(U-WIRE) BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana State University students will have their chance to become the next Jenny McCarthy or Carmen Electra during interviews for Playboy magazine’s 2001 college issue. The magazine has featured women from different football conferences each year for the college issue since 1977.

This year Playboy is looking for three to five girls from each college in the SEC to make up its “Girls of the SEC” issue, on sale Aug. 27.

The college issue has become an institution, said David Mecey, contributing photographer for Playboy.

“It’s the last bastian of the real girl next door,” he said.

Playboy, which serves as a gateway into the entertainment industry for aspiring actresses and models, often is known for featuring women who have a processed look because of breast implants or make-up, Mecey said.

“With the college girls it’s not quite to that point,” he said.

Mecey said he believes the girls’ fresh look and girl-next-door appeal are two reasons why the issue is so successful.

Misti Burns, a mass communication sophomore, said she decided to audition for the shoot after talking with some friends and deciding it might be fun just to see if she would make it.

“I don’t even know if I’d do it if I got in,” she said.

During the interview, students fill out an application with their personal information and interests, then take polaroids in a swimsuit of their choice.

Burns said the professional atmosphere of the staff and the fact that she was able to wear her own swimsuit, not a costume, made her feel more comfortable with the interview.

“I want [the girls] to know that what [we] are doing here is very professional,” Mecey said.

Burns said although she had never seen an issue of Playboy before this week, she has a positive image of the magazine.

“After I saw [Penthouse], I thought Playboy’s not that bad,'” she said. “Playboy’s definitely the lesser of all the naked magazines.”

Burns said she also was encouraged to audition by Tara Wadkins, a mass communication student and former Playboy model.

In an interview on Playboy.com, Wadkins said she decided to pose for the magazine after a representative spoke with her at a bar in Houston.

“[The first shoot] was great,” she said. “I was extremely nervous at first, but everyone was so professional that it put me at ease. It all went very smoothly. I’d never done anything like that before, so it was a different experience.”

But while LSU students are hoping get their big break, Playboy’s presence gives the campus a chance to discuss how its students appearance in the magazine affects the University’s image.

“While I myself do not advocate posing for Playboy, or whatever, it’s an individual choice, and it brings up the question a lot of young women have, `Are you exploiting yourself or are you being exploited?'” said Sheri Thompson, coordinator for the Women’s Center.

Kari Mitkus, an education senior, said that although Playboy is considered pornography, it’s a quality magazine and if a woman chooses to pose, it reflects positively on her self esteem.

“I think that it’s wonderful that women feel comfortable enough with their bodies to pose,” she said.

However, Ryan Willhoft, an education sophomore, said he believes that it might reflect poorly on the University if its students pose in the magazine.

“As far as the school, it might show that some of the girls are sluts,” he said.

Amanda Hinton, a sociology freshman, said she does not think Playboy should be recruiting college students, and it may create an uncomfortable situation for women who pose and then come back to school.

“After they pose and everyone has seen them nude, people are going to look at them differently,” she said.

Wadkins said although she did experience some interesting moments because of her appearance in Playboy, she never received any backlash from the campus community for posing.

“Like one guy actually pulled the magazine out in the hallway after class and asked for an autograph,” she said. “I think he just wanted to show his friends that we had a class together. So, no, I didn’t really catch any flak for the pictures.”