tonight on "nightline," sex on campus. in the age of oversharing, young people are chronicling their racy sex lives and it's going viral online. details of hookups, wild nights and how-to advice. but have campuses really become dens of debauchery? super mario -- he came out of the ground a hero. now, chilean miner mario sepulveda shares a tearful homecoming for his family and describes for the first time what he went through during the days trapped beneath that mountain. and the real mccain -- his thoughts on sarah palin, the tea party, and what it means to be a maverick this year. tonight, we've got the "nightline"

interview with john mccain. from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," october 18th, 2010. good evening. i'm terry moran. we're going to begin tonight with the subject of sex on american campuses and how, in this age of instant information oversharing, stories meant for a few can become stories read by the world. the latest example is a detailed presentation a graduate of duke university wrote about her sex life that proceeded to go viral on the internet, embarrassing the author and those she named. so what's going on here? is it that social norms are changing? or does the change have more to do with social media? vicki mabrey reports for our series "modern sex in america." >> reporter: that one wild college night can live on forever in viral videos, raunchy blogs, even in a power point presentation.

a few weeks ago, karen owen, a recent duke university graduate, came to embody the perils of the "too much information" age. >> a recent duke university graduate has a lot of explaining to do. >> reporter: when she cataloged her campus conquests recently in a 42-page document that became a viral sensation. >> there's pictures of the men, their names, everything. >> reporter: the report quickly dubbed "the sex these," came complete with photos, paragraphs and ratings of the 13 men she claims to have bedded. the trouble was, she says she never intended it to go public. >> so, just move up here. >> reporter: owen's not the only one to divulge all the gory details. take tucker max. the stories of his collegiate sexploits have made him a sensation. >> the only reason i did the second one was -- >> reporter: and a big name.

>> i will have one more. >> how many booty calls have you had in your life? >> how many girls have i had sex with? >> no, just straight booty calls. >> how would i possibly count -- [ laughter ] how many beers have you drank in your life? do you know? >> reporter: he's not running from the publicity. max has a "new york times" best-seller action movie. >> she wants me to sign her underwear. >> reporter: and throngs of fans trying to get a piece of this literary lothario. >> usually girls ask me to sign their [ bleep ]. nice to meet you guys. >> reporter: is college a den of debauchery? >> is there really this much sex happening on college compasses? yes, absolutely, no question. by no means when i was in college and law school and living that lifestyle was i in any way an anomaly. >> reporter: karen owen and tucker max are certainly extreme cases, but what's really going on? >> okay, elie, i really like

that one. that's a really good "before." >> then you'll just run these side by side? >> yes. >> reporter: hannah and dominique write the sex column for the student paper at the university of tampa. >> i wrote one a couple weeks ago that was about faking orgasms and that got some attention. >> reporter: advice columns like theirs are enormously popular in college newspapers across the country. just 15 years ago, there was zero. today, there are more than 200 student papers. >> it's not like something that you've just brought up and it doesn't exist anywhere else and it's like some kind of taboo or something. no, people talk about it. yeah, they just don't expect to see it pape >> i think peopll i hooking up pattern because it's almost what's expected now because it's just become this trend of people hooking up >> reporter: the paper's facu adviser is dan id. >> students are leading in a lot of ways on pushing

forward the sexual discussion in this country. >> reporter: if students are reading about everyone else on campus having so much sex, allegedly, are they thinking, i'm missing out? are these columns fuelling this new sexual revolution? >>day not think they're leading the way. i think they're the ones de >> reporter: he sae daof getting pinned, going steady and getting married right after graduation are gone. >> they're not tryi bog ny latp or before they're read ey e.e they're read they areny and sp. >> reporter: what we'g is that romance ideadg is. >> yeah, yeah. >> daigdoist. >> reporter:allme b these univety f students. cat, taylor, adriana and ashton. >> you get the phone number, you text a little bit. depends whether you meet them at the bar, you meet them on campus. you go out one night. there's usnder drinking

>> 90% of the time. >> 90% of the time. end up going back together. >> the girl sas cu i don cuddling or n >> jusppen then ste, then there's awkwardness ou . ons >> they hf it freshmen going to c thihe cence is about drinking and having sex and finding ou >> just ho >> ye s> reporter: >> yeah. >> yes. >> i woudintsome >> i would ow, a virgin but i'm the only one and they doi ge e vi. >> rertuny, there's a littlednew worried parents and kids who want to opt out of the h culture. professor kathleen vogel wh wrote a book c up" of theimal house" ki says her research shows college kids aren'thavsex, view backed up by at n what they are doing tal ut e. hey are doing tal >> it constantlyke people were trying to

with what they believed else was doing, you know, kind of the "animal house" kind of college life drink till you drop kind of picture. just because that's going on it sn'anthcal.e that's going on it >> hey, there, you're cute. that's the good part about being good looking. >> reporter: as for tucker max, he no f hi in e ca >> becoming a number one best-selling author and being a millionaire because i wrote down my drunk stories? i will never regret that. t's not just about the sex partyng. every campus is the same, but i believe that all of the stereotypical things t cf1 col. so, we shouldn't just ignore them but we shouldn't think just generalize that everyone's doing it. >> but they certainly are this ask vicki mabrey for "nightline" in tampa. >> thanks to vicki for that report on sex in campus. when we come back, it's supermario, the miner. we talk to him about the ten-week ordeal that he says

