To see Taylor Kidder’s review, click here.

The latest in this McDonalds cash-cow of the art industry is “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.” Does this movie hold up to the exceptionally high standards set forth by Meyer’s previous masterpieces?

The first thing one might fault “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” for is the lackluster writing, even by the standards of the rest of the series. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” is a pure character drama about the main characters, Bella and Edward, getting married. While on their honeymoon, the two are shocked to learn that when you have unprotected sex you risk pregnancy.

The rest of the characters in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” have to work together to keep Bella alive until she can give birth while defending the fetus from a raving group of pro-choice werewolves. The term “defend,” unfortunately, here means “talk angrily and have dramatic stare offs with each other.”

The story of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” is predictable and bland. The drama is based on the question of whether or not Bella can survive and whether or not the werewolves will attack to abort Bella’s fetus. The drama is never built up, though. The problems are essentially introduced, left to stew a few scenes and then resolved.

However, even if any of the drama were developed, it would not matter. In order for drama to be successful, the audience needs to be attached to the characters. Calling the characters of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” two dimensional would be burdening them with a superfluous axis. The characters can effectively be summed up as “Mary Sue of Stephanie Meyer,” “People who love the Mary Sue of Stephanie Meyer,” and “People who still love the Mary Sue of Stephanie Meyer, but disagree with the other people who love the Mary sue of Stephanie Meyer.”

The majority of the film features Bella on a couch talking to other people on the couch, which means one watching better enjoy exposition, because, as any English teacher will say, it is much easier to tell than to show. It does not, however, make for a better story.

There are two action scenes in the entire movie, both of which are as comprehensive as anything made by David Lynch but without the artistry. Not only did they take place in a dark, woodsy setting, there is almost no distinction between which werewolves are allies to Bella and which are not. As well, the action is too quickly shot and spread out for anything of significance to be discerned. Not that it matters, seeing as how they both fights are actually determined by secondary events outside of the fight scenes.

The actors of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” are as effective in bringing the piece to life as the cardboard cutouts advertising the film. The inflections are never right, the pantomiming is nonexistent and one could count the emotions portrayed in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” on one hand.

The only things more emotionless than the human actors are the CGI actors. “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” has the effects budget one would expect from a prime time telivision show. The werewolves look so unbelievable and silly, puppets would have been improvement, and the effects used for the vampires’ powers seem like blatant copyright infringement of the ABC sci-fi series “The Six Million Dollar Man.”

Overall, “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1” is a thoroughly unenjoyable movie. Perhaps the worst part is that it goes beyond being horrible. It is boring. Even the ironic humor one could derive from the other Twilight movies does not appear in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1.” This movie was the worst use of eight dollars in my life.

To see Shelby Steichman’s review, click here.

Photos by Abby Gillam/The Budget photo editor

Photos by Barbara Tholen/The Budget adviser

By Lily Abromeit

OSAWATOMIE — The small town of Osawatamie, Kan., grew in population Tuesday when President Barack Obama visited.

Police stood on every corner with police tape blocking off parking spots and entrances throughout the normally quiet town. Helpful signs like “Presidential Speech Parking Area” pointed people in the right direction as they streamed in from across Kansas. One house hung signs on the front porch saying, “Welcome to Oz, Mr. President!”

The normally red state turned a little blue for the day.

American flags decorated the storefronts of a few downtown shops. Just outside Osawatomie High School, crowds of people, freezing but excited, lined the sidewalk.

Osawatamie resident Nicki Tschantz, was first in line to get into the building for the 1 p.m. speech. As it neared 10:30 a.m., she said she had been in line since 6 a.m. Tschantz waited for 16 hours on Saturday and Sunday to get her ticket to hear the speech and reacted enthusiastically to the news that the president would be coming to her town.

“I almost peed my pants,” she joked.

Further back in the long line, Paola resident Quincy Garrett said he was waiting to “see our first African-American president, in person.” From Obama’s speech on Tuesday, Garrett was hoping to hear the president’s plan for the state of the economy but mostly, Garrett was “just looking forward to hearing him.”

Teacher Patty Leddy said she didn’t really expect to hear anything from Obama Tuesday.

“It’s just going to be such an experience that my mind is going to be going in a thousand places,” Leddy said. “I’m going to be taking pictures and just enjoying the minute.”

Leddy planned on re-watching the speech Tuesday night to hear what the president had to say.

Also in attendance on Tuesday was LHS senior J’Qui Audena and LHS freshmen Sadie Keller who both enjoyed the speech and said it met their expectations.

“[Obama] covered everything that I’ve been thinking about and everything debate has been going on about,” Keller said. “I thought it was a great speech.”

President Obama’s trip to Osawatamie on Tuesday was no coincidence. In 1910, president Theodore Roosevelt visited the same town to talk to Kansans about his idea of “New Nationalism.” On Tuesday, the location of Obama’s speech was not the only thing that the current president had in common with Roosevelt.

Many of the things Obama spoke about Tuesday were similar to Roosevelt’s points in his 1910 speech. Obama spoke to cheering crowds of his plan to pull people together to help re-form the middle class.

