(FORTUNE Magazine) – For critics, the latest Miss America pageant. . . is still a distasteful show that exploits ((the contestants)) as sex objects. . . The. . . pageants have tried to become more socially conscious, concedes Meg Hogarth, executive director of. . . MediaWatch. . . Heather Whitestone, of Alabama, the first-ever Miss America with a disability, is focusing attention on hearing impairment. . . Finalist Jennifer Makris, of New Jersey, has campaigned for tougher laws against child abduction. She says she was abducted by a stranger in 1983 while visiting. . . Louisville. . . Another finalist, Rebecca Blouin, 23, of Mississippi, made incest education her platform in the 68th annual show, saying she was molested for five years by a member of her extended family. . . But what some would see as another step in the right direction -- eliminating high heels during the swimsuit competition -- made many of the contestants unhappy. Heels make legs look longer and more shapely, they contend. -- From a news report in the Toronto Star.