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start. start. now to the marvelofb marvel story of the chilean miners. rescue workers worried about the physical and mental toll that ten weeks underground would take on those 33 trapped men. so it was good to see the second man they pulled from that mine, mario sepulveda is his name, stage a celebration on par with a world cup win. tonight, john quinones has the first interview with super mario since his ordeal. >> reporter: mario sepulveda's

jubilant celebration after being rescued earned him the nickname "super mario." when he was released from the hospital a few days later, the first thing he wanted to do was go to the beach. a free spirit. liberated from underground after 69 days. he stripped down naked and ran toward the ocean with his arms open. abc news licensed personal video sepulveda and his family reunited. at the beach with his little boy at his side, mario dropped to his knees and prayed. "i adore you, god," he says. "and i promise i will never leave you." "just like i promised you when i was buried alive." in the early hours of wednesday morning, sepulveda was the second miner to slowly rise to the surface in that phoenix capsule. when he got to the top, he couldn't contain himself.

when they were trapped undergrund, the miners agreed not to say much about what happened during their time there waiting to be rescued. one of the first to break that vow was mario. i spoke to him just an hour after he was released from the hospital. and asked him about the moment he realized he was safe. "it was very emotional," he says. "at first, i didn't recognize the president because he was wearing a hard hat. and then i realized i'm in front of the president, and i just kept hugging him." he described how difficult the first few days were. the men were scared, often fighting. you wonder, he says, is anyone coming to save us or not. i was afraid of leaving my kids alone. of leaving my daughter alone. the mother of my kids alone. and the people who love me. i was afraid, thinking what they would do. despite his fear, mario's hope is if he were to die, that he would die peacefully. "i thought when i die, i want to

die as a miner. and when they find me dignified, the world will say, a miner died with his head held high." and then on day 17, the 33 miners hear the drills cutting through the mountain. above ground, the rescuers celebrated when they learned the miners were alive and well. but it would be another 52 days before the men would be pulled out. during that miserable time, mario became known to the world as the presenter. he conducted a video tour of the mine and became famous for his sense of humor. he shows us how one night when the miners were going to sleep, he pulled a prank on them. "tell my family," he told them, "that the money is hidden--" and then he says "i stopped breathing." my buddies were saying, don't die, mario, don't die, where's the money? i busted out laughing, he says. and they kicked me. he also became their cheerleader.

i would tell them, look, comb prad days, we'll be find, we'll be happy. and we will blow out of here. when he was rescued, mario even brought up special gifts to his rescuers from down below. i thought a lot about it at night, he says. what can i bring back as gifts? i have no money. what can i do? and then it hit me, ah, yes, rocks. they have a real special spiritual meaning. on sunday, about 20 of the men attended a mass at the mine and, along with their families, loaded up the tents and the mattresses that had become a fixture at this site, heading home. one by one, they're rejoining lives in progress. this miner, who had proposed to his girlfriend when trapped is now rekindling that relationship. now, back in their apartment, we don't have to ask him twice to recreate the moment. all but one of them have now

been released from the hospital. as for super mario, he spent most of the weekend falling in love again with his wife katta. he also spent time dancing with his daughter, scarlet. and reading the good-bye letter he wrote for his son franco when he thought he was going to die. he wrote, i will miss you, my son, but i am tranquil and happy because as i leave this earth i know you will be in the good hands of your mother." back at the beach, he insisted we deliver a little reminder from mario to the world. "life is short," he says. "in one minute, you can lose it. if one minute, it can all be gone. don't worry so much about money. live your life. live every second of your life." i'm john quinones for "nightline" in new york. >> words of wisdom there.

thanks to john for that report. up next, we turn to politics. how new is the new edge with myford touch? well you could never do this before. or this. or this. you definitely couldn't do this. play kate's mix. or this. temperature, 72 degrees. say hello to the new edge with myford touch.™ quite possibly the world's smartest crossover.

just ask jerry brown. he gave california state employees collective bargaining powers. since then the unions have grown stronger and stronger. now state employees can retire at 55 with much of their salary for life. and taxpayers are on the hook for one hundred billion dollars in unfunded pension liabilities. no wonder those unions are 100% behind jerry brown. he'll just spend, and spend, and spend.

