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/97125
FTCC Fine Arts: Create Your Future Now by SEAN MCDANIEL Our world is very competitive. Among the applicants for many jobs, a skill-set is not enough. Candidates who display a creative edge often rise to the top. Creativity is what solves problems and offers solutions to employers. Fayetteville Tech offers programs that rely heavily on creativity and the critical thinking skills that lead to success. The Fine, Performing and Graphic Arts Department contains four program areas and grants five degrees and two certificates. The Graphic Arts Department uses state-of-the-art equipment to prepare students for the workforce. An advertising and graphic-design degree is awarded as an associate of applied science. This two-year program is designed to give students the skill-set necessary to enter the workforce with contemporary knowledge of software and the technical abilities needed in today's competitive market. The Digital Graphics Certificate is a two-semester, 14-credit-hour program used by graphic artists in the community to update their knowledge of current software used in the field. The Graphic Design Basics Certificate is a two-semester, 12-credit-hour program designed to give qualified high-school students the opportunity to earn college credit, giving these students an advantage as they enter postsecondary education. The Fine Arts Department awards associate in fine arts degrees in four areas of study. Every class in the four disciplines is fully transferable. The AFA prepares students to transfer to a four-year institution with a minimum of 65 credits, which includes many general university requirements. The AFA Visual Arts Degree, AFA Drama Degree and AFA music and music education degree offer a solid foundation of art for the student intending to pursue a liberal arts degree or a fine arts degree at a four-year institution or for the student who will transfer to a professional art school. The AFA/drama degree includes courses in acting, technical theatre, makeup, costuming, script analysis and lab courses in acting and production. The AFA general fine arts degree is a sampler within the fine-arts field. The program is intended for the student wishing to pursue a four-year liberal arts degree or a bachelor of arts or bachelor of fine arts. Students are required to take classes in the disciplines of visual art, dance, drama, music and creative writing. The Drama and Visual Arts program are active throughout the FTCC campus as well as in the Fayetteville/Cumberland County community. Our theatre program presents four productions a year, including a musical and a children's show. Events are free to the public, and all productions have open auditions to offer anyone in our community the opportunity to experience live performance. Part of the visual arts program at FTCC is the art gallery, located directly across from Cumberland Hall Auditorium located at the Fayetteville campus. Eight to ten exhibitions are displayed throughout the academic year, including student work, artists from the community, and an exhibition of works by international artists. FTCC offers a plethora of SEAN MCDANIEL, FTCC Chairman, Fine, options to promote creativity and Performing and Graphic Arts, Contributing enhance critical thinking skills to Writer. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcominlead to your success! gweekly.com. SENIOR CORNER Managing the Challenges of Alzheimer's: One Example, the Repetition Question by MARTHA OWEN AND SUSAN GUY Mary asked the questions again and again while waiting for her lunch at a restaurant. Her eyes were fixed on the centerpiece which included a printed list of the specials during the next three days, including Christmas. So every two minutes, she had the same request: "Please read me the menu. When is Christmas? When is Christmas?" Repetition is one of the common challenging behaviors of Alzheimer's disease. Others include refusal, delusions (fixed, false, ideas or beliefs), aggression, false accusations, wandering and agitation. Behaviors like constant and repetitive questions can try family caregivers to the breaking point. Alzheimer's expert David Troxel confirms. "It's a long haul," he said. "It's not an acute illness — the average length is eight years, but people can live with it for 20." The following are approaches from the Home Instead Senior Care network's free Alzheimer's Disease or other Dementias CARE: Changing Aging through Research and Education Training Program to help families manage challenging behaviors like repeated questions: 1. Redirect. The first time a question or concern comes up, take a few moments to answer the question fully and provide reassurance that all is well. If that doesn't work, try to engage the senior in a related topic. For example:"Tell me about your favorite Christmas." How about your favorite Christmas meal?" "What holiday do you like best?" Sometimes discussing the topic will lead away from the repetitive behavior 14 UCW DECEMBER 5-11, 2012 and calm her anxiety. 2. Utilize the person's life story for ideas. The CARE program encourages caregivers to know seniors well. For instance, when a caregiver knows that the person loves country-western music or enjoyed quilting they can ask that individual about this new topic to "change the subject," but in a meaningful and respectful way. 3. Physically move the items or senior from the environment. If the menu, in this case, or the object, in general, continues to agitate or irritate, remove the senior or the object from that situation. 4. Offer simple choices. Persons with dementia still want to feel in control of their lives. The CARE program teaches that one way to break a repetitive question cycle is to offer a simple choice. "Speaking of Christmas, Mom, would you like to serve turkey or lamb this year?" 5. Apologize or take the blame. Apologizing or taking the blame in a situation (even if it's not your fault) diffuses many situations. In this case, the family member can apologize for not understanding her concern or question and then try to move Mom away from her anxiety about Christmas plans. For more information about Alzheimer's Care for a loved one call 910484-7200 or visit www. MARTHA OWEN & SUSAN GUY, Owners of Home Instead Senior Care, Editor@ homeinstead.com. upandcomingweekly.com. WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM