U. Minnesota Student's Friends Will Pick His Bride

    	(U-WIRE) MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- David Weinlick is getting married this 
	month. In preparation for the big day, he selected a tuxedo, a venue 
	for the ceremony and reception, wedding rings and groomsmen.

    	The only thing the 28-year-old University graduate student needs is a 
	bride.

    	Because of his frustration with the age-old tradition of courting,
	Weinlick decided to marry by democratic process -- his friends and 
	family will vote for a suitable bride on the wedding day.

    	"I think this process is well suited for me," Weinlick said.  "Ultimately, 
	dating is full of deception. I don't see the point of that."

    	Weinlick planted the seed for the idea about three years ago.  The 
	anthropologist and Pennsylvania native was tired of the timeworn query 
	"When are you getting married?"

    	So he picked a date -- June 13, 1998.

    	But after two years passed, Weinlick found himself no closer to finding 
	a suitable mate.

    	As a result, Weinlick's friends organized the Campaign to Elect a
    	Mrs. David Weinlick.

    	"It started to make more and more sense as we thought about it,"
    	Weinlick said.  Many relationships that end in divorce are often frowned 
	upon by family members, Weinlick said. By having his friends and family 
	choose his mate, Weinlick hopes to improve his chances for a lasting 
	relationship.

    	"This is something that needed to be tried," said Steve Fletcher, 
	Weinlick's friend and campaign coordinator. "I think people are hungry 
	for an alternative to the traditional courtship-marriage-divorce 
	sequence that we all live through right now."

    	Weinlick's friends selected more than 25 potential brides.  Though they 
	consider several of the nominees viable candidates, some of these women 
	do not share the sentiment.

    	"I'm pretty apprehensive about this," said Janel Jeras, an acquaintance of 
	Weinlick's. "Where's the romance and courting?"

    	"I can't think of anything more romantic than throwing caution to the 
	wind and spontaneously getting married," Weinlick said in a press release. 
	"People who write this off as unromantic are missing the point."

    	On the wedding day, friends and family will join Weinlick and the 
	candidates in a barbecue and bridal mixer, where attendees will meet the 
	potential brides-to-be. At 3 p.m. the wedding guests will select a bride, 
  	and the ceremony will commence.

    	Jeras, who is a social worker, said in spite of her reluctance toward her 
	nomination, she has no moral objections to the idea.

    	"I don't see that this is different than an arranged marriage," Jeras said. 
	"It's just being done more publicly."

    	David Olson, a University professor of family social science, agreed.

    	"It's strange for our culture, but it's not strange for other cultures," 
	Olson said. Families in Asian cultures have selected partners for their 
	offspring for centuries, he said.

    	Though such marriages have high success rates, these relationships last 
	because of the social pressure to succeed, he said.

    	"His odds are no worse than anybody else's," Olson said. "He might fall in 
	love eventually, but he might not."

    	Aside from the serious nominations, Fletcher and other friends nominated the 
	fictional Arthur Fonzarelli from "Happy Days" and Imelda Marcos, former 
	First Lady of the Philippines, to demonstrate the sense of humor they have 
	toward the process.

    	"As far as I'm concerned, it should be relaxed and enjoyable," Weinlick said. 
	"A wedding should be fun."

    	"I think it's hilarious," added bridal candidate Mishelle Paullus, a nursing 
	student at Normandale Community College. "But naturally I can't take this 
	too seriously," she said. "It seems to me this is just a funny Dave publicity 
	thing."

    	Weinlick and his friends said in spite of the humorous nature of the process, 
	they are indeed serious in their intentions.

    	Though he has received mixed reactions toward the process from his friends 
	and family, Weinlick has no qualms about his methodology.

    	"I think you should be intrigued by a wedding," he said. "It'd be great if 
	it got people to think about the concept of marriage."

    	But marriage is risky no matter how we see it, Olson said.  "(Weinlick's) 
	willingness to do it without love is extraordinary," he said.

    	"It's become a part of public discourse," Fletcher said. "I think (people) 
	are scared of going against their concepts of what life is about."