DOVER, N.H. - Police and school officials have asked Miss New Hampshire to take her anti-smoking message elsewhere, because they say they weren't told a North Carolina-based 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.
The company is based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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 dustup 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.
TKPN
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