"Hey! It's not a beauty pageant. It's a scholarship program."

In case you missed Miss Congeniality, the ongoing joke was that Miss America was not a beauty a pageant, but a scholarship program. This is actually the policy that the real Miss America Organization firmly plugs:

The Miss America Organization is one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women...

Participating in the Miss America system not only helps you pay for college and prepare for a career, it also provides an opportunity to gain additional life experience, working on issues of importance to society, enhancing your personal and professional skills and developing your performance-related and other talents.

Well, not according to Ashley Wood and a number of other winners who have found it nearly impossible to claim their scholarship prize money: Winners Cite Broken Promises in Pageants .

Apparently the Miss America Organization is a bit stingy when it comes to handing out the cheques. Several winners have not been able to access their prizes, and have even gone so far as to take the issue to court.

Miss America hasn't had a good couple of weeks, after the Iraq question. More bad press isn't going to help, especially when their scholarship program is one of the few elements that can't be completely torn to shreds. It can be torn to bits a little bit though, namely by pointing out how insane it is to make these women jump through hooks if only for scholarship money.

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