Breaking Dawn Breaks Twilight Tradition

It seems that after four years of impressively emotionless acting and an incredibly disappointing script, the makers of Twilight have finally gotten it right. With interesting new characters, a new found chemistry between old characters, and a surprising and unexpected plot twist, Breaking Dawn Part 2 saves the Twilight Saga from a legacy of terrible chick flicks.

Bella observes her new vampire self for the first time.

The film begins right where Part 1 ended, with Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) becoming a vampire. Her improved senses are clearly depicted in somewhat of a predictable yet necessary way by zooming in on objects with high quality cameras and loud sound tracks of noises that should not be heard by the naked ear.

Along with these heightened senses, Bella acquires heightened emotion. The audience finally gets a taste of her intense relationship with Edward that they had only read about in the books. It would have been brilliant if the filmmakers purposely had had Bella be so unemotional prior to her becoming a vampire and then finally show some emotion after, to show and enhance her transformation, but it’s doubtful they put that much thought into it and Stewart’s improved acting was probably just an inevitable result of her 10 years in movies.

Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) also shows some positive progress in his acting, portraying less of the obsessive, overprotective, soulmate and more of the happy, loving, husband. This too could be a result of Bella becoming a vampire and therefore becoming less vulnerable, or Pattinson could have actually read the series by Stephenie Meyers and realized he had been playing his part wrong for years.

Another Twilight star, and Edward’s supposed competition, Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner), (obviously shirtless in one scene to appease the female audience) backs off, giving up on Bella and turning his attention toward her and Edward’s daughter, Renesmee (Mackenzie Foy). Renesmee is a beautiful half vampire child that the audience can’t help but love and Jacob imprints on. Imprinting is when a werewolf sees a person and knows that they are their soulmate and that they are perfect for each other. While the movie explains this, the makers were not fully able to depict Jacob and Renesmee’s relationship without it being slightly creepy as well as the novel does.

SPOILER: DO NOT CONTINUE READING IF YOU PLAN ON SEEING THIS MOVIE

The plot twist comes in a tense scene where the Cullen family and their friends are trying to avoid a fight with another clan of powerful vampires. Fighting breaks out, forcing Jacob to run away with Renesmee and multiple loved characters to be killed. Only after Twilight fans are almost in tears is it revealed that the whole 10 minute fighting scene had been a vision of one of the characters and none of it had really happened. This brilliant, gut wrenching scene may anger die heart Twilight fans for not following the book, but it really proves to the viewer that they actually care about the characters, and shows that Twilight is in no way predictable.

Bella, Edward, Jacob, and Renesmee relax after a close call with another vampire clan.

The movie ends with a touching scene in the place Edward and Bella fell in love, where Bella lets Edward read her mind for the first time. This, along with shots of pages from the novel, really tie all the books and movies together and provide for an unexpected emotional closing leaving the audience wondering why the movie makers couldn’t have made all the movies that good.

New Student With A Past Comes To BH

New students in school always have some sort of story behind them. Where they came from, why they changed schools, how it felt to leave old friends and have to make new ones. Chloe Moore, a new 11th grade student at Burnt Hills High School this year, has an especially interesting story, since she has experienced three types of schooling in the Capital Region; public, private, and homeschooling.

From the beginning of the interview, Moore made it clear that Burnt Hills has been her favorite school thus far. She claimed that for the first time in her life, she actually likes school. Perhaps this is because ever since she can remember, she has been constantly pressuring her parents into letting her go to a more public school.

“My parents home schooled me first because my two older sisters had bad experiences in public elementary school. So when my mom first tried it, she liked it and decided to homeschool me,” Moore explained, still a little bitter that she was stuck at home for more than half her education. She claimed she was not satisfied with homeschooling while her sisters were because, “They’re hermit crabs and they have no lives and they’re antisocial.”

When asked what she liked and disliked about homeschooling, Moore quickly confirmed that there were no pros. “Actually,” she corrected, “you get to wake up whenever you want. But I had no friends.”

In seventh grade, Moore finally convinced her parents to let her go to Mekeel Christian Academy. She liked learning with other kids and made more friends than she’d ever had, but after a few years she began to feel that 300 students, K through 12 was not a big enough school.”Everyone’s like family,” she remembered. “But everyone’s up your butt and in your business.”

After dealing with the same kids in her classes and the same teachers each year, Moore began to grow tired of the small, tight-knit community that was Mekeel. “I wanted a bigger school and I hated everyone there,” she said and while this may have been an exaggeration, her pastor father finally allowed her to go Burnt Hills her junior year.

From the first day of school, Moore could tell Burnt Hills was much different than Mekeel. She claimed it to be a “totally different atmosphere” and that, “the way the school worked was just different”. She was surprised and pleased with her anonymity and the lack of both teacher and student interference in her life that had been part of the reason she left Mekeel.

Even after only experiencing a couple months at her new school, Moore said that there were too many pros to name. “The only con,” she said thoughtfully, “would be its very intimidating.” Moore remembers being daunted by such a large school with a large student population on her first few days. “You could say [making friends] was a little easier at Mekeel because there was a lot less of them,” she confirmed. Moore is a natural people person, however, and making friends anywhere is easy for her.

