A Higher Glyphic

Fifty-one beautiful women representing each state of the USA competed in a race for the coveted crown of Miss USA, 2007. Seven beautiful women watched from Rowena Olea's living room in Carbondale.

Olea, an SIU student, who held a party for the Miss USA pageant said, "I hoped Miss Tennessee would win because she earned high scores throughout the competition and gave a great response to the question she was asked."

On March 23 The Kodak Theater in California was packed with an excited audience, there to discover who would win the 56th Annual Miss USA, 2007 Pageant. Television host, Jerry Springer, former Miss Teen USA, Vanessa Minnlilo, and star quarterback Vince Young, were among the eight people chosen to judge this year's pageant. Thirty-six women had already been eliminated in the first round of the competition, including Miss Illinois.

"It was disappointing to see our girl kicked out in the first 10 minutes," said Olea.

Fifteen hopefuls remained with three categories of competition left, which would determine the final outcome of this annual event. First was the swimsuit segment. The women wore identical bikinis in color choices of purple, pink or blue. At the completion of this portion five bathing beauties were eliminated, leaving ten contestants still in the running. The next segment of the competition was formal wear. The remaining ten women chose a dress most flattering to them; one that would make them stand out in the group. Many of the dresses were embellished with sparkles, but the colors varied. Five more women were cut at the end of this part of the competition, leaving the final five favorites.

The states remaining for the last segment, the final question, were Nevada, Tennessee, Kansas, Rhode Island and California. Some of the questions asked were; "Who is your hero?" "If you could be a famous man, who would you be?" and, "Is it fair for women to use beauty to get ahead?"

After the final questions were answered and evaluated by the judges, Miss USA 2007 was selected. Tara Conner, Miss USA 2006, walked down the ramp one last time. It was not surprising but a bit aggravating that the pageant spent a great deal of time on Tara Conner's struggle to over come her struggle substance abuse, said Olea. Tara Conner completed her yearlong reign with the final honor of crowning the new winner, Rachel Smith, Miss Tennessee.

Smith is 21 years old and has dreams of a career in Journalism. She is also very passionate about education and volunteer work. Miss USA receives $250,000 in prizes and the opportunity to live in Trump Towers in New York City for her reigning year. Crystal trophies were presented to Miss Montana for the Miss Congeniality award and to Miss Alabama for the Miss Photogenic award.

See Miss USA 2007 Rachel Smith being crowned

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