Her answer was a resolute “yes.”

Lori Ebert, a CAMPUSPEAK, Inc. lecturer, talked about “Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Opposite Sex” with UW sorority and fraternity members. She addressed the differences between men and women that make relationships difficult and offered solutions to effectively communicate with members of the opposite sex.

According to Ebert, men and women are different on biological, stereotypical, social and communicational levels, making relationships challenging and communication confusing.

The goal of the program, Ebert said, was to think about “what we bring to the table and what others bring to the table and how can we be more effective.”

Audience members said Ebert’s advice was helpful, but they were more surprised by her analysis of the biological differences that separate men and women.

“It made more sense to see it from a biological standpoint,” said Crystal Lee, a UW junior and member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

“The chemicals-thing really helped,” Lee added, referring to Ebert’s explanation of the differences in brain chemistry between men and women.

Men’s higher testosterone levels, for example, diminish the brain’s capacity to communicate and multitask, while women use many more words to communicate on a daily basis. Men, on average, speak 7,000 words daily while women speak 20,000.

UW sophomore Jordan Shockett of Alpha Epsilon Pi said this data confirmed the communication problems he has experienced with women in the past. Shockett cited the example of his mother pestering him with questions about school every day as a child as evidence.

“All I wanted to say was ‘it was good,'” Shockett said.

When Ebert explained that men are biologically hardwired to communicate with fewer words than women, Shockett said, “I wanted to turn to [my mother] and say, ‘See, it wasn’t my fault!'”

Ebert said the most important part of a relationship is to learn to love yourself first.

“Until you can love yourself, it’s difficult to let someone else love you, no matter who you choose to be in a relationship with,” Ebert said.

Aside from learning to overcome the obvious differences that make relationships between men and women complicated, Ebert said her biggest piece of advice for women and men is to “not let alcohol confuse relationships.”

“I really think that alcohol can cloud decisions,” Ebert said. “The only thing that I see that’s hindering college relationships is alcohol.”

Ebert said the communication media men and women use are no substitute for personal, face-to-face communication.

“Just trying to talk to each other — without alcohol and without [technological] communication — would be ideal,” Ebert said.

Greek Week, which started Sunday with a block party, will continue with this year’s All-Campus Party and Friday’s Philanthropy Date at State Street Brats. So far, Greek Week has raised $1,100 to donate to Project 40/40, which benefits the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative.