It starts with a casual conversation. Ben, who asked that his real name be withheld, may drop a hint, or receive one, as long as the connection is made. This could be a friend or new acquaintance, at a party or in the library. If all goes well, the rest is sexual history.

Naturally, he needs to be attracted to the person in question, but moreover, they both need to understand what a hook up entails.

“I kind of make sure they share my views on sex to some extent, that they know there is no emotional attachment in what we’re doing physically,” Ben said.

The Oct. 4 issue of Newsweek defines “hooking up” as anything from “gentle touching” to intercourse.

The term has gained popularity and attracted media attention in the past 10 years and is as widely accepted by Generation Y-ers as AIM and Facebook.

According to a survey of 555 college students taken by Elizabeth Paul, a psychology professor at the College of New Jersey, 78 percent of college students participate in this ritual.

Though Ben’s hook ups usually end in intercourse, not all hook ups do. The term is widely used, but its definition is not concrete.

Sophomore Allison Hirsch said hooking up is associated with sex. She considers it to be a casual one-night-stand situation, though she has no personal experience with it.

Junior Brittany McCutcheon said the experience must be casual or short-term. However, she said it could vary from kissing to intercourse, as long as there are no attachments involved. McCutcheon also said hooking up can mean regret.

“There are instances where [the hook up] makes you feel better, but you wonder why you picked that person,” McCutcheon said.

Although she has hooked up, McCutcheon said her experience was not as intimate as other students’ experiences sometimes are. Rebecca Plante, assistant professor of sociology, said sex is not always involved.

“If you ask 20 people who hook up what [hooking up] means, you get probably 18 different definitions,” Plante said.

She said, of those 20 people, half of their experiences would most likely differ. The vagueness of the idea allows for a multitude of interpretations, which is appealing to many students. In fact, she said short-term flings have a variety of aspects that seem positive to college-aged adults.

“I could say to you, ‘Yeah, I hooked up last night,’ but if you don’t ask me ... what I’m talking about, then you’re not going to know what I mean. And I might like it,” Plante said.

This ambiguity allows people control over their words and actions, without feeling pressure to actually have intercourse. Of course, there are students who prefer not to hook up at all, and Plante said there is a misconception that ‘everyone’s doing it.’

“Some people are actually interested in dating, believe it or not,” Plante said.

Because the term is relatively new, the parents of many students who hook up probably never used those words. Ann Kolodji, assistant professor of health promotion and physical education, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2000. She said the term was not used while she was in college, and she speculates it was made up within the past decade.

Other professors agree. Robert Sullivan, associate professor of speech communication, attended college at the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in the late 1970s and did not use the term. Sullivan said he began to notice the sexual connotations associated with hooking up within the past couple of years.

“I always used the phrase in a neutral slang, as in to connect people — ‘hook up with a partner to go over this’,” Sullivan said. “I’ve stopped doing it in class to avoid the unintended joke.”

No matter which lifestyle people choose, Plante said options are weighed in a cost-benefit analysis. She said the perceived negative costs of a traditional relationship include being shackled down and spending time and energy. On the other hand, the benefits of a short-term relationship include being fun and easy, and the fulfillment of immediate needs without any strings attached. The convenience is especially prevalent on a college campus where a bedroom is only feet away.

“Given the independent variables — a bunch of 18- to 22-year- olds, with their beds right nearby — I don’t think there’s a huge difference between Ithaca College and any other school,” said Plante.

Kolodji has noticed a significant change in students during the past 10 years. She said modern day media and the way in which parents are raising students has caused discourse over hooking up to open up.

“It’s still taboo,” said Kolodji, “But college students pretend to be comfortable around it, to be accepted.”

The numbers also indicate times are changing, as students use the term and begin to feel more comfortable with their own sexuality. According to the National College Health Risk Behavior Survey, the number of sexually active college students using contraceptives is significantly large. Nationwide, 79.8 percent of sexually active college students said they or their partner used some form of contraceptive.

In spite of this, the actual number of students contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections is rising. The Center for Disease Control said two-thirds of STIs occur in people 25 years old or younger, and, by age 24, one in four sexually active people will contract some type of STI. This data implies though more students are being responsible, more students are also engaging in sexual activity.

“It’s unclear to say if we’re better off [than the previous generation] or not,” Kolodji said. “It’s more complex than that.”

Because the current generation of students’ parents grew up in the ’60s, Kolodji said they experienced more “free love” than previous generations, and this attitude is reflected on their children. Emphasizing the importance of communication between parents and students on the positive aspects of sexuality is one of the primary focuses of her classes on human sexuality.

Ben frequently discusses his experiences with three to four of his friends, and Kolodji said the storytelling could be a positive experience.

“Their communicating is a good thing, but I would worry about what the extent of bragging or bravado is,” said Kolodji.

But amid all the sexual activity, has intimacy lost its value? The answer depends on the student.

Junior Ryan McAlpine has a hard time separating the physical from the emotional, though he understands and accepts those who can.

“But for the sake of having sexual frustration, even in a college setting, you’re playing with the vulnerability of other people’s feelings,” McAlpine said.

One experience McAlpine had was a little like hooking up. He went to a friend’s apartment and met a girl, who later came back to McAlpine’s room. They ended up sleeping together — really, just sleeping.

“I don’t look down upon people who hook up, but I look down on it,” McAlpine said. “People are losing the opportunity to emotionally connect, for sexual venue.”

But for students like Ben, the emotional connection may not always be desired, and he said there is a difference between love and sex.

“There is an overvalue put on sex in today’s modern world,” Ben said. “It’s made out to be this almost holy union between two people — the ultimate display of love. I don’t buy that. I show love much differently.”