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Madison's gigantic events and superabundance of school pride has secured the number one spot on Playboy's list of Top Ten Party Schools.

The third installment of this coveted release is presented to Madison for obvious reasons: the Badgers, Halloween and the Mifflin Street block party. But there were also other, non-debauchery related reasons. The togetherness of Madison caused in part by its isolation in the Midwest and the academic records-plus research of the faculty and student body and athletics-played a role in their decision also.

"Research at schools was done by 250 campus reps stationed across North America," said Theresa Hennessey, publicity manager for Playboy. "These reps waged a guerrilla marketing campaign and acted as the eyes and ears for Playboy."

The 19 girls featured in this article were found through an open casting call during Playboy's weeklong study of the Madison experience.

The music scene in Madison really impressed the researchers, as they concluded that the clubs and local bands of the city were on par with any other small city. The general vibe in Madison was also taken into account along with the layout of campus and the clubs in the surrounding areas.

The students at Madison feel very much the same way that Playboy does about their school.

"There are so many house parties, cool bars and hot chicks," said Tyler Salzman, a student at Madison. "The cops are cool for the most part; if you want you can get a fake ID without much trouble, Halloween and Mifflin draw people from many other schools from all over the Midwest... it's just the attitude here."

UW officials announced on April 7 that the dean of students would look into the fraternity featured in a full-page photo that accompanied the story to see if they broke any university rules. Overall, however, there has been no outcry from Chancellor Wiley's office because of the nature of the study.

"They are happy that the study dealt with different aspects of Madison, not just wild parties but other things, like academics," said Hennessey.

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