MONDAY. JANUARY 30, 2006
NEWS
3A
STUDENT LIFE
Pageants provide life skills
Meolan True/KANSAI
Menan True/KANSAN
Erin Harveth, Tulsa, Okla. junior, sings opera as her talent in the Miss River Valley pageant. There are seven requirements for contestants, ranging from high school graduation and Kansas residency to being a citizen of the United States.
Erin Harveth, Tulsa, Okla. junior, re-applies eyeliner at intermission at the Miss River Valley 2006 beauty pageant. Harveth won the Miss River Valley pageant two weeks ago.
BY DEJUAN ATWAY
datway@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Every year as a girl, Carol To兰 rushed to the television to watch the Miss America pageant. She never imagined that one day she would be participating in competitions that would lead her down a similar path.
Toland, Iola graduate student, started to first compete as a freshman at the University of Kansas. While she is currently taking a break from competing to focus on graduate school, she has not ruled out the possibility of contending again. Toland said the amount of work and time commitment needed to perform well at the events could be exhausting.
Toland is among a handful of KU students who compete in beauty pageants. The contestants are judged from everything from physical fitness, community service activities to their critical platform idea. The platform is where they state a position on a significant issue in society. Most of the contestants have to change many of the aspects in their daily lives.
"The local competitions can be very competitive," Toland said. "I have seen girls compete all season long to win a title and not win a single competition. It can be a tough experience."
Tami Dreitz, Plains senior, who won the title of Miss Cheney Lake for the state of Kansas in Oct., knows the toll the beauty pageant circuit can take on participants.
"You can't have junk food, you have to take care of your body and you have to be dedicated to your platform issue," Dreitz said. "You can't just show up and pretend to be interested in helping people."
The contestants invest in many ways in every competition. Contestants delve into finances as well as emotional and physical investments to participate in pageants.
"It takes a lot of money to compete in these pageants; you pay for everything yourself,"
Dreitz said. "You pay for wardrobe, coaches; it can all add up very quickly."
Dreitz said the entire pageant system was made up of volunteers. Without community support and sponsorship from local businesses, many of the pageants could not take place.
Toland and Dreitz both said that the competitions had made them better people and would help them later in life. Dreizt said that even as difficult and uncomfortable as the swimsuit portion of the event is, she could see a benefit in it.
"It would be difficult for anyone to stand up there and do that," she said. "But the self confidence that I have gained from competing is invaluable and will help in my future career."
Toland also said she had used the competitions as a tool to help her learn how to separate herself in the job market.
"The biggest lessons I have learned are how to present myself in person as well as how to present myself on paper," she said. "In interview settings, that past experience can really help you."
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Dreitz and Toland both know the stereotypes that exist of participants in the events, and they are quick to dismiss those preconceived ideas.
Dreitz encourages any skeptics to visit a pageant.
"It is hard for people to see past the image of pageant girl, but it's been amazing how many wonderful and supportive friends I have met through the pageant system." Toland said. "It's nothing like the movies or anything like that."
"I encourage people to come out and see how talented many of the contestants are. Just come once and it will change your outlook," she said.
- Edited by Lindsey Gold
CORRECTION
+ An article in Friday's The University Daily Kansan needs clarification. The headline, "Vaccines found ineffective against flu virus," should have said two oral antiviral medications are ineffective
- A cutline in Friday's The University Daily Kansan contained an error. The outline accompanying the article "New season brings changes" incorrectly identified the athletes and misspelled a name. The athletes were, from left, Matt Baty, Don Czyz and Ritchie Price.
ON THE RECORD
- A 24-year-old homeless woman reported that she had been a victim of an aggravated battery that occurred between 2:30 and 3:20 p.m. Thursday at 1 Riverfront Plaza. The victim reported being struck in the head by a rock.
- Someone reported criminal trespassing between 1:10 and 2:13 p.m. Thursday in Murphy Hall.The suspect found in Murphy Hall had been issued a letter informing the person to stay out of the building.
♦ The KU Theatre for Young People will be performing "The Short Tree and the Bird That Could Not Sing" at 1 p.m. today in the William Inge Memorial Theatre in Murphy Hall. Tickets are $5 to $10. Additional performances will be held Jan. 31 and Feb. 1-8.
Ceramic artist Jim Shrosbree will speak at 6 p.m. today as part of the Hallmark Design Symposium Series at the Spencer Museum of Art.
STATE
Juveniles' sex life privacy in jeopardy
WICHITA - A federal lawsuit over Kansas Attorneys General Phill Kline's opinion requiring health care providers to report underage sex between consenting youths could help determine how much privacy adolescents have when it comes to their sex lives.
The Center for Reproductive Rights, a New York advocacy group, sued in 2003, contending that forced reporting of consensual sex discourages adolescents from seeking counseling or medical treatment.
On Monday, the federal civil rights case comes to trial before U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten in Wichita.
The issues in the case could set a legal precedent across the nation because federal courts have not dealt much with the rights of adolescents to informational privacy, said Bonnie Scott Jones, attorney for the Center
for Reproductive Rights.
In July 2005, Kline issued an opinion that said the state's 1982 reporting statue requires doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, social workers and others to report underage sex, even if it is consensual. He contended the reporting was required because such sex inherently involves abuse of a child.
Kansas argued before the appeals court that children have no right to privacy about information about their consensual sexual activity because sex involving someone under 16 is illegal in Kansas.
Kline's opinion differed from one issued in 1992 by one of his predecessors, Robert Stephan, who said health care professionals had some discretion in whether to report sexual activity.
The Associated Press