The Michigan Daily -Thursday, September 5, 1991- Page 5
S udent gains national "ยข - I as at " rY:"--
,exposure in IPlayboy Ns J
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by Purvi Shah
Daily Staff Reporter
Two answering machine mes-
sages stick out in Tracey Phillips'
mind. The first: she had been se-
lected to pose for Playboy maga-
zine's Girl's of the Big Ten issue.
The second: a feminist group called
her roommate to discuss protests
against Playboy.
"That was really ironic that that
bappened," says Phillips, an LSA
junior. "I don't really think she (her
roommate) had a clue that I was go-
ing to pose."
After about 275 University
women were interviewed in January,
Playboy chose to shoot six
University women. Three Michigan
women, Engineering senior Sara Jane
Zeilstra, alumnus Lisa Engelman,
and Phillips, were eventually picked
for the final print.
Though she believed she would
be edited out, Phillips is one of 49
college students in the October
Girls of the Big Ten issue. Out of all
the women, she is honored to have
been selected as the model for the
preview within the September issue.
The photo shoot has led to ex-
tensive exposure for Phillips.
After posing in Playboy, she has
been interviewed by two television
news stations and will be on various
radio programs. Phillips is also
Miss May in the Women of
Michigan calendar and will be in-
gluded in the Patrick Adams pho-
tography showcase on State St.
Though she is not getting her
PLAYBOY
continued from page 1
for the issue. There are no specific
criteria for being accepted as a
mnodel, Paige said.
"The photographers have been
dloing this for a long time. They
know what they're looking for," he
said. "They look for a lot of differ-
ent things. There's no set specific
ihing. You'll find a variety of body
types, hair colors, and personalities.
Of the 49 girls, you'll find 49 very
different women in the pictorials."
Y The popular issue has also come
inder fire from feminist groups.
When Playboy photographers came
o the University campus,
protesters decried the magazine for
exploiting women.
sr"I knew that we couldn't stop
Playboy when we protested. I'm
certainly unhappy and dissatisfied,"
$aid protest organizer Melissa Dan-
forth. "Playboy presents a stereo-
typed view of women and a narrow
iange of beauty. There's a much
Wider range of beauty and sexuality
than Playboy covers."
The magazine's representatives
W said they feel protests are counter-
hopes high, Phillips would like to
model for New York fashion maga-
zines in the future. "That would be
an ultimate," she says. "I'm just a
Midwest Michigan girl. All I know
A cold April day isn't exactly
perfect conditions for a nude photo
shoot, but Phillips enjoyed it more
than she had anticipated. "I expected
the worst because all I read was it
was exploitation of women. I was
expecting the worst - so far I've
gotten the best," she says. "It was
very professional. It wasn't dirty or
sleazy. They just put me really at
ease."
Although reactions from people
have been positive, Phillips was
originally worried about how the
student body would react to her po-
sition as a Playboy model.
"I seem very conservative when I
view myself, so posing nude is kind
of new to me," she says. "I don't
dress very wild. I don't press peo-
ple's buttons. I'm sure it's new to
people who know me. I was actually
apprehensive about it because
Michigan is a liberal campus. I defi-
nitely have a better outcome than
what I thought it'd be. Those that
didn't think it was right still
praised me on my boldness and how
I'm handling it. Everyone's been
very supportive.
"I just wonder when I walk, do
you think they'll recognize me? I
don't think so. I have no idea. I re-
ally am as clueless as anyone else.
Who knows? I guess I'll find out."
Phillips believes the weirdest
reaction is people who ask, 'Oh what
did you wear?' She responds, "This
is Playboy. What do you think I
wore?"
Phillips
is I'm from a small town, and
they're tripping out on me. I don't
consider (Playboy) the ultimate.
Maybe Cosmo - the cover."
The backdrop for her Playboy
shoot was an honest-to-goodness
farm, animals and hay provided free
of charge. So was the cow bite she
received near her buns, the runny
nose, and her hay fever. From 9 a.m.
to 3:30 p.m. photographer David
Mecey captured Phillips in bare
essence on 50 rolls of film.
President Bush addresses University graduates at May's campus wide commencement ceremony in Michigantaim
Stadium.
Bush addresses 1991 graduates
by Jay Garcia the nation's rate of illiteracy through projects and ser-
and David Rheingold vice.
productive. "The people that
protest defeat their purpose," Paige
said. "They help us do our job by
letting people know that we're
there."
