Newspaper Page Text
2A
March 29, 2007
National Yorld
Twenty-one year-old jounalism graduate from Teanessee crowned Miss USA
By ALEX VEIGA
Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
Rachel Smith realized she had a
real shot at the Miss USA
crown when she made it to the
{« )Y\]ls.
ext up was the swimsuit
portion an the pageant, and the
journalism graduate from Ten
nessee told herself: “I'm just
gning to work it."
Smith, 21, ulamately bested
50 other aspiring beauty
queens to win the u’fic of Miss
USA on Frday night. The 5-
foot, 11-inch-tall brunette is a
graduate of Belmont University
and a former intern for the pro
duction company behind 7he
Opnih Winfrey SZow.
“I'm specchless at this point, |
really am,” Smith said agcr the
}mému.
yntestants from all 500 states
and the District of Columbia
competed to succeed Miss
Brooklyn library gets first black
woman executive director
NEW YORK (AP)
Dionne Mack-Harvin
has been appointed exec
utive director of the
Brooklyn Public Library,
making her the first
black woman in the state
to lead a major public
library system, the mayor
said Thursday.
Mach-Harvin, who has
served as the library’s
interim executive direc
tor since June 2006, was
unanimously approved
to the permanent post by
its board of trustees
Wednesday night.
Brooklyn has the fifth
Walter Reed: ‘Sad...hospital
allowed to deteriorate’
By JAMES WRIGHT
Special to the NNPA
Administrative incompe
tence is to blame for the terri-
Hc mnditium nf the soldicrs
at Walter Reed Hospital,
according to a man who once
worked at the facility and
another who recently had a
son who was treated there.
The poor treatment of the
wounded soldiers at the hos
pital created such an outery
that the surgeon general of
the Army, Lt. Gen. Kevin C.
Riley, US. Army Secretary
Francis Retired Lt. Col.
Henry Bellinger completed
two tours of dut)' at Walter
Rt‘t‘d. (Phnm by J v
Wright)Harvey and Maj.
Gen. George Weightman,
resigned under pressure.
Retired Lt. Colonel Henry
Bellinger worked for the U.S.
Army Medical Services Corps
while he was enlisted. He
retired in 1980 but not before
he completed two tours of
duty at the Washington-based
military hospital from 1963
to ‘66 and 1975 to ‘7B.
Bellinger said he had been
keeping up with the develop
ments regarding the hospital
after it was reported recendy
that soldiers returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan were
not getting the best care and
hadg:(t)nnli hospitalized in
unsanitary conditions. It sad
dens him to hear these
reports, he said, because he
still keeps in touch with peo-
l -
F :
Y
o
. _
Rachel Smith
USA Tara Conner, who
entered rehab after accounts
surfaced .\ll!_(z_:cx(ln{_' she was
lmn/.m)u at New York clubs.
The Kentucky native was in
danger of losing her crown, but
Donald Trump, who co-owns
the pageant with NBC, gave
largest public library sys
tem in the country. It
serves 2.6 million resi
dents and has 60 branch
es thruughnut the bor
ough.
A lifelong librarian
and true success story,
Dionne Mack-Harvin
started in the Crown
Heights branch more
than a decade ago, and
now has ... become its
first African-American
executive director,”
Bloomberg said in a
statement.
He said Mack-Harvin
was selected after a
5 Man&hz i
: Mam%
(LS
V. i 4:é
Photo by Charies Dharapak
An unidentified member of the military arrives at Walter Reed
Army Medical Center in Washington In this Aug. 25, 2005 file
photo. A government competition intended to cut costs while
limproving the care of U.S. soldiers and the management at Wal
ter Reed Army Medical Center by turning It over to a private com
pany triggered a three-year bureaucratic and legal battle involv
ing a controversial defense contractor with ties to current and
former Bush and Cheney assoclates. The unintended victims:
hundreds of severely wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan.
ple who work there.
~ “This is not the Walter
Reed I remember,” Bellinger
said.
“The part of the hospital
that takes care of our soldiers'
should be neat and clean, spic
and span. It is sad that part of
the hospital has been afiowcd
to deteriorate.”
Bellinger said he learned
independent contractors do a
lot of work at Walter Reed,
particularly in the part where
the wounded sos)dicrs are
treated.
“Outpatient services should
be a function of the Army
medical services not an out
side contractor,” he said.
“When I worked there, espe
cially during the Vietnam
AUGUSTA FOCUS
her a second chance.
The twlecast didnt shy away
from the controversy, opening
with a string of news amsxintcr—
\‘icw Clip.\‘ :4}%( ut G )nncr's WOCS.
Then, the 21-year-old blonde
emerged onstage wearing a
strapless, ruffled gown.
E has been the most unfor
settable year of my life and I'm
fiack. and better than ever,”
Conner said to wild applause
from the audience at the &)dak
Theatre,
Smith, of Clarksville, Tenn.,
cdgt‘d out t()p finalisrs Mcagm
Yvonne Tandy of California;
Cara Renee Gorges of Kansas;
Helen Salas nfr%\lcvada; and
Danielle Lacourse of Rhode
Island, who was named the first
runner-up.
When asked whether she was
ready to take over for Conner,
Smith admitted it would “be a
liede bit of a challenge,” but
quickly added she was ready for
It.
nationwide search.
She has held many key
positions within the
Brooklyn library system,
including as director of
central library and chief
()f S[flfli.
