Nation IN BRIEF / TEXAS : Teen Queen Rouses Fears, Drops Out

A teen-age beauty queen who failed to make the cheerleading squad at a Lubbock, Texas, high school withdrew from school and relinquished her crown after being accused of threatening the cheerleaders’ lives. Roni Lowe, Miss Teen Lubbock USA, allegedly declared in the lunch room: “All of the cheerleaders will disappear from the face of the Earth, and everyone will know who did it.” A parent of one of the students complained. After an investigation, school officials concluded the 16-year-old made the threat. She was suspended and given three months at an alternative campus for students with behavior problems. Miss Lowe instead quit school.