UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, April 30, 1993
7
Pamm Whitfield
Lori Minnix
Dianne Spies
Stephen Pingry / KANSAN
Bv Angelina Lopez
Special to the Kansan
With roses overflowing in her arms, she walks proudly down the long runway. The audience is cheering, cameras are clicking and the rhinestone tiara sitting atop her head glistens in the spotlight.
This is the fantasy of three KU students who will be competing in the Miss Kansas pageant June 10-12 in Pratt.
Pamn Whitfield was once told that altitude is determined by attitude. So as Miss Southern Kansas, Whitfield
Self-confidence for success
has held tight to the belief that she has the talents to reach the top when she returns to her hometown of Pratt for the Miss Kansas Pageant.
"I have to dream big," said Whitfield, a 23-year old senior major in psychology. "I have to believe that Miss America is achievable."
But Whitfield's level of self-confidence was not always high. She was introduced to pageants by a friend when she was a sophomore in college — a time, she said, when she was struggling with her identity.
"This program has given me more self-esteem than I ever thought possible," Whitfield said. "I feel sure of myself, and I'm not afraid to stand in
front of a panel of judges or a group of people.
Joining the pageant circuit boosted more than Whitfield's self-confidence — pageant scholarships and prizes also have padded her bank account.
The Miss America pageant offers more than $10 million among the local, state and national levels.
"The emphasis of the Miss America pageant is on higher education and intelligence rather than good looks," Whitfield said.
Involved in the community
To Lori Minnix, Miss KU/Lawrence, community and scholarship are the most important aspects of the Miss Kansas pageant.
Minixn, 24, who is from Norman, Okla., said she got involved in pageants three years ago as a way to pay for graduate school.
"The scholarship money I won paid for my books and tuition," said Minnix, who has a master's degree in Spanish literature. "It is a great way to put yourself through school."
The amount of time the winners spend working in the community is another reason Minnix said she became involved with the pageant. If she is crowned Miss Kansas, she will travel around the state as a representative for parental and community involvement in education, the social issue she chose for the interview segment.
In the Miss America Pageant and its preliminary state pageants, almost all the money is awarded to schoolships where students must use for their college educations.
Minix already supports that cause as a member of Volunteers investing in Talent and Learning, a volunteer group that works with children in
local schools. She spends two days a week teaching Spanish to children at Riverside Elementary School. The Spanish program, which Minnix designed, was not offered at Riverside when she arrived.
Un on the issues
When Diane Spies, Overland Park senior, decided to compete in the Miss Eastern Kansas Pageant for prize money to pay off some loans, there was one aspect of preparation that she hated — dieting and getting into shape.
Now, she will be competing to become the next Miss Kansas, and she knows that exercise is only a small part of preparing for the pageant.
"So little of the pageant deals with the physical," said Spies, a 23-year-old communications major. "Eighty-five
percent of it deals with intelligence. talent and public speaking."
The Miss Kansas pageant is made up of four events: a personal interview, swimsuit competition, talent display and evening grown competition.
For the personal interview part of the competition, Spies will have to stand in front of a panel of judges and discuss two topics: AIDS awareness, a topic she chose, and a second topic the judges will choose.
Spies, who does not have thousands of dollars to throw away, said she plans to rent an evening gown for $100 and borrow the other costumes from other Miss Kansas contestants.
Spies said she had found all the preparations, no matter how tedious, to be beneficial. She is more knowledgeable because of the news she has watched and the books she has read. And, although it was difficult, she said, she is finally in good shape.
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