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If Kevin Willmott says that Lawrence is a good place to make movies, you should probably believe him. He's made four films here in the last ten years.

But you don't have to take his word for it. Historically, Lawrence has been a popular shooting location for filmmakers for over fifty years. The most famous film shot here was the 1983 television movie "The Day After," an apocalyptic tale of an atomic blast in small-town Kansas. Over one hundred million Americans tuned in to watch the controversial program.

"The Day After" was shot mostly in Lawrence; filmmakers also filmed scenes in Kansas City and nearby small towns.  Willmott, KU film professor, said that Lawrence's location helps attract filmmakers to the city.

"Kansas is a great state to shoot in, which makes Lawrence a great place to be based out of because of its great connections to both Kansas City and all of Kansas' small towns," he said.

Willmott also said that Lawrence's small-town community feel also helps bring Hollywood movies here. It definitely helped in the filming of "The Day After."

Neda Ulaby, NPR reporter, lived in Lawrence during the making of the film and wrote a retrospective story about the event last year during the twenty-fifth anniversary of the film's airing.

"The whole town felt like they were a part of something important," Ulaby said. "The movie eventually became one of the biggest media events of the 1980s."

The city's film history goes back even further, all the way to 1947, when Arthur Wolf and Russell Mosser founded the Centron Corp., which became one of the biggest producers of industrial and educational films in the country.

Centron eventually became responsible for the second-most famous movie shot here in Lawrence fifteen years after the company was founded. Herk Harvey, one of the company's film directors, got an idea for a new horror movie and recruited other Centron employees to help him put his idea on the big screen. He also recruited Lawrence actors and residents to fill out the cast of his movie.

Harvey then shot all of the scenes for the film, titled "Carnival of Souls," in a total of two weeks. Most of the scenes were shot in Lawrence, but the scenes requiring a body of water were filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah.

While Kevin Willmott is well aware of the city's filmmaking past, he is more concerned about the future. Willmott says that by playing to the city's natural strengths, the local film community could easily attract Hollywood moviemakers.

"Actors are really drawn to the young, hip, cool feel of Lawrence, and that is a huge advantage for us," he said. "Lawrence is hip; it's the hippest place in Kansas. And filmmakers go to the hip places."

So what exactly does a city do to actively lure filmmakers?

The short answer: not much.

"Most of the contacts come to us, rather than us recruiting them," said Mike Amyx, Lawrence City Commissioner. "Our contacts are through Visitors and Convention, and also through the state of Kansas."

Those state contacts are at the Kansas Film Commission, which Willmott is a member of. He said that Lawrence is doing everything it can to appeal to filmmakers, but there's only so much they can do.

"When other states such as New Mexico and South Carolina are able to offer such great incentives like big tax breaks, there's not a whole lot we can do to compete," he said. "But we're trying."

Both of the major films made in Lawrence so far have made quite an impact, although they were in very different ways.

"Carnival of Souls" has become a cult classic in recent years. Famed horror director Wes Craven funded a remake in 1998, and the original was released on DVD in 2000.

"The Day After" is still considered one of the most controversial television programs ever aired, especially considering that it premiered during the height of the Cold War.

And Willmott thinks that, with the right approach, Lawrence can continue its film prominence.

          "The advantage that we have here is that Lawrence is a  smaller town," Willmott said. "There is definitely a growing film scene here."

           When other students go through the cafeteria lines at Mrs. E's, they might select their food according to what would be healthy, what would taste good, or what they had been craving that day.

            When Elizabeth Boresow goes through those lines, she uses different criteria: the food's color.

            "Yellow is my favorite food," Boresow, Leawood freshman said.

            But there are a lot of things that are different about Boresow, who goes by "E.B."; she has Asperger syndrome, which is an autism spectrum disorder.

            The condition is much less limiting than other forms of autism, as it preserves much of Boresow's thinking and speaking functions. And for those times when the condition does affect her ability to communicate verbally, E.B. has found a way around that.

            "I could tell you something with words, but I could always tell you more if I got my hands on a piano," E.B. said.

            While her condition may have weakened some of her other senses, it has greatly enhanced her hearing. And while that heightened sense of hearing helps her a lot in her music classes, it can also prove to be a great obstacle.

            On a weeknight last October, E.B. was in her dorm room in Lewis Hall when there was a false fire alarm pulled. Because of the volume and suddenness of the alarm, E.B. went into a complete state of shock and curled up into a ball.

            Once one of her friends found her and brought her outside with everyone else, student housing employees called an ambulance to come take care of her. E.B. was taken into the ambulance.

            Then, the student housing employees and EMTs on the scene faced a dilemma. They were not allowed to call E.B.'s parents because of the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA. But they did not know how to deal with the problem besides taking her to the hospital.

