Las Vegas- Miss Nevada's controversial pro-Yucca Mountain stance was sparked by "ruthless" judges involved in the Miss America Pageant interview process, according to her mother.
"They really nailed her on the interview," said Lena Wosik. "The judges were ruthless."
In Thursday's interview, Miss Las Vegas Crystal Wosik, who won the Miss Nevada title, was asked by one of the preliminary judges about the planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
Wosik replied, "It has to go someplace, and that was the best-built facility in the country," Nevada's state pageant director, Nancy Ames, told the Reno Gazette-Journal.
And if people die?
"We just have to take one for the team," said contestant Wosik, according to Ames.
Wosik's mom, an orthodontist assistant, said the interviewing process leaves no room ''for middle ground. You have to have strong beliefs, and they were putting her on the spot."
"It's a tragedy that we have nuclear waste, but it's got to go somewhere. I'm sure she'll get hate mail. I felt they should have been asking about education, not how she feels about strippers."
Her daughter, a lyrical dancer who attends Orange Coast College near Los Angeles, chose cancer recovery as her platform after her brother Bradley, 19, was diagnosed with a rare bone disease three years ago. He is in remission.
The Miss America Pageant is getting the close attention of more than fans and media. Metro has had a special Homeland Security unit at the Aladdin, the host hotel, all week. Sheriff Bill Young said the unit is on the alert for animal rights and environmental groups "and, God forbid, anything worse." He added, "We're providing a buffer zone so we don't have an embarrassing national story." ...
