Reality bites into Bloomington

Junior Kimberli Owens is going through an introspective phase in her life -- she believes being one of the select seven to make it on "Real World" will help her through it. Her chocolate brown eyes sparkle beneath her trendy Target glasses as she explains that Saturday's "Real World"/"Road Rules" casting call was so important she skipped out on a mandatory RA meeting in Indianapolis.\n"I'm just trying to find my place in the world," Owens says, her giant smile revealing two dimples in her flawless brown skin. "I find that I learn more from interacting with people than from sitting in the classroom, so ("The Real World") would be an educational environment."\nOver 800 people showed up at Kilroy's Sports Bar Saturday to audition for season 13 in Paris, casting director Marc Levine said. Some showed up as early as 7 a.m.; by 10 a.m., the line was already snaking around the perimeter of the building. Some looked tired and comfortable in IU sweatshirts, while others looked like they had just walked out of the glossy pages of an Abercrombie catalogue. Some appeared alternative in baggy jeans and funky hats and some wore hip-hugging jeans that would make even Britney Spears jealous.\n"I don't like to generalize, but for the most part there were a lot of opinionated people here," Levine says. "A lot of people from Indiana, a lot of people who like to have a good time."\nDressed casually in a white oxford shirt, tie and loose-fitting jeans, junior Jason Gehlhausen would classify himself as one of these fun-loving people. He traveled to Chicago last year and waited in line for seven hours for a chance to prove himself worthy to MTV casting directors. And he's back for a second chance.\n"Being on the 'Real World' would give me the opportunity to present everything about myself -- intelligence, lunacy and a whole lot of sarcasm," he says. A baby blue golf hat covers his short brown hair, and he adjusts his Lennon-esque glasses. \n"I'm often told I remind people too much of Puck; I guess that's my downfall," he says, exhaling slowly from his cigarette. "I've been blown up, run over…before 'Jackass' came out, that was me and my friends in high school: doing stupid shit and taping it. Last week I shaved my body head to toe for a glam rock party."\nI tell him that's slightly crazy.\nLaughing, Gehlhausen says, "Yeah, that's what my psychiatrist has told me."\nNot everyone at Saturday's casting call admitted to a crazy lifestyle. Dressed simply in jeans and a black T-shirt, senior Heather Walchle acknowledges she's pretty normal. She grew up in the small town of Decatur, Ind., and has never left America. Her life's not perfect -- her parents are divorced -- but she says for the most part her friendly and responsible demeanor indicates her non-dramatic life.\n"I'm all up for a free place to stay because I need to pay back my student loans," she says, pushing her smooth ginger hair out of her green eyes. "Also, I want to go out and experience my life somewhere else. I want to live somewhere far away on my own."\nSenior Jeff Birch sits across the table and nods in agreement with Walchle, whom he met 30 minutes earlier. Birch studied abroad last semester in Mastrich, Netherlands and consequently has a much broader perspective.\n"We've got both ends of the spectrum here," Birch says, laughing. "We could cause a lot of drama."\nDrama is certainly something "The Real World" is known for. The show has dealt with such issues as AIDS, abortion, homosexuality, race and sex for 12 years now. \nLet's examine the latest batch of drama -- within 5 days of living in the penthouse of a Las Vegas hotel and casino (because that's such a normal lifestyle for 20-somethings) two housemates are already hooking up, and on the fourth night after first meeting a third joins in on the thrills in a bathtub, while the other roommates watch in disbelief. They've been drunk approximately 65 percent of the time and are also working at a nightclub planning parties. MTV clearly has a tendency to choose extreme personalities to create such drama, but Birch says he still believes otherwise.\n"People come in here and think, 'What can I do to make myself unique and special?' but normalcy is what they're looking for," he says while scratching his 5 o'clock shadow, a result of a late night.\nBirch says he's auditioning for "The Real World" more for the experience; he doubts he'll be chosen, but knows he would regret not trying.\n"Anything could happen," Birch says. "And IU's got an awesome, diverse campus. I don't know what they look for, but someone's bound to go."\nWhat casting director Levine says he didn't expect to see was someone do the "Worm," a classic '80s dance move, which he says was the craziest thing he saw all day.\n"That will not make or break somebody, we need more substance than that, but it's nice to see spontaneity," Levine says. "We look for dynamic personalities; we look for people who are charismatic, energetic, have opinions and are not afraid to voice them."\nOwens, originally from Rockford, Ill., certainly fits this mold -- so much so that she made the "Final Fifteen." After the first group interview Saturday, she was asked to fill out a 16-page, in-depth application ("a biography of Kimberli") that she spent more than three hours completing. Late Saturday, casting directors called Owens to notify her she had been selected for yet another round of interviewing. So on Sunday, Owens ventured to Eagle Point Golf Course for a videotaped interview that lasted an hour.\n"I really don't know how they make their decision. I'm just happy that I fulfilled the requirements of what they base it on," Owens says. "But I think it's how you interact with other people, play off of other people, that helps to shape the decision of who will stay."\nShe says the camera didn't inhibit her at all during the interview.\n"I told myself I would not be one of the crying interviewees, and I broke down crying," Owens says. "They asked me something very stirring, and so I broke down crying. But I quickly calmed myself down."\nOwens' next step involves a bit more creativity. MTV wants her to create a 5-to-10 minute videotape that will best represent her.\n"(Being on the Real World) will be damn fun," Owens says. "It will be such a cultural experience -- once in a lifetime"