“This is a make-or-break moment for our middle class, and all those fighting to get into the middle class,” Obama said.

Quoting statistics, Obama said that “kids that in this country [are told], work hard and you can get into the middle class.” But, Obama said the opportunity for these kids to get into the middle class is becoming more difficult.

“Over the last few decades, the rungs on the ladder of opportunity have grown farther and farther apart,” Obama said. “The middle class has shrunk.”

According to Obama, the American economy suffers because too many people don’t have an equal opportunity for a successful life and “this kind of inequality…hurts us all.”

Obama said success of the United States economy and the success of America comes from the people, as one.

“In America, we are greater together… where everyone gets fair shot [at being successful], and everybody does their fair share,” Obama said.

Prizes were given to students who brought canned goods. Sports created unique skits and performed them in the gym. Skits include the Salsa boys, Miss LHS, multiple performances by Pom and dancing by all the winter sports teams.

Once a teacher gives you a due date of a project, set your own due dates earlier. For example, if you have three weeks to read a book, write in your planner that its due in two weeks. This will give you more time to embellish the analysis, decorate a poster board, etc.

On days where you have no homework, use your free time to get ahead. It may not be possible in all classes to get assignment ahead of time, but in the classes where you do have this luxury, use it to your advantage. For some classes you can know the next chapter you must read and take notes on, or you can work on a long-term project.

Make flashcards to memorize important terms as you learn them. If the lessson is divided into sections, utilize this, and quiz yourself at the end of each one. By the time you have to study for the test, you will already have an outline of all the material before you begin intensely studying.

A way to simply avoid procrastinating is to begin with the largest element of the project. If you are assigned a two-part project, start with the part that you find most challenging.This will allow you to work on your favorite part as the due date approaches.

For midterms and finals, you can avoid stress by staying organized by following the schedule either you or your teacher created. If you keep all of your notes and terms throughout the entire semester studying for these can be made simple by reviewing the essentials you had previously conducted.

Perched on buildings, prone across a cherry picker and board-like on a tree branch, junior Ian Schneck has embraced the planking fad.

Over time, fads may come and go, but Shneck is committed to this one from head to toe.

Plankers lie horizontally across objects or the ground, heads down and arms glued to their sides. Having a photograph of the planker posted on the internet is an integral part of the game.

Schneck’s planking has begun to catch the attention of students through Facebook. He said he was inspired to start planking when his friend, junior Porter Burdett, started planking.

“It inspired me to go along with one of the first fads that I’ve been apart of,” Schneck said.

Although this fad has become less popular, Schneck still continues this act.

“A lot of people stopped doing it, but it’s still interesting,” he said.

Schneck takes advantage of any planking opportunities he can get.

“[I usually plank] whenever I’m around someone with an iPhone,” Schneck said

Schneck says his most impressive plank was on top of the Lawrence sign at the train depot downtown.

The history of planking is brief, but developed quickly. The game made news in September 2009 when seven doctors and nurses working at the Great Western Hospital in Swindon, England, were suspended for playing the lying down game while on duty. On May 15, Acton Beale, a 20-year-old man, plunged to his death after reportedly planking on a seventh-floor balcony in Brisbane, Australia.

Other planks have been more fun than danger. On Sept. 2, Dwight Howard, a basketball player for the Orlando Magic, and about 100 of his fans planked in Beijing.

Schneck is just one of the many people continuing the planking fad and catching the attention of the public.

What activities are you involved in at LHS?
I signed up for a bunch of a clubs, but I haven’t been able to attend any meetings since I started the play. Clubs require time, and I have a pretty big homework load.

What made you decide to write a book?
My parents are extremely artsy. I write my own songs, and one day I decided to expand a theme that I explore in my songs and put it in a book.

What is your novel about?
It’s more of a short story, but I am trying to add more. It follows a teenage girl whose mother left when she was very young. In an attempt to reconnect with who her mother was, she gets into gardening. Then one day, her mother sends her a letter and starts talking to her a lot. The rest is a secret.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
I want to be an English teacher in Japan or a music therapist with kids and teens here in the States. I want to do anything where I get to interact with younger people on a daily basis.

Where do you hope to go to college?
I haven’t really thought about which college I want to go to. KU is a contender. I guess we’ll see!

What is your favorite restaurant?
Homemade. My grandmother and mother are fantastic cooks.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
I want to go back to the Philippines. It was really neat to talk to my Filipino relatives and see what a third-world country is like.

When did you learn there was no Santa Claus?
I don’t really remember. I don’t think I ever REALLY believed a bearded man was breaking into my house, eating cookies, and leaving presents.

What is your proudest accomplishment?
Waking up every morning and going to sleep every night. It takes a lot of motivation to do the little things – homework and such – because they don’t stay little things for long.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, with whom would it be and why?
I don’t know if I would want to trade places! I’m pretty happy with my life. I guess I would switch with someone who has lived a life totally opposite mine – someone who is everything I am not.

What is your favorite television show?
I don’t have cable, so I’m not up to date with television, but I like to watch Community when I can. I think it has an awesome cast.