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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 2003)
m THE BATTALIfj trrow inued from pagelj larrow trsndplsnt is n«i a chemotherapy treai® led to kill off all cait* also kills off all stem its aid in cell product; ry said. irrow transpants arecii referred to as stem;; hints, but stem cells useli a- transplants are i ontroversial stem j :h, Maybry said, ynn Gunter, a senior^ ement major, said sit to register because ather died of lymph® ; lost a lot of we a lot of pain during rai junter said, er being typed, pot can have their tissue ii] o the international reps ■m cell transplants ed by the 3,000 people f a transplant at any® lis drive is for is in the world,” od sampling will s but donors may noti teir tissue types are need eral years. /bry said Reed’s your, icommon in transpli its. Infants less than .1 can receive bone ma tnts, she said, said that finding a m d is quite possible an of those in need int find a match. te surrounding Q regulations is the praci licit requires artists top ay their songs on air. Channel) can make heir decision to put Kyle Hale, KANM political science m lat his company parti ices. :arly, and for the recoi I does not use the thn / to force musicians abate againsKompetiiij by failing to piotnot e air,” Mays testified Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 A • Thursday, February 6, 2003 Where the wild tilings star ‘Girls Gone Wild' stops in College Station on its first national tour By True Brown THE BATTALION It has become a staple of late-night televi sion advertisements. It has become synony mous with spring break and March Gras. Its simple, descriptive title has become a part of household language in colleges and high schools across the country. It has even been the center of more than a couple lawsuits. But most of all, it is a phenomenon. When Joe Francis came up with the idea for “Girls Gone Wild” six years ago, he didn't know that he was on the verge of becoming a multi-millionaire, complete with two private jets and a cult-like following that spends mil lions on his videos. In 2002, the “Girls Gone Wild” series claims to have sold 4.5 million DVDs and videos. “I sort of think I understand it now,” Francis said. “It’s really gotten so popular. Everybody in life wants to be successful, but I don’t think you ever set out thinking you will achieve this kind of mass with anything that you do.” After producing 83 videos, Francis has begun his first tour across America. The tour will stop at more than 30 cities, including College Station tonight at Oxygen in Post Oak Mall. Francis said that at tonight’s party, students will get a taste of spring break a month early. “What we do is take spring break and trans plant it to any time of year, anywhere,” he said. “It’s ‘Girls Gone Wild’ live. They are all shooting events, and the camera crews will all be there.” The tour, Francis said, will culminate during spring break in Panama City, Fla., with the first-ever “Ms. Girls Gone Wild” contest. The contest seems to fit in with the way “Girls Gone Wild” has progressed, where each ^concept toes the line a little more. Butwhy is “Girls Gone Wild” so popular? Francis, who started his career producing the “Banned From Television” series before focus ing on the “Girls Gone Wild” brand, has never been accused of having tasteful programming. That hasn't stopped the “Girls Gone Wild” phenomenon, which seems to gain more popu larity every year. Jason Sellers, a junior wildlife and fisheries science major, said he credits the show’s popu larity to its edge-pushing style. “Sometimes they have crossed the line a lit tle bit,” Sellers said. “I think girls do that sort of thing for the recognition. They see the video cameras and think this will be their chance to get on TV. They’ll get that little bit of fame from being seen. If the girls want to do it, it’s their decision to.” Francis, however, said one of the biggest reasons for its popularity is something that you can see on prime-time television any night of the week: reality-based programming. With the advent of shows such as “Fear Factor,” “Joe Millionaire” and “American Idol,” Americans have shown that they enjoy anything that shows real people in real situations. Francis, maybe more than any other produc er, has taken advantage of the craze. “1 just couldn’t watch sitcoms anymore,” Francis said. “1 was sick of that crap. Plus, everything with girls was either Playmates, which 1 got tired of looking at because they were all stripper chicks, or hardcore pornogra phy, which is fun every once in a while but it’s not for everybody.” Also, Francis took advantage of the “girl- next-door” fantasy. “It’s real girls,” he said. “There was nothing out there that had real girls. “You look at other people who would adver tise about the girl next door. Well, this actually is the girl next door. You could go next door and find this girl.” Armed with that rparketing scheme, what Francis stumbled upon was something that took vas founded when on a single San Ai 72. Today, in additim i stations, Clear loor advertising icert promoter. 957 received a Han: :eived the Distinguish i A&M and was i; g & Cable Hall of ft and Graduate Schoo named after the Cif LLION hief iday during the fall and spring sen# ilversity holidays and exam periods)? 77840. POSTMASTER: Send addi** ion, TX 77843-1111. 5<M University in the Division of Studf 1 1 Reed McDonald Building. News# http://www.thebatt.com idorsement by The Battalion..Forca' advertising, call 845-0569.Advert^ Aonday through Friday. 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Now, “Girls Gone Wild” has reached a point where celebrities are even asking Francis if they can be part of the action. Francis’ latest video is a collaboration with rap superstar Snoop Dogg. Francis said Snoop Dogg came to him with the idea. “He’s a big ‘Girls Gone Wild’ fan, and he called me and said he wanted to do it,” he said. “So I went over to his house, sat on a bean bag, and we emerged five hours later with a deal.” The result was one of the most popular “Girls Gone Wild” tapes to date: “Girls Gone Wild: Doggy Style.” Francis’ next video, set to be released in about a month, will feature another rapper, Eminem. But phone calls from celebrities and a bankroll in the millions have not come easy: Francis’ videos have become the center of litigation several times. The most recent case, Francis says, was decided in his favor by a federal court. “We’ve won every lawsuit,” he said. “It (is usually) a girl who flashed for one of our cam eras attempting to sue us for invading their privacy, which is absurd. It sounds funny because if you take off your clothes, how is someone invad ing your privacy?” Lawsuits aside, the “Girls Gone Wild” empire has kept growing in its young six-year life. For Francis, it’s all very simple. In fact, he sums his company’s entire existence very simply: “It’s a whole lot of fun,” he said. IVAN FLORES • THE BATTALION