            Luckily, one of E.B.'s friends from home lived in Lewis and was able to calm her down before the EMTs would have been forced to take her to the emergency room.

            "That would have been a really bad idea," E.B. said, "because they don't know anything about me or my condition."

            In December E.B. went to Student Legal Services to see if there was anything she could do to circumvent FERPA so that residence hall workers, specifically her R.A. Jay Vaglio, could call her parents if it was ever necessary again.

            A student lawyer helped E.B. draft a document called Power of Attorney for Health Care, which would grant Vaglio that power. But student housing officials quickly informed her that such a document violated their policies.

            The single incident then turned into the question of whether or not E.B. was able to take care of herself and live without any help in the dorms.

            Well, without any official help.

            E.B. has what has become known as her "support team" in the dorms. It consists of other residents of Lewis that have grown close to E.B. and have helped her adjust to living on her own.

            "They absolutely mean the world to me," E.B. said. "People who are willing to go out of their way to help someone else and to do the right thing...it's really nice."

            Three of her biggest supporters are Sean and Brittany Kelly, a sophomore and freshman from Boston, and Amber Reed, Wichita freshman.

The Kellys take on the responsibility of always making sure E.B. is always safe and feeling secure, whether checking on her during particularly loud and scary thunderstorms or letting her bunk on their futons so that she feels safe when she goes to sleep.

Brittany lives on the same floor as E.B. and has been helping her live in the dorms ever since they became friends at the beginning of the year. Sean then met her through Brittany, his sister.

Brittany was the one found E.B. during the fire alarm incident in October and brought her out. Brittany has also had multiple appointments with student housing officials in the aftermath of the incident in which she has defended E.B.'s ability to live in the dorms.

"Of course she's fine living in the dorms," Brittany said. "As long as there are people around to help when she needs it."

Since they met, E.B. and Sean have become even closer than E.B. and Brittany. E.B. now refers to Sean as her "big brother" and sleeps on his futon a few nights a week.

"The main thing that she needs help with is re-learning things," Sean said. "She has a high ability to think, but loud noises mess up her mind and cause her to forget things. But her friends are always willing to help teach her again."

The relationships that E.B. has with her best friends and support team seem to focus around teaching.

But it definitely isn't a one-way street.

"She has taught me so much more about responsibility than I could have learned anywhere else," Sean said. "Because I have E.B. in my life, I now know what it's like to not just have to worry about yourself."

Reed loves having E.B. around because it helps to keep things in perspective.

"E.B. just always helps me look at the simplistic way of life," Reed said. "It's nearly impossible to be stressed out when she's around."

E.B. is planning to live in Lewis Hall again next year despite the issues with student housing, and she said she feels very lucky that many of her friends are coming back to Lewis again too. And through it all, she keeps a realistic yet bright view of her condition.

"It makes life hard, but it lets you see a whole different side of people," she said. "People who never sing in front of people, they'll be singing with me before the end of the hour."

For Ryan Williams, stealing street and traffic signs is simply a matter of revenge.

            "I usually steal one after I get a ticket in that area of town," Williams, St. Louis junior, said. "I've probably stolen about 20 or 25 signs total."

            Williams isn't the only one. According to David Woosley, Traffic Engineer for the city's Public Works Department, street and traffic sign theft happens a few times every week. http://lawrenceks.org/public_works/

            "Yes, it's certainly a regular occurrence," Woosley said.

            So who pays to replace all of these signs on the streets of Lawrence? The taxpayers do, of course.

            The money for the replacement of the signs comes out of the part of the general city budget that is set aside for the Public Works Department.

            There is no money specifically set aside for replacing and repairing signs. But the department always has extra money in other lines of their budget; this is how they pay to replace the signs, Woosley said.

            He also said that the replacement signs themselves usually cost between $50 and $100. There are additional costs, such as labor and additional repairs if the pole for the sign or anything else was damaged.

            "When you add it all up, each instance usually costs about $200," Woosley said.

            And these thefts aren't costly to just the city. It also costs the perpetrators a pretty penny if they are caught in the act.

            Jerry Little, City Prosecutor, said that the theft or vandalism of traffic and street signs carries a maximum penalty of a $2500 fine, up to a year in jail, or both. Luckily for the vandals that are caught, the judge rarely hands down the maximum penalty. http://lawrenceks.org/legal/understanding_municipal_court

            "Generally the judge gives a fine of around $200 along with $61 in court costs and the person is put on probation," Little said.

            But this potential punishment doesn't frighten Williams. He has already planned out his next target because of a speeding ticket he received recently.

            "I plan on adding this strange sign with the word 'ONLY' and three arrows on it to my collection sometime soon," he said.

            His favorite signs in the collection?

            "I have three different 'Slow children playing' signs, and a couple of 'Three-way' signs, Williams said. "But if someone ever stole my 'No dumping' sign, I'd be devastated."