Heather N. Davis (communications '96), the newly crowned Miss Maryland, will be using her title to increase the visibility of her campaign against drug use by young people.

Seven years ago, as a senior at Annapolis Area Christian School, Davis created a drug awareness program that is still going strong. She called it LIFE: Loving Instruction for Elementary. The three-tiered program asks high school students to sign a contract agreeing not to use drugs, including alcohol and tobacco. These same students present anti-drug skits for area fifth graders, meet with them in one-on-one mentoring sessions, and begin pen pal relationships. "The principals of the elementary schools keep asking us to come back. They think we are having an impact," she says.

The Maryland Board of Education has given the new Miss Maryland permission to create similar mentoring programs in at least one school in each of the state's 24 counties. Should she become Miss America, Davis hopes to give the LIFE program nationwide exposure. Davis recently earned a master's in mass communication from Louisiana State University and plans to use her Miss Maryland scholarship money to pursue a doctorate in communication. Her goal is to teach at Virginia Tech.