like Hitch and The 40 Year Old Virgin, 150 Penn State students met up to 15 potential dates in less than an hour and a half.

After talking for four minutes, each dater secretly checked a "yes" or "no" box on their paper record and then rotated to the next date.

In one room, the facilitators had trouble urging daters to rotate after the four-minute time limit had expired.

Jalmar De Dios (junior-international politics) said the daters seemed excited to meet people outside of a party atmosphere, because there are no alcohol or friends there to influence their opinions of people.

After the event ended, the daters submitted their papers to the facilitators. The UN club will then match couples who both checked "yes" and send them each other's e-mail addresses.

Mike Roman (freshman-finance) said he did not expect to meet as many cool people as he did.

"It is not all about getting laid -- I met a lot of cool friends," he said. Roman said he checked "yes" to about 75 percent of his dates.

The facilitators ensured an even ratio of men to women daters by tabulating pre-registration numbers and filling in additional men or women with club members.

Claire McManus (freshman-international politics) registered because she was curious about how speed dating worked.

"Everyone was really friendly. We just asked each other standard questions," she said. "I checked "yes" for about half of the daters."

Sean Schlosser (sophomore-classics and ancient Mediterranean studies) said he was pleasantly surprised that there was little awkwardness among the daters and everyone was on their best behavior.

Hillary Pritts (freshman-art education) said she did not necessarily come looking for a relationship.

"I just came with friends for the experience," she said.

Rocco Panella (sophomore-chemical engineering) said she was surprised how much fun the event turned out to be but is doubtful that anything will develop beyond the one night event.

"I checked a couple of "yes" boxes, but I am kind of doubtful," Panella said.

UN club members are planning an all-greek, speed-dating event within the next two months.

"The stereotype with greek life is that they are all the same, which is not true at all," said Gregory Blumenkranz, a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, 524 Locust Lane. "But with all

greeks, it might work better because a lot of people already know each other."

Drew Civelek (senior-journalism and political science) is the UN club's president and brought the idea of a speed dating fundraiser to the club.

"I read about it in an article before even seeing the movies, because they take it very seriously in New York and other big cities," he said. "We wanted to bring it to Penn State in a light-hearted way."

He said the club will definitely do it again soon, because the turnout shows an obvious demand for it.

Each dater paid a $5 registration fee, together raising over $500 for the UN club's trip to a competitive conference at the University of Chicago in March.

Steve Nadel (senior-international politics) served as a facilitator in one of six rooms used for the event.

"It's a great idea because it takes place all in one night, and we are not trying to sell anything," he said. "But we still made money for our conference, which was needed because we are having UPAC problems."

Civelek said the University Park Allocations Committee (UPAC) rejected the club's funding request this year because the fund ran out of money within the first three weeks.

The club also fundraised by asking local businesses to contribute in exchange for an advertisement on a dating rules sheet given to each dater. Businesses also donated prizes for a raffle that were awarded to 10 winners. Daters could pay an additional $1 for a raffle ticket.

Civelek said the university was supportive of their effort because it does not involve forcing participants to date beyond the initial meeting, unlike date auctions.

"Date auctions can be creepy because you do not know who is bidding on you, and then you have to go on the date," he said.