Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/525120
16 UCW JUNE 10-16, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM A friend once reminded me, "Sometimes people come into your life for a moment, a day or a lifetime. It matters not the time they spent with you but how they impacted your life in that time." I have personally experi- enced this message through my work with the FTCC C-STEP Cohort of 2015. They have inf luenced me to become a better person. The Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program (C-STEP), housed in the office of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, seeks to admit, identify, enroll and graduate high-achieving, low-to-moderate income students transferring to Carolina from partner com- munity colleges. Established in the spring of 2011, Fayetteville Technical Community College partnered with UNC-CH to provide this premier program on its campus. As advisor for this program, I have been impressed by the 2015 cohort not only because of their intelligence and dedication but also their sense of family prevalent among them coupled with their support system for themselves as well as the upcom- ing 2016 C-STEP Cohort. Senior Joseph Espinoza commented on what he most valued through the program: "The emotional support. Someone was always there to lift me up. C-STEP members provided me support, love, understanding, companion- ship and comradery." With a great transition on the horizon, members of the C-STEP Cohort of 2015 have embraced and fully embodied what UNC-CH students would describe as "The Carolina Way," a phrase coined by beloved Coach Dean Smith to ref lect the spirit of UNC-CH and the act of excellence with integ- rity and heart. This next step in their journeys will be challenging and filled with experiences never before encountered. But my mind is at ease in knowing that each has the tools and drive to succeed as well as the familial support shared within their group. I will miss the students' visits, kindnesses, laughs and discussions about large and small aspects of life, but I am happy that they are growing and moving forward in achiev- ing their personal ambitions. In thinking about his future, Senior Brandon Perez stated, "I am proud that I will be attending a great historical university, one that will provide me with many opportunities and challenges. I am also proud of my C-STEP cohort — myself and my team members — we have all grown so much." So to FTCC's C-STEP Cohort of 2015, remember that "the rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon but to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other foot somewhat higher." When you maintain faith in yourself and (especially) in each other, you will continue to be successful. C-STEP focuses on community college students whose household incomes fall at or below 300 per- cent of the federal poverty guidelines. Potential candidates are reviewed holistically. Please contact me at FTCC at nelsonl@ faytechcc.edu or (910) 678-8205 for more information. FTCC's 2015 C-STEP Cohort Fully Embraces "The Carolina Way" by LOUTRICIA NELSON LOUTRICIA NELSON, FTCC Counselor and Career Center Supervisor, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910.484.6200 Back row: De'Quadre Hart , Joseph Espinoza, Brandon Perez, Sarah Folorunsho, Carson Vogus, Br yanna Covey. Front row: Katrina Bolinder, Casey Walsh, Lukus Ferrer, Erik Carlos II Planet of the Apes; Charlie and the Chocolate Factor y; Total Recall; Conan: four of t he v ilest remakes in t he histor y of fant asy cinema. And now, coming in at number t hree, Poltergeist (93 min- utes). I suppose it could have been worse. It could have been longer. Deciding to remake a horror classic t hat didn't need to be remade was bad enough. Sw itching all t he impor t ant act ion sequences f rom female- led to male-led made it ten t imes worse. Adding insult to injur y, for all t he impor t ance Mrs. Bowen (Rosemarie DeWit t) had for t he plot, Mr. Bowen (Sam Rock well) might as well have been a single fat her — whose w ife lef t him for being a pat riarchal jerk . Or, bet ter st ill, a w idower lef t rais- ing his t hree small children af ter boring his w ife to deat h. Amy and Eric Bowen are t r y ing to f ind a house t hey can af ford even when neit her of t hem have a job. I would like to recommend t hey rent a nice t hree bedroom apar t ment while work ing par t-t ime jobs, but since Eric doesn't want Amy to work out side t he home at all, and he isn't w ill- ing to compromise his v ision of an ideal work place, I don't t hink t hey want my adv ice. Ostensibly, Amy is a w riter work ing f rom home, but given t he fact t hat many, many w riters work par t-t ime, coupled w it h t he fact t hat she admit s she hasn't w rit ten any t hing in mont hs, I'm just going to roll my eyes at t hat and move on. A f ter Eric is mean to t heir real est ate agent, t he t wo agree to buy t he suspiciously cheap house built over a former graveyard. So real- ly, t hey deser ve what t hey get . They move in w it h a Carol Anne look- a-like named Madison (Kennedi Clement s), a generic horror-mov ie k id named Grif f in (Kyle Cat let t) and an obnoxious teenage girl named Like It Mat ters (Sa xon Sharbino). A f ter mov ing in, Grif f in f inds a box of clow n dolls and a tot ally ran- dom squirrel, because, why not? The light s t urn on and of f, and Grif f in goes dow nst airs to f ind Madison t alk ing to t he T V people. The narrat ive moves for ward a day or t wo, and Amy and Eric head out to dinner, leav ing Like It Mat ters in charge of t he t wo youngest k ids. Surprise, surprise, t he lit t le girl get s sucked into t he CGI spirit world, because t hat 's what t he audience want s, right? To see a nonsensical Judeo-Christ ian af terlife f ull of tormented souls who are being tor- mented because t hey had t he poor t aste to be buried in land t hat would one day become a housing develop- ment . Eric and Amy arrive home f rom t heir dinner, just in t ime to see a big t ree wav ing t heir son like a f lag. A mildly hysterical Like It Mat ters informs t hem all t hat Madison is gone. A f ter hearing her f rom t he tele- v ision t hey immediately do not hing at all, because JonBenet Ramsey or possibly Balloon Boy? I g uess? Any way, af ter select ing a Paranormal Psycholog y depar t ment f rom t he t housands t hat are available in mov ieworld (as opposed to t he t wo available in t he real world), t he family is event ually directed to a real- it y telev ision show host Carrigan Burke ( Jared Harris) because t he g uys f rom Finding Bigfoot already had a ver y f ull schedule. Overall, it is hard to imagine a worse version of t his stor y. It drained t he life f rom t he f irst f ilm like a leech on Spring Break in a shameless money grab designed to capit alize on t he name of one of t he greatest horror f ilms ever made. If you want to spend your money w isely, you should pay people not to see it . Now Play ing at Pat riot 14 + IM A X . HEATHER GRIFFITHS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200. Hauntingly Bad Poltergeist (Rated PG-13) by HEATHER GRIFFITHS