Miss Oregon captures Miss America 2002 beauty crown

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Miss Oregon Katie Harman, a collegian who aspires to a career in bioethics, was crowned Miss America 2002 on Saturday night.

Harman, 21, outshone 50 other women in a pageant that celebrated patriotism and mourned lives lost in the terrorist attacks less than two weeks earlier.

As it was, the three-hour competition was two parts beauty pageant and one part telethon, raising money for the Sept. 11th Fund, a charity set up in the wake of the attacks.

Host Tony Danza opened the live telecast with a somber monologue, saying contestants and pageant organizers decided to go ahead with the pageant while paying homage to the victims and tapping into the nation's resurgent patriotism.

"We don't carry on to make less of what happened. We carry on to make more of it, and to add resolve to our nation's voice," Danza said.

Miss Massachusetts Abbie Lynne Rabine was first runner-up and Miss Tennessee Stephanie Culberson was second runner-up.