"There's always been an element
on every campus that we go to that
doesn't agree with Playboy," he
added. "The vast majority of people
think Playboy is fine. It's a re-
spectable magazine. It's a part of
popular culture."
Paige also argues that protesters
contradict the basis of the feminist
position for the freedom and em-
powerment of women. "The femi-
nist argument goes against the
whole concept of feminism, which
is to allow women to make their
own choices. It goes against the
whole idea of self-determination.
And no one's making those people
buy the magazine or look at those
pictures."
Danforth argued, however, that.
protesters did not attack the -
women. "We weren't protesting the
women who were going to try out.
That is their choice," she said. "I'd
be willing to talk to them about
how they have better things to do in
life. You can be an intelligent and
interesting woman and still pose
for Playboy."
Over the last few years, Playboy
has been broadening the focus of the
college issue by branching out. Last
year was the first time women from
women's colleges were featured.
Sales have not jumped since the
issue was released Monday, said
Wolverine Campus Market em-
ployee Robert Cantelon. "It seems
that generally for some reason
there's more awareness that Play-
boy would be coming out with the
Girls of the Big Ten issue," he said.
"People have been theoretically
waiting for it, but I can't say that
the sales of it have been very good. I
would rate them as normal."
Playboy will be celebrating its
38th anniversary this December, but
the periodical has been featuring
university women for only 15 years.
Daily Staff Reporters
Graduating students entered Michigan stadium this
year wearing caps and gowns instead of maize and blue
sweatshirts to hear President Bush give the 1991 spring
commencement address.
Bush landed at Ypsilanti's Willow Run Airport
and travelled to the stadium via motorcade for the
hour-long ceremony, which began at 11 a.m. He left
immediately following the graduation exercises.
Walter Harrison, executive director of University
relations, said this is Bush's standard procedure for
commencement speeches.
In addressing the 8,300 graduates, Bush criticized
the spread of "politically correct" speech on campuses
across the nation.
"Although the movement arises from the laudable
desire to sweep away the debris of racism and hatred, it
replaces old prejudice with new ones," Bush said.
This year's unified graduation ceremony marked a
change from the policy the University adopted last
year when it divided commencement exercises into
school or division.
Harrison said, however, that the University will
not continue to hold commencements in the stadium.
"It's a one-year-only deal because President Bush is
coming," Harrison said. "We intend to go back to indi-
vidual schools and colleges next year."
This year marked the second time Bush has visited
the University in the past decade. He last appeared in
1985 to commemorate former President John ~F.
Kennedy's unveiling of the Peace Corps.
Bush and first lady Barbara Bush received honorary
Doctor of Law degrees during the ceremony.
In an introductory speech, Gov. John Engler praised
Bush for his service to the American public and said,
"Mr. President, I have a message for you to take back to
Gen. Schwarzkopf and Gen. Powell: Hail to the
Victors!" referring to Michigan's fight song.
Barbara Bush was honored for her work at reducing
Some students objected to Bush's presence. A group
of several dozen students to the right of the platform
stood up, holding red brochures as a symbol of blood-
shed in the Persian Gulf War.
The president's speech was also punctuated by anti-
Bush cries from the bleachers. Many times, though,
supporters of Bush began cheering to drown out the
dissent.
Members of the platform included University Pres-
ident James Duderstadt, members of the University
Board of Regents and presidents emeriti Harlan
Hatcher, Robben Fleming, Allan Smith and Harold
Shapiro.
The University attempted to personalize the cere-
mony by decorating the stage with the flags of the var-
ious University schools. At the end of the ceremony,
the dean of each school or division asked the respective
graduates to stand. Graduates-to-be represented schools
as small as Information and Library Studies and as
large as LSA.
The University also awarded honorary degrees to
Seymour Kety, professor emeritus of neuroscience at
Harvard University, for his research in the genetic as-
pects of schizophrenia; Billy Frye, vice president for
academic affairs and provost at Emory University;
Ronald Sagdeev, head of the Theory Division at the In-
stitute of Space Research in Moscow, for his role in ad-
vocating international participation in space research;
A. Alfred Taubman, founder and chair of the Taubman
Co. Inc.; and Ta-You Wu, president of the Academia
Sinica in Taiwan.
The ceremony concluded with the attendants
singing the University's traditional "Hail to the Vic-
tors" as several students flung their caps into the air in
celebration.
"You are indeed the leaders and the best," Duder-
stadt told the new alumni.
f
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