Playboy comes to IU

Lisa, a junior, and Melissa, a sophomore sit in a Bloomington hotel room wearing low cut "boob shirts," as Melissa calls them, in hopes that the next few minutes could launch them into a successful modeling career.\nThe pair, who asked their last names not be used to protect their privacy, are auditioning for Playboy's "Girls of the Top Ten Party Schools" issue scheduled to hit newsstands in April 2006.\n"I heard about this from my friends so I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity since it doesn't come along very often," Melissa said. "Great things might come from it."\nLisa echoed that sentiment.\n"I've always been into modeling and I competed in the Miss Indiana pageant," she said. "This could be a great opportunity."\nAfter an interview in the afternoon, both women had been photographed topless by the afternoon, an experience that bothered neither of them.\n"I was nervous before, but when I got here I felt fine," Lisa said.\n"They do a great job of making you feel comfortable," Melissa added.\nEach of them, however, expect different reactions from their families should they be selected. Lisa said her mother has always been behind her modeling career, but Melissa doesn't expect her parents to be as enthusiastic.\n"I'll only tell my mom if something comes out of it," she said. "I don't even want to think about what my dad will say though."\nWhen asked exactly what kind of women Playboy is looking for at IU, producer and makeup artist Cynthia Kaye replies "cute girls like (Lisa and Melissa)."\n"There's not one specific look," said Playboy Publicity Manager Theresa Hennessey. "Blondes, brunettes, redheads. We're just looking for girls that are college students. That could be the girl next door."\nThere is no age limit either. At another school, Playboy photographed one woman in her 30s for the spread, Hennessey said.\nThough IU has tried to shed its "party school" image since first being named the No. 1 Party School by The Princeton Review in 2002, Hennessey points out the list is not meant to be taken seriously.\n"Just because we include these 10 schools doesn't mean they aren't good universities," she said. "It's more of a fun list."\nHennessey said the universities on the list, which also include Ohio University at Athens and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, were selected for their social scenes as well as what campus representatives said about the schools.\n"IU is a great college town with not much else to do but socialize and party, so we do it extremely well," said former Playboy representative and IU alumnus Brent Coyle. "It also is home to some of the most beautiful college undergrads in the nation, many of which I would gladly mention by name if I could, and they are definitely Playboy material."\nMore than 20 women showed up for auditions Monday, a number Playboy only expects to increase for today and Wednesday's auditions before photographing for the issue begins Wednesday night and continues through the weekend.\n"We haven't had any problems finding locations," Kaye said. "We've had a bunch of frats and bars offer their places already."\nStudents who appear in Playboy likely will not be investigated by the University, unlike recent on-campus adult celebrities such as Teen Keira in 2004 or students who appeared in "Shane's World Volume 32" in 2002.\n"When students have posed for Playboy, the University does not condone the activity, but it is also outside the University to control it," said Dean of Students Richard McKaig in an April 13, 2004 article about Teen Keira.\nAt least one woman from IU will be included in the issue, but previous spreads have included as many as 14 from one college.\nAny woman 18 or older currently enrolled at IU interested in an audition can call Playboy's hotline at (312) 401-7341.