Mack-Harvin has a
Master “of ‘Ardd’ 'in
Africana Studies from
the State University of
New York at Albany and
a Masters of Library Sci
ence from the Rocke
feller College of Public
Affairs and Policy at
SUNY Albany.
War, we were hands-on.
“We treated the soldiers.
From what | understand,
since the independent con
tractors have come into the
picture, services have been
reduced and the soldiers may
not be getting the treatment
they deserve.”
Walter Reed is under the
jurisdiction of the U.S. Army,
with the daily operations
managed by the Medical Ser
vices Corps.
The g:sc Realignment
Commission (BRAC), in
2006, has recommended that
the hospital be disbanded at
its Georgia Avenue site and
re-located near the Bethesda
Naval Hospital. District Del-
Sec Walter Reed, pagc 8A
“I'm exaited to see what this
year will hold,” she said.
Smith also praised Conner's
stewardship nF the Miss USA
utle and ltcr handling of the
challenges she faced.
“ definitely learned a lot,”
Smith said of Conners tenure
as Miss USA.
Asked how she would behave
during her reign, Smith said:
“I'm going to be honest and
open.
Tim Vincent and N:mcy
ODell of “Access Hollywood™
hosted the pagczmt, which
made its return to Hollywood
afu‘r tWo years in Balamore.
During a brief onstage inter
view witfi Vincent and O'Dell,
Conner said her future plans
included writing a book, and
doing “correspondence work
and a little bit of acung.”
Other contestants whose
behavior ran afoul of the
ageant’s standards were not as
Fnrtunatc as Conner. Miss
S - g ISYOURCREDIT o
ATTENTIONS W NEEDOF A| ()
Let ANIC Help. We now offer pe
Credit Counseling Services.
CALL for your appointment TODAY! s
AT goPR R S, R v Eraellial
D xk‘éfi“‘ffi e s
'nw“, ‘W»fin%@iflg?;& Rl ITTY 7' 1I V.
oK Me R g %,:‘,‘-‘,;.vxf:"»gw& 3 fig;)w@,g:k oS ei T s 8 8 oD QITV L :
B “%%”‘f&;;‘&},*»r‘% Y g&“' ki L 1 g“}’ gt ~’; 1% %/ B & L3R -‘,4_‘_‘,’,,:{,l‘, R
St eAL XYY Ne, ek §Yo 19 R e 2 vé‘e&a;':;,_-,‘i‘; i :
dvd oRRI eTN faltel LA L it b taia ‘ri«u ot
eßseSl et SN 5 s T -
o SRR Tohgi ML 7 iR SR LN %
LA V LN
“Nk o : ISR BT L
:‘:““‘Z % : SR ;; o ]«_ef‘,}
eN . e
sg: - ; b
e ¥ K 3 37 : iR
e SR 3 / 4 i L
St ‘£ . \ -
e; & . : | | I ’ o
N
- S U
% ine Hansbe
< by Lorraine Hansberry
| ! i
B 3 % :,':‘%“f{; i 3
A st § -21
1 : ol i
,1;4« 3 N 8. , 2 ?{:’?} :
i 5 ’
5 - 5,5?"‘ |
B kT 1
o m -il
|; O e
« . s , 00l (‘?fi?‘
e e
&5 :
! a 8 TR
‘\(: é é bt &
E et
N general admission, $10;
. A . G':»‘f,r‘rfii 7
. of %y ST LSRR
: : }‘ s}*‘ ey
, - {f;—i,a»r,,; thivalid ASU ID.
b e Kv. L 7. LY 5 ~v‘" G
s R eRy
vick B ‘d;a ; 706-729-2416 for
- : b - 1 k. i L 2 .
f .;3 R R RPN
L 1 g e T ‘
’__»’f" s ‘ G - ‘i’t 3
1 k 3 e 4K
;i: = . i
e :‘1 .‘ f 4 l_l NF LA
S R R R L T R Nee S o ,"n :Axv(};qg TR TY e LAI ; ;
el it g b i
Névada USA Kade Rees lost
her ude after racy pictures of
her surfaced on the Internet,
and Miss New Jersey USA Ash
ley Harder resigned when she
got pregnant. Miss USA con
testants must not have ever
been married or given birth.
The Miss I%A Pageant
began in 1952 as a swimwear
promotion in Long Beach.
Contestants pay a sec to enter
and must win a state title before
a)mpcq'_lr_lhg for the Miss USA
crown. The winner gets to live
in a fancy New York apartment
for a year, during which shell
spend most of her time travel
ing as she represents the Miss
Universe Organization and
speaks out on %»rcast and ovari
an cancer awareness. She also
rets to represent the United
gmtcs in tfic worldwide Miss
Universe competition.
During the swimsuit compe
ttion, the beauty queens per
formed a synchronized strut
wearing blue, pink or lilac biki
nis before posing individually
for the judges. All the compet
tors also had brief walk-ons in
their evening gowns before the
finalists took their solo strolls
for the audience.
The audience was given the
opportunity to vote, selecting
RL‘l'X‘CG’l x\l(x)rc ()f Alaham.\ as
Miss Photogenic. The contest
ants voted Stephanie Trudeau
of Montana as Miss Ce ngenial
ity.
A panel of six judges were
tasked with determining the
winner: TV personality Jerry
Springer, Blow Out star
Jonathan Antn, “E' News co
host Giuliana De Pandi,
MTV's Vanessa Minnillo, Baby
Phat President Kimora Lee
Simmons and Los Angeles
Lakers owner Jerry Buss.