Couples are out, groups in

Couples are out, groups in: "In Carbondale and on college campuses across the country, flocks of friends, traveling in ?shmobs,?? are following the same script: Socializing is a team sport. The idea of a man and woman going on a one-on-one date ? an age-old courtship ritual aimed at getting to know one another ? has become as anachronistic as Romeo text-messaging Juliet.
?Everyone goes out in groups. You all just hang out together,? explains Anna Gonzalez, 20, a bubbly brunette with a perky smile from Hanover Park.
?Dating as we know it is dead,? says Arthur Levine, president of Teachers College at Columbia University. Levine surveyed 10,000 college students about their lives for his book When Hope and Fear Collide: A Portrait of Today's College Student.
Formal courtship takes money and time -- two things college students complain are in short supply. But a big reason students prefer socializing in groups rather than in pairs is the emotional safety in numbers, Levine said."