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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

IU might investigate logo use in Playboy

Students pose nude at ATO; IU No. 4 party school

IU officials plan on looking into potential trademark infringement as nine female IU students posed nude next to IU logos in Playboy's "Girls of the Top Ten Party Schools" -- the magazine's most recent issue. Four of the girls were photographed at the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house, according to several ATO members.\nDean of Students Dick McKaig said he has not seen the issue and had not heard of any IU logos in photos, but would be contacting University Counsel and Jenny McDaniel, vice president of licensing and trademarks with the IU Research and Technology Corp.\nIU students have appeared in Playboy numerous times, including 2002 and 2005 issues, but McKaig said he has never witnessed any copyright infringement in the past. Both the IU seal and the IU trademarked "pitchfork" are visible in photos.\nTheresa Hennessey, Midwest publicity representative for Playboy, said the magazine is careful about any copyright infringement because Playboy is so protective of its logo. Elsewhere in the spread, several logos for No. 1-ranked Wisconsin appear in a full-page photo, including the flag of the Delta Upsilon fraternity.\nThere is also the potential for controversy with ATO. Sophomore Brad Blinn, president of ATO, said he would not confirm or deny whether the photographs were taken in the house.\n"I was not president at the time and we're not going to support it," he said.\nThe photo appears to depict the trophy room in the ATO house with four nude female students and two male onlookers around a poker table with cards scattered about. No fraternity letters are visible, but trophies that appear to be for cycling are noticeable in the background.\nBlinn said a member of the house -- who refused comment -- is a publicity rep for Playboy and that might be why students think ATO is involved. Blinn also floated the theory that a room might have been set up to look like ATO, but did not elaborate how that could be done. Blinn never denied ATO's involvement.\nMcKaig said he had not heard about ATO's involvement but said that most likely there would not be any action taken by IU against the fraternity since the house is on "private property."\nOfficials at the national chapter of ATO said they were unaware of the issue and did not return subsequent phone calls. Members of the Interfraternity Council also did not return multiple phone calls.\nIn Madison, Wis., the photos taken at the Delta Upsilon house have caused a stir. University officials said they plan to review the photos, which feature 23 fraternity members and 19 nude or scantily clad students, to decide whether to take action.\nChris Hoffman, president of the chapter, told the Associated Press he didn't think it was a big deal.\n"I think it's a funny picture," said Hoffman, who appears next to two naked women in the photo. "If anybody else had an opportunity to do it, they would have done it. This was too good to pass up."\nA similar issue arose in 2002 when Baylor University took action against Sigma Phi Epsilon for photos in the "Girls of the Big 12" issue. The fraternity chapter was suspended from campus and students in the photo received additional sanctions.\nMcKaig said complaints about Playboy coming to campus have been common in past years, but that he hasn't received any this year.\n"Usually, I just tell parents that if they're of legal age and it wasn't on campus, there isn't anything we can do," he said.\nThis year, IU students who appeared nude in the magazine autographed copies at The Den, something students had not done in recent years.\nIU was ranked fourth in the nation in the May 2006 issue, behind No. 1 Wisconsin, No. 2 University of California-Santa Barbara and No. 3 Arizona State.\nPlayboy cited the Kinsey Institute and IU's academic reputation among the reasons for its ranking. Playboy decided its rankings after interviewing more than 250 students and professors across the country.\n"We feel that the students at each of the universities on our 'Top Ten Party Schools' list have the opportunity to receive an excellent education while enjoying an active social life," said Playboy Editorial Director Christopher Napolitano in a statement.\nThe last time Playboy released such rankings was in 2002, when Arizona State topped the list.

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