'Top Model' Favorites: Where Are They Now?

KIM STOLZ

This Cycle 5 contestant planned on going to law school after Top Model, but while working for a law firm, hooked up with Elite and was back in front of the camera. The muse for newly arrived designer Chris Benz also happens to have a degree in government from Wesleyan and a passion for indie music, so she approached MTV with the idea of working behind the scenes. Instead, they made her an mtvU VJ in June 2006 and a MTV News correspondent last fall. She's happy to be on the election beat. ''Young voters are really the drive of this election. So going on college campuses and talking to students is totally enlightening,'' she says. ''At the same time, I've been able to interview John Edwards and Mike Huckabee. I've met Barack Obama. I feel very lucky to be able to converse with those people.'' To help inform time-pressed voters, look for her to launch a weekly written column for MTV News sometime in the next month. It'll be a ''quick, somewhat snarky but also very informative one-page summary and analysis'' of the race for the White House and other current events, she says.