One of the many advantages Moore has seen since coming to Burnt Hills, is an improvement in her grades. “BH is a little easier; not as high stress as Mekeel. And I like it better all around so it gives me more motivation to do well in school,” She explained. Perhaps Moore also believes that if her grades are poor, her parents may revoke her public school privilege.

Along with her life in school, Moore’s life outside the classroom has changed as well. Her early years were spent with only her family and church friends while recently her social life has been centered around her friends. She also explained that, “In Mekeel, kids only hung out after school, not on the weekends, because no one lived in the same area.” In Burnt Hills she’s been able to spend time with her friends much more because they all live in the district.

Although obvious from the interview, Moore confirmed her public school preference when she said she would definitely send her children to one. “ Why would I ever put them through private school, waste my money on that?” Chloe Moore’s story seems to provide evidence that homeschooling or private schooling are not necessary for a quality education or a good high school experience.

BH Stands Up for Stand Down

The concept of war veterans being homeless probably doesn’t even occur to most Americans. However, nonprofit organizations across the country have recognized this issue and have created a way of helping these vets in need with something called Stand Down.

    This program provides health services to veterans in need and also provides them with necessities that most people take for granted, like clothing and a toothbrush. The Capital Region held its Stand Down Day on September 29th, busing homeless vets from Albany to the Colonie Elks Club, with help from Shaker and Burnt Hills students on the 28th.

Veterans in need receive food, clothes, and medical
attention at a Stand Down

    When Burnt Hills Participation in Government students arrived at the clubhouse, they were excited to be missing school and not too concerned with what they were missing it for. However, when the event coordinator, Doug Williams, stepped onto the bus to give an overview of what the students would be doing, the atmosphere quickly became serious.

He talked about how when the troops that fought in the Vietnam War returned home, they were not welcomed warmly like soldiers are today, but instead received hate from people who opposed the war. He explained how this “messed many of the soldiers up,” after going through the horrors of war, they came home to find that all they had done wasn’t even appreciated by the country they were fighting for.

    American veterans have been through more than most people can imagine and Stand Down is a way of showing the vets that their service was appreciated. Williams went on to tell the students that last year, the medical students who give the veterans check-ups found that two of them had AIDS.  Imagine what they could have done for them if they had caught the AIDS sooner, said Williams.

    Jack Dahlin, a volunteer from Burnt Hills agreed that Williams’ speech really opened his, and the rest of the students’ eyes to the personal consequences of war . Dahlin said, “The coordinator really instilled a lot of great values in us before the volunteering, teaching us about the hardships these veterans were going through.”

    Dahlin then went on to explain what role he and his classmates played at the charity event. “I helped set up medical dividers with a group of students from BH-BL. Honestly, I thought the students did a tremendous job, setting up in a proficient and helpful manner,” he said.

    Aside from setting up dividers, volunteers also moved tables and chairs, sorted clothing, and made sandwiches for the next day’s affairs. BH students worked diligently and did everything they were told to do, definitely outworking the Shaker students, (who were spotted lounging and listening to music) despite having less volunteers.

    As a reward for their hard work, Brian Kane, the faculty advisor for the trip declared that all Burnt Hills volunteers would receive 35 points toward their community service assignment, 10 points higher than what they had expected. The real reward though, seemed to come in the form of giving back to the community. Dahlin confirmed this by saying, “Volunteering was such a great experience for me personally. It really felt like our group did a lot to better the health of veterans in need.”

    You can visit www.va.gov/homeless/standdown.asp for more information on veterans in America and for upcoming Stand Down days.

Local Graduate Caught in College Hazing Incident

When Anonymous walked out of the Glens Falls Civic Center a winner of the New York state high school volleyball championship, she had big plans for her college volleyball career.  Her four years on Gary Bynon’s team at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake  would have set her up for major success, had she not been  immersed in the epidemic that’s gaining popularity across the nation, hazing.

    The freshman at SUNY Geneseo was one of the eight underclassmen who attended a team party at an off-campus apartment on September 2nd where they were forced to do a series of tasks in order to pass what the upperclassmen called “initiation”, including taking shots while blindfolded and handcuffed.

    The night quickly turned ugly when one of the girls had to be taken to the hospital and treated for alcohol poisoning. It was there that the police questioned some of the players and were told the whole story- initiation included- by one of the freshmen, much to the rest of the team’s frustration.

    When asked about the girl who was hospitalized, Anonymous said that in one team task where each group had to drink a large pitcher of alcohol ,“she carried her team,” and “wasn’t forced by the upperclassmen to drink that much.” She also said that the whole night had somewhat of a “joking” atmosphere, that the older girls only did the hazing because they had it done to them, and that her team loves each other very much.

    Unfortunately the Geneseo volleyball team didn’t realize the consequences of what they believed to be a fun night and had their season temporarily suspended and officially cancelled on Friday. The eleven upperclassmen have been charged with hazing and providing minors with alcohol and will appear in court in October.

    Several of the girls on the team have stated that the whole ordeal was blown out of proportion, but SUNY Geneseo isn’t listening, making it clear that no form of hazing, no matter how harmless, will be tolerated.

   



All pictures from google images