john mccain has been in congress since 1983. he's run for president twice. he is a capitol hill fixture. but in the 2010 election season, all that and mccain's

independent streak became a liability in tea party america. he told me what happened next in the "nightline" interview. in a political year dominated by republican insurgents, a messianic talk show host -- >> america today begins to turn back to god -- >> reporter: -- and the most unlikely candidates. >> i'm not a witch. >> reporter: john mccain is a survivor. it could have been different. denied the presidency he craved, eclipsed as a leader in his own party by the alaska governor he plucked from obscurity to be his running mate, denounced by tea party activist, derided by the media, you think these would be hard times for mccain. they aren't. >> i am a happy man. i was so honored to get the nomination of my party. i'm proud of our campaign. i'm proud of sarah palin. i'm proud of my life. >> reporter: but survival, as john mccain knows, can come at a

price. by now, you probably know the story. >> i chose life. >> reporter: mccain threatened last spring by a strong primary challenge from conservative talk show host j.d. hayworth began attacking sharply to the right, seemingly to abandon long-held principles. on repealing the don't ask, don't tell policy on gays in the military, he once said this -- >> but the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, senator, we ought to change the policy, then i think we ought to consider seriously changing it. >> reporter: then the military leadership, in fact, took a stand in favor of repealing the policy. >> it is my personal belief that allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly would be the right thing to do. >> reporter: but mccain now says this -- >> would you filibuster it? >> absolutely. i will filibuster or stop it from being brought up until we

have a thorough and complete study. >> reporter: even when it came to the moniker that was once his calling card. >> john mccain has been the consummate maverick. >> reporter: mccain told "newsweek" in april, i never considered myself a maverick it's like i can't believe it's not butter saying, i never believed i was butter. >> i consider myself a person who stands up for what they believe in. when i was against president bush on a number of issues, i was called a maverick. when i was against president obama, then i'm call a partisan. i am -- what i was trying to say, i'm the same person. >> reporter: one thing has always remained consistent about mccain, he's a fighter. in san diego on saturday, we caught up with mccain, who's got a double digit lead in his own bid for fifth term arizona as senator, as he campaigned for former hb ceo carly fiorina,

locked in a fierce fight with incumbent barbara boxer. inside, mccain broke with the old tradition of senatorial courtesy and just let loose on boxer. >> barbara boxer is the most bitterly partisan, most anti-defense senator in the united states senate today. i know that because i've had the unpleasant experience of having to serve with her. >> reporter: that was some red meat in there. >> yeah. >> reporter: there was something personal almost it felt. you had the distinctly unpleasant experience of working with barbara boxer. >> it has been an unpleasant experience because barbara boxer personalizes the political discourse that we have. and that's why she's had so very little effect of any kind in the political process. there's no republican that will work with her. >> reporter: mccain has always been a hard-charging partisan when he needed or wanted to be. but he also earned a reputation of at times bucking his party

and working with democrats. but that was then. americans have looked at you over the years as someone who can cross that aisle. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: are you still that guy? >> sure, i'd be glad to. but it's up to the president of the united states. this is the most partisan administration that i have ever seen. >> reporter: the most partisan administration? >> the most partisan administration. and i came to the congress in 1983. >> reporter: maybe it isn't john mccain who's changed, so much as it is the times. there's a harshness in the air and a black gulf of nasty opposition between the parties. and some politicians stoke it. >> yeah, right, shovel ready projects my astro turf. yeah, right. we know what they were shoveling and it wasn't asphalt. >> reporter: sarah palin. our poll and others find that upwards of 70% of americans do not think sarah palin is qualified to be president of the united states. are they wrong or were you? >> i haven't seen anyone since

ronald reagan that -- with certain individuals and large groups of individuals who really have this passionate belief and support for her. >> reporter: do you never have a second thought? >> oh, i couldn't be more proud of her and the campaign she waged. you begin to think about legacy. and i think that sarah palin will play a very big role in the american political scene for a long time. >> reporter: and she'll be part of your legacy? >> sure, and i'm proud of her. >> reporter: but this long campaign to be re-elected will also be part of mccain's legacy and the controversy it stirred. people say, why did you sell out? >> i think our country is hurting in ways that are almost unprecedented. all of these challenges we face throughout the hemisphere and the world are i think -- could benefit from my experience and knowledge and background. >> reporter: but your positions have changed. >> but they haven't. on don't ask, don't tell, it's the same. on immigration, that shifted

with -- frankly because the american people spoke. they want the border secured. on the issue of climate change, i said we cannot do it without nuclear power. >> reporter: it seemed, though, that you've lost the affection of the national press corps. >> i think that that's a true statement, terry, i think that's a true statement. >> reporter: but as he cruises to victory and looks for a leading role in a republican party that has changed and changed him, john mccain doesn't seem to care. he survived. he's a survivor all right, through and through. when we come back, we're talking about sex on campus, the subject of tonight's closing argument. first, jimmy kimmel. >> tonight, teri hatcher is here, from "the daily show," aasif mandvi.

you know it's bad when the press asks if you'd take a lie detector test. meg whitman didn't tell the truth about not voting or about how long she lived in california. she got caught in insider deals at goldman sachs. she changed her story about physically abusing an employee. she campaigned as tough as nails on immigration knowing her housekeeper of 9 years was undocumented. her tv ads have been condemned as false and misleading. and even her hometown newspaper said meg whitman has demonstrated "a loose relationship with the truth"