"Looking for love? Tired of waiting? Tonight, I want you to come with me on a journey," said emcee Jon Sherman '05. Approximately 300 screaming girls and even a bunch of guys gathered last Thursday night in Levin Ballroom for the Sixth Annual "Rent-A-Gent" Bachelor Auction, presented by PEZ, Brandeis' on-campus club committed to improving and promoting social life for the community. The proceeds were donated to fund breast cancer research. The night's bidding started off at a slow pace. While the first three bachelors went respectively at $35, $45 and $40, the first big surprise of the night came from Michael Goldstein '05, a write-in, who went for a whopping $220. This also turned out to be the highest bid of the entire evening.

The auction, dedicated to supporting breast cancer research, quickly turned into a miniature strip show as boy after boy fought long and hard to raise their worth by dropping articles of clothing in efforts to push their bids higher and higher. As early as the second gent, shirts, belts, pants and any other article that could be removed found its way onto the stage floor.

There were a few great moments when clothing was not removed from bodies and other acts of romance were attempted. Adam Goldstein '05, who happily read a self-written poem for the audience, went for $60 , while Mic Jean '07 sang a song and sold for $80.

A few other songs were performed as Nick Barasch '06 sang while Logan Hepner '06 played the guitar and sang. Some bachelors danced on stage as well and some even managed to perform back flips. However, stripping was the "performance art" of choice for the night. After about the 30th bachelor came to the stage, the crowd in Levin that kept fluctuating in size throughout the show began to thin out.

While three other bachelors came close, none could beat Goldstein's $220 dollar price. They were Matthew Goldblatt '07 and David Spear '07 who both went for $200, and then Shane Butland '08 went for $210. The average bid of the night though was somewhere between $40 and $80. Apparently, showing some skin just did not spark the ladies' attention this year.

By the last 10 or so bachelors, the extreme majority of the audience had left, which made the bids that much more interesting. In the last 10 gents, four of them broke $100 while a dancing pair went for $80. The last bachelor-the mystery bachelor-was none other than the emcee for the night, Sherman, who happily went for $100. Most girls went away pleased-some even ecstatic.

"I won the hottest guy!" said Melissa Young '06 of her bachelor Alex Goldstein '06. It was a good night and in the end a good fund raiser.