Cupid’s arrows can travel long-distances, but whether the target stays interested is another question.

Many NIU students have had long-distance relationships, some withstanding the phone bills, long drives and commitment.

“I couldn’t say there is anything easy about a long-distance relationship,” said senior marketing major Mike Eder.

His girlfriend of a year-and-a-half, Saranya, goes to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. They met in Mexico during a study abroad program the summer before his junior year. They began their relationship knowing it would be long-distance, but Eder said he doesn’t mind the extra effort and is happy with the way things are.

Eder cites trust as the most important part of their relationship, and it wouldn’t work without it. However, Eder said trust, which is usually harder to build in a long-distance relationship, took time.

“When you aren’t around your boyfriend or girlfriend every day, it allows you to concentrate more on school and being social, but you risk having commitment problems,” Eder said.

But long-distance relationships don’t always work like clockwork. Many buckle under the pressure of paying mounting phone bills or plane fares, which can strain a relationship.

“I spent over $1,000 in the past year-and-a-half for plane fare to see Jerry,” said junior marketing major Lynn Wigginton, whose ex-boyfriend Jerry goes to Rutgers University in Newark, N.J.

“I don’t regret it because it was a learning experience, and if anything, I can choose my relationships better now,” Wigginton said.

Her relationship began in February 1998 during her senior year of high school. In August, Jerry moved to New Jersey, and Lynn came to NIU. They relied on phone calls, e-mails and trips to each other’s schools on weekends, provided they had enough money.

“We thought we could make it work,” Wigginton said. “Distance is what pulled us apart.”

Political science professor Gary Glenn said more geographically-distant relationships are occurring. Glenn taught a seminar to political science honors students in the fall of 1999 titled, “Courting, Marrying and Politics.” The class, which had a mix of men and women, taught students how relationships begin, progress and can lead to marriage and how the political process is effected by the choices we make in relationships.

“The recipe for marriage is to stay close,” Glenn said.

However, he suggests we live in an age of individualism.

Glenn said this generation is more frequently on the move. Both men and women have life goals that don’t necessarily include relationships or marriage, and both parties tend not to want to sacrifice their goals for companionship.