» Miss USA Tours Submarine North Carolina

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (NNS) -- Chelsea Cooley, Miss USA 2005, toured construction of the Virginia-class submarine North Carolina (SSN 777), named after her home state, at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard July 13.

Cooley is the first woman from North Carolina to be named Miss USA in 54 years. During her visit to the shipyard, she also went aboard the submarine Texas (SSN 775) and met with Sailors from North Carolina's pre-commissioning unit, as well as shipbuilders and submarine veterans from the state of North Carolina.

"It was so amazing having the opportunity to experience something like this,” Cooley said. “I had never seen a submarine before, much less been able to take a tour of one. It was also an added bonus to be in such wonderful company of Sailors, veterans and North Carolinians.”

» Freedom at the stroke of midnight

Miss Tourism Contestant is Beautiful and bored

TRAJAYA, MALAYSIA

Miss Tourism Ethiopia Dina Fekadu Mosissa is counting the hours to Monday, when she will be released from quarantine and joins the Miss Tourism 2005 pageant in Miri. The 21-year-old university student has been at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport quarantine center since Wednesday, when she entered the country without a yellow fever vaccination certificate. "She will be released from quarantine at midnight on Sunday, but will remain inside the centre until her flight to Miri on Monday afternoon," said Selvam Shanmugam, a lawyer acting on behalf of the pageant organizers. MOSISSA: Will fly to Miri on Monday afternoon. "She’s still keen to join the pageant. I have spoken to her a couple of times and she is well. "Her only comment is that she is feeling bored, but otherwise she finds the hospitality shown to her very good." Selvam said Health Ministry officials had been very courteous in dealing with Mosissa and with the contest organizers.

» Future beauty pageant contestant makes her boxing debut
By Brice Cherry Waco (TX) Tribune-Herald staff writer

At 17 years old, Caroline Cruz is already a modern-day woman. Cruz is beauty and the beast all wrapped up in one, equal parts pugilist and pageant girl. Later this year, the Connally High School senior will take part in the Miss Latino Pageant of Waco, hoping to wow the judges in the evening gown, swimsuit and interview competitions. She's hoping to impress the judges this weekend, too, only with jabs, hooks and uppercuts. Cruz was scheduled to make her amateur boxing debut late Thursday night at the Waco Convention Center in opening-round action at the Games of Texas. “When I was younger, I was a tomboy,” Cruz said. “I was always into everything, played a lot of sports. All the other girls were in cheerleading, drill team, stuff like that. But I just wanted to play sports.”

Of course, a lot of girls play sports, but not everyone laces up a pair of gloves and takes their athletic aggressions out on an opponent's face. Cruz's foray into boxing began innocently enough, as she was simply on a quest for a heart-pumping workout. She heard about Luis Suarez's kickboxing class at Waco's Iron Horse Gym, and decided she'd give it a try. “A lot of women will do kickboxing to stay in shape, because it's the ultimate cardio workout,” Suarez said. “I get a lot of women who come in to get in shape for spring break or weddings and then they leave. Its hard, hot work.”

Only Cruz didn't leave. A volleyball player for the Connally Lady Cadets, she worked out long and hard, catching the attention of many of the young men training in the gym's weight room and adjacent boxing area. “Since I was the only girl, the guys would always pick on me, saying, ‘She's not tough enough. She can't take a hit,'” Cruz said. “So we got into the ring and I showed that I could do it.” “All these guys were talking trash to her, ‘you need to get in the ring, girl, we'll see how you look,'” Suarez said. “So we got the headgear on her, she moved around and then she got hit. The guy she was sparring with was a professional boxer. He banged her, but she hung in there.” That impromptu performance impressed Suarez, who has trained dozens of fighters. He said that he's seen many a potential pugilist come through who entered the ring energized, only to shy away once the contact arrived. “If they want to learn (to box), they can learn, but some of them are not meant to box and to fight, because they can't take the punches,” Suarez said. “Once you've proven you can take the punches, you can deal with it. If you take a hit, you've got to learn to react. A lot of people will get mad and forget everything they were taught.” When her sparring partner's punches came flying her way, Cruz didn't get mad. If anything, she greeted them with a grin. “(The hits) don't bother me during the fight, but afterwards I feel them,” Cruz said. “But in the ring, the guys will hit me on top of my head and I'll just start laughing. They're like, ‘Why are you laughing?' and I'm like, ‘I don't know.'”

Cruz finds it difficult to describe the appeal of boxing. From the outset, she felt right at home in this world of bobbing and weaving, of flying fists and bloody noses. “It's everything,” she said. “The speed, the hitting people. It's fun and exciting. I don't know.”

“She liked it immediately,” Suarez said. “I guess it was the rush. I really don't know what makes some people fight.” Cruz's initial sparring sessions led to Suarez inviting her to compete at the Games of Texas, which includes a novice division for boxers with 10 or fewer fights under their belts. Though there was some initial wariness by her parents, eventually Cruz received permission and agreed to fight. “Her momma (Adela Roark) was like, ‘Hell no,' because she's got braces and she does the beauty pageants,” Suarez said. Cruz typically trains several hours a day, working the sessions around her job at Bush's Gold-n-Crisp Chicken and a dual-credit summer course she's taking at McLennan Community College. Then there's the beauty contest. A cousin of Cruz's participated in the Miss Latino pageant last year, and had such an enjoyable experience that Caroline decided to follow in her footsteps. “I think it'll be fun,” she said. Though this beauty contestant may put the sweet in sweet science, once she steps into the ring, she's not afraid to get tough. “When I first asked my manager for some time off to take up kickboxing, he told everybody at work,” Cruz said with a smile. “So now every time I go up there it's, ‘Don't mess with her. She's a boxer.'”

»Kudos & Did You Knows:

- Did You Know that Big Brother Edition Six cast member Beau Beasley judged this year's Miss South Florida USA Pageant? Truly a “fashionista”, Beau was also a member of the Travel Channels “Get Packing” which was produced out of The Hollywood Production Center. You’re friends at Miss Florida USA are pulling for you to win Big Brother, Beau!

- Did You Know that Shauna Pender, Miss Florida America 2003 and accident victim who has made an amazing recovery will be featured this Friday, July 22, on the nationally televised Montell Williams Show? Check your local listings for the time and channel in your market. Shauna you are an inspiration!

»Pageant News Wanted!

Are you a titleholder or at large delegate who is making appearances or doing good things in the community? We would love to tell all of the Miss Florida USA Family your story. Send pictures and updates to telair@aol.com as we feature everything Miss Florida USA on Friday’s at Faces & Places.

»Alumni News Wanted!

If you know of any Miss Florida USA alumni in the news please drop us an email to feature them in future articles. Email all info to info@missfloridausa.com! Until next week here to good pageantry!

PICTURE OF THE WEEK!

Some crowning shots are better then others.

This one is priceless!

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