Gettysburg Times: Reporters Notebook (09/01/07)

If you missed this year’s Miss Teen USA pageant, you missed quite a show — particularly an answer given by one of the runners-up, Miss South Carolina.
The young lady, teenager Lauren Caitlin Upton, ran into a tough question during the finals of the competition.
A judge asked: “Recent polls have shown that a fifth of Americans can’t locate the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?”
Miss South Carolina’s response was classic.
“I personally believe, that U.S. Americans, are unable to do so because, uh, some people out there, in our nation don't have maps, and I believe that our education, like such as in South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like, such as . . . . and, I believe that they should, our education over here, in the U.S. should help the U.S., or should help South Africa, and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future. For our children."
A ringing endorsement for the South Carolina educational system.
— Scot Andrew Pitzer