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The last time Playboy came to the University's campus, in March of 2001, coed Colleen Marie was discovered and went on to be Miss August 2003. This week, Playboy is back on campus for its "Girls of the SEC" spread, which will be published Sept. 7 as part of the magazine's October 2007 issue. Casting photos of potential prospects were shot earlier this week, and now photographer Kim Mizuno shoots on location around the city with the girls who received a call back. "We're going to shoot what the city gives us, and try and get some local flavor," Mizuno said. "I'm sure that something that has to do with Louisiana culture will end up in the photo shoot." Mizuno, a Playboy photographer for over 20 years, came from the University of Arkansas the week before, and will leave Sunday for Mississippi State University. "Basically, we spend six days in the college town and Sunday is our travel day," Mizuno said. "We have two other crews doing eight of the other SEC schools as well." Normally, Playboy only does a college issue once a year, but due to its popularity, the magazine has now begun to do two college issues per year. "The order came down from Mr. Hefner that we need to do more college spreads. So we're out on the road doing that," Mizuno said. Several University students showed up on the first day of shooting this past Monday to try out for a spot in the magazine. Terry Lynn Farrow has been aspiring to appear in the publication for quite some time. "I'm friends with Colleen Marie, who has appeared in Playboy before, but I missed the audition back in 2001," Farrow said. After several years of managing a business and caring for sick family members, she's still available to be photographed. "I've been in college for several years, but I also had to take a lot of breaks," Farrow said. "So I'm still a student, and hopefully this year I'll be able to make it into the magazine." Not only do the women have an opportunity to be in one issue, but some of them are selected to be Playmate of the Month. "Usually when we do the big conferences like the SEC, ACC and Pac-10 we'll come away with a couple of prospects to appear in the other monthly issues," Mizuno said. "A few of them might even get selected to be the Playmate of the Month." The appeal of simply appearing in the magazine seems to be the main reason why many women want to pose for the magazine. "A lot of the time girls just tell me, 'I want to be in Playboy!' when we do these college searches," Mizuno said. "Most of them realize that it's a one-and-done type of deal, but they're happy just to be able to say that they were in Playboy." Playboy's tour has not gone without criticism, however. The American Family Association, a media watchdog group whose primary focus is to stymie sex and violence in the media, voiced their complaint. Cindy Roberts, Director of Media and Press at AFA, said Playboy is exploiting the women in the photo shoot. "What they're doing is taking young college girls and exploiting and using them," Roberts said. Roberts said their complaint with Playboy is not unique to the University, but has been one of their primary concerns for years. "One thing that AFA has done for several decades is try and stop pornography from having an influence on society," Roberts said. Pornography is among many things that the AFA is opposed to, stressing good family values based on a Christian model. "We try and promote a healthy family environment that is free of negative influence, and of course we also promote Christian values." Dujuanna Hypolit, one of the women being photographed for auditions, said she enjoyed the experience. "It's just been something I've always wanted to do; it's been a dream of mine," Hypolit said. "I was very comfortable and it was fun."
----- Contact Logan Donaldson at ldonaldson@lsureveille.com
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