Anne Elise Parks doesn't just talk about the weather, she wants to be part of it. TV meteorology is her chosen field, and her designated academic specialties at Mississippi State University are meteorology and broadcasting. Someday she may be the person to tell you that a hurricane is coming your way. And even if you hate the message, you'll love the messenger.

There was a time, barely a generation ago, when female meteorologists were rare on television. Stations had "weather girls" who were chosen for sheer beauty and weren't trained to do much more than point at a map.

When the Miss Teen USA Pageant began in the mid-1980s, Ukraine was not an independent nation, and many Americans couldn't find it on a map. Today, it's one of Europe's largest nations, and a key player in international beauty pageants. And Olga Litvinenko, who immigrated from there as a child, is competing at Miss Teen USA.

While Ms. Litvinenko is aware of these twists of history, she's obviously not awed by them. She grew up as an all-American girl, but in an increasingly cosmopolitan America where diversity and rapid change are to be expected.

"Olga" is still not the commonest of names among American girls. But it no longer seems terribly exotic. And the list of nicknames Ms. Litvinenko has acquired over the years have a comfortingly homey ring. "Olgs, Olgie, Olgalita, Olgster."

She's a rarity, a girl who got into pageants because of the movies. "I loved 'Miss Congeniality,' 'Beautiful,' 'Drop Dead Gorgeous,' and when the flier came in the mail ...'' Well, you can guess the rest.

Could she be in a pageant movie herself someday? Stranger things have happened in Hollywood.

Jena Sims sometimes seems almost too good to be true.

Almost.

She's famous for her charitable work. She founded her own nonprofit when she was still too young to drive, and she has been involved in more causes than we can count. There's a temptation to regard such a dedicated person as a self-promoter, but people who know this bubbly young Georgian can testify that she's a steadfast friend. When you've got trouble, she's the first person you hear from.

Well, the news is out. Everybody in Pasadena will notice.

Almost like a song

North Dakota is where they grow young men. Teddy Roosevelt went there as a dandified "weakling" and came back as the epitome of the American man of action. The nation and the world would never be the same.

Guess what else they grow in North Dakota? Taylor Kearns. (If you said "young women," we'll give you credit.)

Ms. Kearns may not change the world as much as Teddy Roosevelt did, but then again she might. Her state is due for a breakthrough year at Miss Teen USA.

Linguistically speaking, the term "Miss Teen USA" is a very American mix of the old, the new and the abbreviated.

"Miss," a term going back to 17th-century England, is a shortened form of "Mistress." It was long used as a term of respectful address to unmarried women. But since feminists began objecting to it in the 1960s, everyday use of "Miss" has largely disappeared. Young women are called "Ms." instead, whatever their presumed marital status. But "Miss" still thrives in the pageant world and is now heavily identified with it.

"Teen" is an abbreviation of the word "teenager," meaning a person aged 13 to 19. "Teenager" did not take hold in English until the middle of the 20th century, and "teen" was initially just a short word used by newspaper headline writers, but both terms are now firmly entrenched in everyday usage.

"USA" is obviously an abbreviation of "United States of America." It used to be spelled with periods -- "U.S.A." -- but the urge to abbreviate can be hard to satisfy.

And maybe it's a good urge. What if Miss Teen USA were known as Mistress Teenage United States of America? Too much.

Alphabetically speaking, Miss Teen USA winners are more likely to come from the bottom than the top.

The alphabetical list of contestants always begins with Miss Alabama Teen USA, who this year is Canden Bliss Jackson. It ends with Miss Wyoming Teen USA, who this year is Mollie Smith. In the middle is Miss Missouri Teen USA, who this year is Lauren Petersen.

What does that tell us about this year's contest? Nothing, really, but it will impress your friends.

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