Miss Oregon Wins Miss America Crown
Sept. 22 -- Miss Oregon Katie Harman, a college student who aspires to a career in bioethics, has been crowned Miss America 2002.
Harman, 21, outshone 50 other women in a pageant that celebrated patriotism and mourned lives lost in the terrorist attacks less than two weeks earlier.
As it was, the three-hour competition was two parts beauty pageant and one part telethon. The pageant worked to raise money for the September 11th Fund, a charity set up in the wake of the attacks.Danza Offers Somber Words
Host Tony Danza opened the live telecast with a somber monologue, saying contestants and pageant organizers decided to go ahead with the pageant while paying homage to the victims and tapping into the nation's resurgent patriotism.
"We don't carry on to make less of what happened. We carry on to make more of it, and to add resolve to our nation's voice," Danza said.
He appealed to viewers for donations to the fund, and a graphic appeared intermittently on the screen to tell them how to do so.
Miss Massachusetts Abbie Lynne Rabine was first runner-up and Miss Tennessee Stephanie Culberson was second runner-up. Miss District of Columbia Marshawn Evans and Miss New York Andrea Plummer rounded out the five finalists.
Harman, who plans to promote the supporting of terminal breast cancer patients during her one-year reign as Miss America, is a speech communications major at Portland State University. She lives in Gresham, Ore.
In addition to the $50,000 college scholarship that comes with the job, Miss America traditionally earns up to $200,000 in appearance fees during her reign.
Contestants Are Judges, Too
In Atlantic City, she impressed the judges throughout the competition, winning preliminary competitions in swimsuit and evening wear.
On Saturday, she answered six of eight questions right during an onstage "pop quiz" that was a new element of the competition.
Among the questions: Which country gave the Statue of Liberty to the United States as a gift? Who was the first African-American justice of the U.S. Supreme Court?
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