Law Says It's Her Job Or The Crown -- If She Wins Miss America Pageant, Miss Oregon May Lose Federal Post

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - Miss Oregon dreams of becoming Miss America, but Uncle Sam may spoil her plans.

Carolyn Ladd, a lawyer with the federal government, will be among the contestants for the Miss America pageant tonight in Atlantic City, N.J.

But there's one problem. A law that took effect this year bans speaking fees for federal employees. If Ladd wins, she may have to make a choice: the crown or her job as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board.

Ladd earns $30,000 a year at the NLRB.

"What Miss America does is to be paid for public speaking appearances. She earns a six-figure income," she said. "This would have no connection to my job. I can't pull any strings. People would not be paying to influence me" at the labor-relations board.

Ladd became an attorney in the inspector general's office of the NLRB after graduating from the University of Oregon Law School last year.

She won the Miss Oregon contest in July.

The new ban on honoraria apparently doesn't cover money won in contests, according to aides to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the judiciary subcommittee that on Thursday approved a bill revoking the ban. But if left in place, the ban would bar Ladd from taking money for speaking appearances as Miss America.

"The issue is whether Carolyn Ladd could accept honoraria and at the same time be an employee of the National Labor Relations Board. The answer is she could not," said David Parker, a spokesman for the agency.

The revision passed by the subcommittee Thursday has the support of the White House and congressional leaders of both parties.

It would allow employees earning less than about $101,000 to take honoraria, retroactive to Jan. 1. Those earning between $74,000 and $101,000 in federal pay would have to report honoraria they took. No honoraria could exceed $2,000 apiece.

Bernard Levine, Ladd's boss, said she had been on leave without pay from her job since early this summer and was expected to return to work this month unless she wins in Atlantic City.

Ladd planned to seek a master's degree in business administration if she won the $35,000 scholarship prize for Miss America. She's been a part-time student of labor law at Georgetown University, and has talked about writing a master's thesis on job discrimination against women.

The lure of the prize money brought Ladd into the pageant despite her objection to its swimsuit competition. "I just wanted to walk fast and get off the stage and change into my next outfit," she said after Wednesday night's preliminary swimsuit competition.

Is the swimsuit romp an anachronism?

"I believe that in the future it will be phased out. . . . I hope it is," she answered.

However, Ladd's beauty titles could provide a handy platform for one of her future goals. She wants to be Oregon's governor.