Miss America Is Facing Competition From Family Pain

LAS VEGAS (AP) - The nation's newest Miss America is a 23 year old brunette from Wisconsin who had long conversations with his family ruminating or not to take the jail time of his father to mail fraud in the heart of his campaign in the beauty contest.

While its competitors, including platforms pushed promoting health benefits of milk and environmental protection, Laura Kaeppeli said she wants children of incarcerated adults to feel less alone, to have much of a mentoring relationship with their parents as possible.

"There are many of you - and I was one of them - but he did not have to define" Kaeppeli told The Associated Press after winning the crown and scholarship $ 50,000 on Saturday night.

To win, she says beauty queens and politicians should remember that they represent all Americans, sang a song from the opera and strutted in a white bikini and black evening dress.

Her looks, intelligence and vocation impressed a panel of seven judges celebrity enough to give next year with the title.

"What happened with my father is not what my year will be focused on," she said. "It will be focused on the research forward and to move in the future because that's what my family did and that's what I encourage others to do as well."

Kaeppeli estimated that there are more than 2 million children with a parent in prison.

Kaeppeli father, Jeff Kaeppeli, told the AP he served 18 months in federal prison for wire fraud, one sentence of his daughter as she had started high school and college entrance.

Jeff Kaeppeli said when his daughter approached the family to make the personal subject chosen its platform, they have supported, even though they knew it would be a public debate.

"He taught us that God can turn anything if you let him," he said. "Laura is totally on board with this idea. It leaves the disk, and it inspired him this past year to be ready for that.

"We have seen a miracle," he said while waiting backstage at a news conference at his daughter, who called him her "best friend" and briefly took pictures with him on stage.

"I love you," he said to her as dozens of cameras taking pictures.

Miss Oklahoma Betty Thompson came in second, while Miss New York Kaitlyn Monte third.

Kaeppler presented itself to spectators of the contest, referring to her home state Green Bay, NFL Super defending champion Bowl.  If you look at Aaron Rodgers, call me, she said, referring to the superstar defender soccer team.  

It was good enough during the preliminary competition will be selected as one of 15 semifinalists, who moved on to compete in the finals in. It lasted through rate swimsuit, evening wear, talent and interview competitions, which saw reductions after each round.

She was asked minutes before being crowned Miss America is to announce its policy.  Miss America represents everyone, so I think the message to political candidates is that they are all the same, she said. And so in these economic times, we should be glad that America needs, and I think Miss America should represent the whole. 

The contest live on the East Coast viewers on ABC and moved to tape the rest of the week was the culmination of strany.Sobytie preliminary competitions and months of preparation for the owners of all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands.  Kaeppeler, of Kenosha, Wis., about 40 miles south of Milwaukee, said her crowning moment was a blur.

"I cried before my name was called," Kaeppeler said. "It was just surreal to this honor."

She replaces Teresa Scanlan from Nebraska, who won last year at the age of 17 years and plans to use her scholarship to pay for law school.

As the new Miss America, Kaeppeler will spend the next year touring the country talking to different groups and to raise funds for Children's Miracle Network, the official charity of Miss America.

She majored in music and vocal performances at private Lutheran liberal arts college in Kenosha, and said competition officials at first that it was planning to get a master's degree in speech and language pathology and become a speech therapist.

But everything changed when she became Miss Wisconsin.

Now she says she intends to use the scholarship money to hold a law degree and become a family lawyer who specializes in helping children of prisoners adults.

"I really feel that I was called upon to work in it," she said. "If I became Miss America or not, this is what I do in my career, no matter what."