DOVER, N.H. (AP) – Police and school officials have asked Miss New Hampshire to take her anti-smoking message elsewhere, because they say they weren’t told a tobacco company was paying her to appear.
Dana Mitchell, the police department’s prevention coordinator, disinvited Emily Hughes in an e-mail Tuesday. Hughes, Miss New Hampshire 2006, was scheduled to take part in the Dover Coalition for Youth’s “Kick Butts” week starting Monday at Dover Middle School, according to Foster’s Daily Democrat.
Bob Oxford, executive director of the state pageant program, said R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.’s sponsorship of school presentations by Hughes is routinely disclosed and reported in media accounts. If it wasn’t done in this case, it was inadvertent, he said.
In an e-mail, Mitchell said Reynolds offers “lame and mixed messages” on tobacco and hands out literature describing smoking as “an adult choice.”
In telephone interviews, Hughes and Oxford said she, not R.J. Reynolds, writes scripts for the presentations, which stress the importance of making good decisions in a range of situations. Hughes, who has a master’s degree in elementary education, said she takes her cues from school officials before her appearances and often tackles issues such as bullying, peer pressure and the consequences of bad decisions.
She said she thought her dust-up with Dover officials was being blown out of proportion, but said, “It’s their choice, certainly.”
Oxford said the company pays Hughes $250 per presentation for as many as 20 presentations. He said the pageant program typically seeks $150 for her other appearances.
In his e-mail to Hughes, which was distributed to news organizations, Mitchell said, “I find it a little ironic that you are speaking to kids on making good decisions in tough situations, while you have made this choice to work for the tobacco industry.”
Last year, a number of public health groups, including the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association, called on state Miss America organizations to end their partnerships with Reynolds.
Company spokesman David Howard said 40 state programs are participating this year, however. He said feedback from educators around the country “has been very positive.”
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Information from: Foster’s Daily Democrat, http://www.fosters.com
AP-ES-03-27-07 1537EDT
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