In the ’50s there was Marilyn Monroe, in the ’90s there was Anna Nicole Smith. In the new millennium, it will be a Buckeye gracing the pages of Playboy magazine.

Playboy is making rounds to the 11 universities of the Big Ten, to find models for its “Women of the Big Ten” pictorial. This feature will appear in the October 2003 issue. Photographers will be at Ohio State for interviews today and tomorrow.

Playboy publicist Karen Ring said at least one woman will represent OSU in the pictorial. She anticipates between 50 to 200 women will come to the interviews.

“With the war going on it’s been tricky,” Ring said of the difficulty the magazine has had in getting the word out about the interviews.

Women have many reasons to come out, including a paycheck and encouragement from their boyfriends, Ring said. Record of a youthful body may also be persuasive, she added.

“When you’re old and saggy-breasted you will be able to have this as a memory,” she said of the models.

The Playboy hopefuls must bring a picture ID as well as proof they attend a Big Ten school.

“We are looking for well-proportioned, attractive young women,” Ring said.

The interview process will include some paperwork, completion of a data sheet, which gives the women the opportunity to share facts about themselves, and finally a photograph session, in which the women will have Polaroids taken while wearing a two-piece bathing suit.

A three-person crew will be at the scene, assisting in the interview process. The photo-stylist, a member of the crew, often has had prior experience of modeling for Playboy, and will help the women with their wardrobe, Ring said.

“There are three stages of nudity,” Ring said. “Fully clothed, semi-nude, and totally nude.”

The different levels are designed to give the models different options.

“We’re all about making the girls feel comfortable,” Ring said.

Some students are less than thrilled about the interviews.

“I think it’s wrong because they’re exploiting women,” said T.J. Slattery, a freshman in business.

Elijah Meyer, a senior in international business, is not opposed to the magazine’s visit to campus.

“I think of all adult magazines, Playboy is the most respected,” he said.

Lynsey Gaines, an undecided freshman, sees the visit as an equal opportunity.

“There’s campus men calendars,” she said. “I think it’s the women’s choice. That’s what they’re fighting for, and this is the woman’s right.”