Tape-delayed pageant will be aired
at 8 p.m. today on KGMB-9

By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Lisa Schienle, left, of MonaLisa Designs Inc. in Kaimuki,
fits Miss Universe Brook Lee in one of
her gowns for the pageant.

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Winner gets lot
more than crown

The new Miss Universe
will be chosen tonight

WANT TO KNOW WHO WON?

Star-Bulletin

There's a lot more to winning the Miss Universe Pageant than the title. Here are some prizes tonight's winner will receive.

From the Miss Universe Organization:

$40,000 salary

Luxury apartment in Los Angeles for the year

Personal appearance apparel

Mentoring program

CBS casting opportunities

Representation by the William Morris Agency during the year

Victory trip to Universal Studios Florida.

From various companies:

Andiamo: Luggage.

Chopard: 18K gold heart pendant with floating diamonds and watch with a diamond bezel.

Clairol: $10,000 scholarship plus hair products.

Coty: $5,000 cash and fragrance products.

Hawaiian Tropic: Hawaii vacation and sun-care products.

Hoya Crystal: Crystal trophy valued at $9,500.

James Hoyle (Gold Tree): Mixed medias valued at $10,000.

International Gem & Jewelry Show: Crown.

Jantzen: $10,000 plus wardrobe valued at $2,000.

Planet Hollywood International: $20,000 in Planet Hollywood stock.

Sacha London: Footwear.

Sony: Digital camera.

Sprint: Phone cards valued at $10,000.

Tova: Skin-care products and a year of services at its Beverly Hills spa.

Wolford: Legwear.

All contestants also get a slew of gifts from various companies.

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Official Miss Universe Web site.

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Faculty, students protest
Miss Universe Pageant

A group will display a sign saying,
'Education not exploitation'

By Lori Tighe
Star-Bulletin

Miss Universe contestants should not have to sing and dance in bikinis and pumps for educational scholarships or to promote Hawaii, say a small group protesting the pageant.

An ad hoc group of University of Hawaii students and professors will wave a 30-foot sign, "Education not exploitation," to show their opposition outside tonight's Miss Universe pageant at the Stan Sheriff Center on the UH Manoa campus.

"The state is using sex to sell Hawaii. We should all be concerned about that," said Ruth Dawson, UH associate professor of women's studies. "It's a bad message about Hawaii."

The protest materialized from about two dozen people on UH's Manoa campus e-mailing each other about their issues when the Miss Universe pageant landed in town about three weeks ago.

People of Hawaii have mixed feelings regarding the pageant, Dawson said. They are proud that Brook Lee won last year, but feel unsettled about the beauty contest objectifying women, she said.

"There's a widespread recognition this is not what we want to be happening in our state, and especially at our university," Dawson said.

"The pageant just reinforces the idea that women are to be judged by their looks."

Yet because of the state's promise that the pageant will help soothe Hawaii's aching economy, people haven't been as outspoken, Dawson said.

The university allowed free use of its Stan Sheriff Center at the state's request, said UH spokeswoman Cheryl Ernst. The university agreed as a "good citizen," Ernst said, because the arena is paid for by public tax dollars.

The university has not received "any great groundswell of comments about the appropriateness of this at UH," Ernst said.

"I was disturbed that nothing was being said about this," said Suzue Saito, 22, an undergraduate student majoring in Asian studies.

"I'm concerned this Miss Universe pageant is taking place at a university, a seat of knowledge and critical thinking."

So she joined the protesters.

They won't be able to stop the event, Saito said. And with final exams this week, she doesn't expect a big turnout.

"But we wanted to show some sign of resistance," she said. "The university isn't about beauty pageants or the objectification of women, but about knowledge. I don't want the dignity of UH to be tarnished."

Women are stripped of their dignity in the Miss Universe pageant, said Joshua Cooper, political science graduate student.

"I would never dis a woman for her choice to enter the pageant. It's a woman's choice 100 percent. But there are tried and true ways to better promote what their goals are."