Dream Job

The smile on Ryann Richardson's face was as bright as the gems on her tiara yesterday - just hours after she was crowned Miss Philadelphia. Richardson, 19, a sophomore at Philadelphia University, was still basking in the glow of winning a scholarship and the honor of going on to compete in the Miss Pennsylvania pageant. "It's not easy to describe the feeling of a Miss Philadelphia crown being placed on your head," said the jubilant Richardson, who said she hoped to make it all the way to the Miss America pageant.

Age: Not saying. Job: Forklift operator at the Pennsylvania Convention Center; a member of Laborers International Union of North America, Local 332. "I set up all the trade shows. I can do it from scratch. " Neighborhood: Wynnefield. North Philly gal: Reared at 20th and Poplar. "I grew up a total tomboy. I just happen to love high fashion and stuff like that also. " It's not easy: "I wind up going on a lot of dates where men perceive you to be one way because of how you look .

Quit rubbing your eyes. Stop wiping your glasses. Yes, it is St. John's and Villanova playing a Big East basketball game. And, no, that is not Looie or Rollie on the sidelines. That's not Carnesecca, in some wild sweater sliding along the floor on his knees, and it's not Massimino, his hair on end and his shirttail hanging out, screaming for mercy from the refs and a basket from his players. When Villanova (5-4 overall, 1-2 conference) hosts St. John's (7-4, 2-1) tonight at 9 at duPont Pavilion, Rollie Massimino and Lou Carnesecca won't be the coaches.

The struggle to cope with hard times has hit many of us. In February, the jobless rate swelled to 6.5 percent as nearly a half- million Americans joined the ranks of the unemployed. More people lost their jobs in February than during any month since the 1981-82 recession, the Labor Department has said. The Daily News will periodically introduce you to Philadelphians who are among the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have been thrown out of work. NAME: Steve Lichtenstein.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show (3 p.m., NBC10) - Jon Hamm; Natasha Bedingfield performs. The Oprah Winfrey Show (4 p.m., 6ABC) - Julia Roberts. How I Met Your Mother (8 p.m., CBS3) - Robin is offered her dream job. Chuck (8 p.m., NBC10) - Chuck's father scrambles to save his son as the Ring closes in on Operation Bartowski. 24 (8 p.m., Fox29) - Time is running out for Jack Bauer in the two-hour series finale. Rules of Engagement (8:30 p.m., CBS3)

In 1981, after having left a dream job as director of a large division of women's programming at a private Midwestern university, I went to work as an executive in a major financial trade association serving primarily white men. I was recently separated, my husband unemployed and the first of our five children starting college. I needed the money. The second week on the job, it was announced that a woman had been raped in the parking garage we used and we were discussing the need for precautions.

John Quinn never had given an employer a halfhearted effort. At age 59, he wasn't about to start. Mostly because he felt his strength was being sapped, Quinn has relinquished the dream job he held for two seasons - football coach at Roman Catholic High. "I told (Roman's administrators) about a week before we played Roxborough (on Thanksgiving) that I probably wasn't going to keep coaching," Quinn said. "They asked me to think it over for a few weeks . . . "I still reached the same decision.

DR. STERN DIAGNOSES BOB BARKER Howard Stern, king of all trash mouths, doesn't buy the accusations in Dian Parkinson's $8 mil lawsuit against Bob Barker in which she claims that the game show host required her to give two extra oral sexual performances weekly. But Stern says that "The Price Is Right" host at 70 is much too old for that kind of action. There goes the gray-haired vote if mighty-mouth does run for guv of New York. MORE ORAL ACTIVITY Some collector put money where Napoleon's mouth had been and picked up the dental set used to clean and remove Bonaparte's teeth for $93,570 yesterday.

For four decades, Samuel A. DeLeo had a job that he hardly considered work. Mr. DeLeo, of Philadelphia, who died Thursday at age 93, was a stadium usher, starting with the old Philadelphia Athletics at Connie Mack Stadium. He ushered for the Phillies at Connie Mack, then followed them to Veterans Stadium. He ushered for the Eagles at Franklin Field, then followed them to the Vet. It was a dream job for a sports fan, a description that did not do justice to Mr. DeLeo, according to his daughter, Eleanor Marascio.

Alex Wasilewski, computer buff, thought he had a dream job selling at the Egghead Software store in Deptford, N.J. But less than four weeks after he began his job, Egghead fired him - because, Wasilewski charges, he had helped expose a previous employer's discriminatory practices. In a suit filed against Egghead on Thursday in Camden federal court, Wasilewski said his firing stemmed from his role in a federal complaint against Holiday Spa health clubs for allegedly discriminating against African Americans seeking memberships.