After graduating in the summer of 1980, I knew I wanted my life to count.

I was always an overachiever.

But even after the first week, when Hart got out of the presidential race because of the Washington Post's threat to reveal a long-term relationship Hart had apparently been having with a prominent Washington woman, the media continued to embellish my past.

Shortly thereafter, some friends encouraged me to try out for the Miss South Carolina World beauty pageant. To my surprise, I won - and was sent to New York City to compete nationally.

Parents are the weak link in the chain when it comes to protecting their children.

If pornographers can hook adolescents when their hormones are raging, they know they'll have an ongoing consumer base for life.

Before the boat docked, however, he confessed because he was contemplating running for president, he couldn't separate from his wife. I believed him when he told me he faced a difficult choice between pursuing personal happiness and his political destiny.