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University psychology, journalism major and track team member, Endia Abrante will be competing in the preliminaries for the Miss
USA Pageant on Nov. 26.
Abrante poised for pageantry
■ umveibiiy junior IOOKS
forward to showcasing her
many talents at upcoming
beauty pageant
By Lisa Toth
Oregon Daily Emerald
Instead of her normal sweats and
track gear six days a week, Endia
Abrante will be slipping into a pur
ple chiffon, sequined evening gown
for a night in the spotlight.
Abrante will complete in this
year’s Millennium Pageant Nov. 26,
the state preliminary for the Miss
USA Pageant and the Miss Teen
USA Pageant.
The junior from Honolulu,
Hawaii, grew up admiring the com
posure, poise and intellect of previ
ous winners on television, and she
said those women sparked her in
terest in entering the contest.
Abrante said candidates will be
judged on poise, athleticism, intel
lect and personality. She said expe
riences traveling abroad, modeling,
acting and breaking records on the
track make her a well-rounded can
didate.
“Of course I want to be first. I
want to win, but I will be just as
happy with second, third or
fourth,” Abrante said. “Just to be in
it is an accomplishment and a new
challenge.”
Abrante’s family moved from
Hawaii to Eugene to support
Abrante’s schooling and dreams of
being an Olympic athlete. Abrante
and her roommate live in the same
apartment complex as her parents,
which allows her parents to attend
her track meets.
Her mother, Eleanor, said
Abrante was the first public school
athlete in Hawaii to receive a Divi
sion I track and field scholarship.
Abrante’s mother, a colon and
continued from page 1
posed to other meat turkeys, in
cluding bronze and white turkeys,
which are “more like dumb cows”
and don’t make very good pets.
Although several of Rose’s
turkeys are raised for meat, he con
siders the others his pets.
“If you don’t eat them, they’re
your pets,” he said.
Rose said he’s less affectionate to
ward the meat turkeys and would
never change his mind about turn
ing a pet into a meal.
“If it’s going to be meat, it’s meat
ovarian cancer survivor, said hei
daughter supported her during re
mission despite Abrante’s educa
tional commitments and Olympic
aspirations.
“She truly inspires me. She is al
ways on the go and always smil
ing,” Eleanor Abrante said.
Abrante is a double major in psy
chology and journalism with a mi
nor in Spanish.
“It seems like I do a lot, but to me
it is an everyday process, some
thing I have to do,” Abrante said.
This won’t be Abrante’s first shot
at fame. She appeared in a Sprite
commercial when she was 12, and
recently appeared in Haunted His
tory, a ghost story reenactment se
ries on the History Channel.
Abrante said she is confident her
muscular body, which she has de
veloped from rigorous athletic
training, will be reflected in the
swimsuit portion of the competi
tion. Abrante runs the 400-meter
dash for the Oregon track and field
team.
During the swimsuit portion of
the contest, Abrante will be model
ing a bright, exotic orange swimsuit
donated by one of her many
sponsors, Pineapple Kiss.
Preparing for the pageant,
Abrante has enjoyed being pam
pered in make-up sessions, nail,
pedicure and teeth whitening ap
pointments and learning how to
wax her eyebrows. Abrante said
she hopes viewers see her feminini
ty through what she described as
her tombovish appearance.
Lately she said she has been
practicing not falling in her four
inch heels.
“Poise isn’t something you al
ways get to see on the track,”
Abrante said, adding that she’s
“usually in that aggressive mode
competing.”
from the beginning,” he said.
Owning turkeys hasn't turned ei
ther Rose or Bush off of eating the
meat.
Turkey meat and a pet turkey are
completely different, Bush said. He
plans to have a traditional Thanks
giving dinner, but when it comes to
Tina, Bush said, “I would never eat
her.”
Bush and Rose agree that to own
ing a turkey requires a lot of space
for it to wander.
“I think the most important thing
would be that they have enough
room to move,” Rose said.
“Turkeys do roarti,” Bush said.
Maurice Greene, a family friend,
is on Abrante’s list of sponsors.
Green is the 2000 Olympic champi
on gold medalist and world record
holder in the 100 meters and the
4xl00-meter relay.Abrante said
contests, such as the Miss USA
Pageant, don’t perpetuate negative
stereotypes toward women. She
said the women answer intense
questions about society today.
“To say that the pageant exploits
women is not true, because they
have you show your poise and an
swer questions,” Abrante said. The
pageant “really showcases
women’s intellect.”
Shanelle Rose, a junior journal
ism major and Abrante’s roommate,
is confident Abrante is the best can
didate to represent the University
and Oregon at state and national
levels.
“She has an inner strength and a
confidence that most people don’t
have,” Rose said. “When she wants
something, she goes out and gets
it.”
Rose said she thinks Abrante is
one of the prettier contestants,
aside from being smart and
athletic.
“There is a poise necessary for
anyone putting themselves on dis
play, and she has that poise,” Rose
said.
Lizabeth Nold, director of North
west Pageants, Inc. in Oregon and
Washington, said the pageant has
offered young women the opportu
nity to launch careers in broadcast
ing, acting and modeling while re
ceiving guidance in runway
presentation, poise and speech
since it began in 1952.
This year’s state preliminary pag
eant will be held at the Embassy
Suites Hotel in Portland. The na
tional Miss USA Pageant airs Feb. 4
on GBS.
And they do fly as well, which is
why Rose recommends raising a
turkey in a rural area. Turkeys are
not forbidden in residential areas in
Eugene, as long as they are restrict
ed by a cage and do not exceed two
per residence, according to the city
code.
Bush said as long as they’re well
behaved, turkeys make good pets.
In tact, he has even considered get
ting a new one. But for now, he’s
coping with the loss of his latest
pet.
“She was kind of nice to have
around,” Bush said. "We sure miss
her.”
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