It says further up on this page that she went to Boston University which is one of those schools in the "Most Competitive" categories. That means that her IQ is likely higher than yours and mine combined. I'm pretty sure they don't have a looks section on the college application to get in there. I sure as hell couldn't have gotten in. On her page for facebook it says she's also in the process of getting a meteorology degree. So just how many credentials does a person need to have to satisfy you? I think you're ruling out the possibility that someone can be smart and beautiful at the same time. Granted, it doesn't happen often but it certainly happens! If TWC found someone who is both we should be so lucky!
You missed the point
ENTIRELY. I never said she wasn't smart, she probably is smarter than me when it comes to meteorology. Great! I'm just an amateur anyway. I commend and appreciate her for wanting to earn her meteorology degree to further her education in the field. My point was TWC doesn't give a crap about how smart she is, their concern is whether or not she has the sex appeal to hold/build an audience just like the rest of the female OCMs. Having a degree and being knowledgeable to weather/meteorology is a bonus for them.
If you want a perfect example of this, look at three of our veteran female OCMs: Kelly Cass, Kim Cunningham (Perez), and heck even Vivian Brown. All three have changed appearances, not modestly, but
radically. Kim is the best example of the three, she's hardly recognizable to me at times.
Also, I don't want to make it out to seem like this only happens at TWC, it happens on a local level as well. At our CBS affiliate we used to have a female weather forecaster who was the chief met named Dagmar Midcap. She was voted
"Sexiest Weathergirl in Atlanta" and boy did that station run on that sex appeal angle to drum up ratings. I guess I can't blame them, they were obviously desperate since they were (and still are today) in the toilet with their ratings. They started plastering up numerous billboards and TV ads all based on how she look instead of what she knew. After she left, they had to find their new Dagmar Midcap to bring in ratings and they found her (quickly) with Markina Brown. Once again, she met the eye candy criteria, her meteorological credentials were just a bonus. Just like Kyla, I don't doubt Markina's expertise in weather, but the ad makes it clear that shouldn't be the only thing you should love about her.