Playboy October 2001

COVER STORY THREE CHEERS FOR THE GIRLS OF THE SEC: Playmates Julia Schultz (right) and Nicole Lenz (left) join Miss October, Stephanie Heinrich (center), as she leads a cheer for PLAYBOY'S Girls of the Southeastern Conference. Photographer and digital artist Mark Frazier worked his magic for our special college cover. Our Rabbit gets a kick hanging out with the girls. FEATURES 84 COLLEGE SPORTS IN CRISIS School competition has become a cthroat business in which the victims are often the star players, who graduate without an education. Now athletics are teaming with unions and outraged teachers to demand reform. BY ERIN ZAMMETT 98 CLASS ACTION Nobody said being an undergraduate was easy. We offer key tools for survival, including your own DJ kit and a 21st century hangover helper. BY JASON BUHRMESTER 101 PLAYBOY'S PIGSKIN PREVIEW It's been 45 years since we started picking winners—college teams and Playboy's All-Americas. Once again we dare to compare. Our football insight is legendary. BY GARY COLE 120 THE FOUR-YEAR ROAD TRIP You've probably never heard of the Nadas, but they're huge on the college circuit. Our reporter hung out in their girl-packed RV. BY ALISON LUNDGREN 124 BACK TO CAMPUS FASHION Ah, the challenge of looking sharp and being comfortable. Have we got great news for you. Plus, these clothes don't require your dad's credit card. BY JOSEPH DE ACETIS 131 CENTERFOLDS ON SEX: ULRIKA ERICSSON She likes older men, risky places and lights on. Line forms this way, gentlemen. 134 20Q MARG HELGENBERGER As the star of TV's CSI, Marg lights our Bunsen burner every week. In an investigative 20Q, she talks about knockers, Julia Roberts and sex scenes. BY ROBERT CRANE 150 BUZZ FROM ABROAD There are 5000 foreign study programs. None tell you where to drink absinthe, find underground raves or meet topless babes. We do. FICTION 94 FISHBOY In our annual College Fiction Contest's winning story, a teenage crush on the cute `girl in class sends this dude to the bottom of the tank. It's a love story more twisted than an eel in a blender. BY MATT MCINTOSH INTERVIEW 71 THE WEST WING Rarely does a TV show create such intense buzz—or influence the nation's politics. Hist Wing did that and more, grabbing 17 million viewers and a record number of Emmys. To get the dirt on their White House, PLAYBOY sat down with the show's very smart creator and eight cast members, including Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe and Allison Janney. BY DAVID SHEFF PICTORIALS 90 RAPID RIOS Leilani Rios was kicked off her college track team for stripping. We're happy to train with her—nude. 106 PLAYMATE: STEPHANIE HEINRICH Miss October dreams of becoming a detective. Hef, meanwhile, is the sleuth when it conies to beauty. 132 ELVIRA'S NIGHT MOVES The Mistress of the Dark is our idea of a Halloween pinup. This trick's a treat. ART BY OLIVIA DE BERARDINIS 138 GIRLS OF THE SEC Nobody struts their stuff like these spirited coeds from the sultry South. NOTES AND NEWS 19 WORLD OF PLAYBOY A Cannes cake, Hef and Liz, our big book party. 20 HEF'S EUROPEAN ADVENTURE Cannes, Milan and London—and, of course, seven girlfriends. 22 HEF IN EUROPE: PART TWO The party continues with Germany's PMOY and British MTV 61 THE PLAYBOY FORUM A nation of snoops, invasions of privacy. 179 PLAYMATE NEWS Little E's favorite Playmate, MM's birthday tribute. DEPARTMENTS 7 PLAYBILL 27 DEAR PLAYBOY 31 AFTER HOURS 46 WIRED 48 LIVING ONLINE 52 MEN 55 MANTRACK 59 THE PLAYBOY ADVISOR 118 PARTY JOKES 164 WHERE AND HOW TO BUY 183 ON THE SCENE 184 GRAPEVINE 186 POTPOURRI REVIEWS 38 MOVIES A teen Othello, Swedish peace and love, Barbet Schroeder in Colombia. 42 VIDEO Fuel adventure, the greatest American movie on DVD, director John Sayles. 44 MUSIC Yardbirds boxed, Nick Lowe, Keb' Mo'. 50 BOOKS Life and Def Kinky Friedman on Texas etiquette.