What I've learned:

      I have learned countless things from taking this class. Almost everything I know about writing as a journalist I have learned from this class. In taking this class I have definitely reassured myself that I want to become a journalist. Before this class I never would have stepped out of my comfort zone and gone out to do interviews with people I don't know. I really enjoyed taking this class and am very excited to get to take more journalism classes in the future. My perspective on journalism hasn't changed too much. I still see it as a necessary tool for the public and very much want to become a journalist.

I have much more information and ideas but cannot write any more until I am able to conduct my follow-up interview with an important source.

Enterprise Story

Trevor Walstrom

4-27-11

           

            Thousands of people pass through the doors of Anoka-Ramsey Community College every day. For many of those people, finding a parking spot close to the entrance or even on-campus is no easy test.

            Many students and faculty members spend several minutes every day driving around searching for a parking spot. “I hate the parking lot!” said Marissa Krook, a Coon Rapids resident and ARCC student. “It is impossible to find a parking spot. I drive around for at least five to 10 minutes just to find one,” she added.

            Other students employ strategy to help them find a parking spot. Alyssa Berthiaume, an ARCC student and resident of Coon Rapids said she has devised a way to quickly get a parking spot. “I find it very difficult to find a parking spot so I wait until about 10 minutes before my class starts to show up. That way people should be getting out of their classes and I can quickly nab a spot,” she said.

            Students, visitors, and staff and faculty members, all experience problems searching for parking spots because ARCC has approximately 9,100 students enrolled, but only 2,155 parking spots on-campus. There are certainly people who take advantage of ARCC’s public transportation program and many people who take classes online, but there are still far more people attending the school than parking spots provided.

Press Release

Contact:

Trevor Walstrom

11182 Hanson Blvd. NW

Coon Rapids, MN, 55433

763-269-1045

THE MINNEAPOLIS MONSTERS

            Minneapolis’ own, local-band Atmosphere released their new album “The Family Sign” Tuesday. The album is the band’s much-anticipated seventh studio release. It’s been almost three years since their last full-length studio release because the band has spent much of their time giving back to the city from which they came.

            The band has done more than donate money to charitable causes. They have actually joined many of the organizations giving back to the community. All four of the band members were born, and raised in Minneapolis so they understand the importance of giving back.

            The community where they got their start remains very important to them. They have partnered with many outreach programs that help underprivileged, inner-city youths. While the band is very exciting to be giving back to the community, they hope it won’t be so long in between albums next time.

Story 7

Story from interview with Alyssa Berthiaume, ARCC Student and mother

Trevor Walstrom

4-13-11

            Many people ask themselves the question, is college worth all of the trouble that accompanies it? For one local mother there was never any question. “I knew I had to go to college. I knew it was the only way to be successful and provide for my daughter and myself,” said Alyssa Berthiaume. She is a 21-year-old ARCC student and the mother of a three-year-old daughter named Ava.

            “I was always a good student in high-school and I always planned to go to college afterward, but once I got pregnant at 18, things changed,” she said. “I knew I still had to go to school, but taking care of my daughter became my first priority.” Now in her sophomore year she reflects on the obstacles she has overcome to get on her chosen path.

            “It isn’t easy being a single mother, especially when you’re young. I had to work two jobs just to be able to support us,” said Berthiaume. “But, my support system is very strong and helps me out a lot,” she said. “My mother and younger-sister babysit for me quite frequently which allows me to be able to work and go to school, both full-time,” she added.

            As soon as high-school ended Berthiaume enrolled in a program to become a trained medical assistant, or tma. A tma is someone who works at a nursing-home or group-home and is trained and certified on passing out medication to patients. This was her first experience with school and it got her the job that still supports her and her daughter today. “It is a challenge, working and attending school full-time while supporting a three-year-old, but I know it will be worth it in the end,” she said. This is the attitude to which she attributes her success as a single mother.

            Berthiaume is currently a resident of Coon Rapids and a student at Anoka-Ramsey Community College. “I plan to finish my generals at ARCC and hopefully transfer to the University of Minnesota to complete my bachelor’s degree in dental hygiene,” said Berthiaume. Berthiaume chose ARCC because it is “affordable and close to home,” she said. “I think ARCC is a great place to start off. It is very affordable, convenient, and flexible which is great for a young mother such as me.”

              While she has certainly achieved success as a young, single mother, she recalls how difficult it was to get there. “After my daughter was born things became very difficult for me. I was frequently in-and-out of court arguing with my daughter’s father over things like a paternity test to prove she was his and child-support payments,” said Berthiaume. “Eventually the test results showed what I already knew and that he would have to pay child-support whether he wanted to or not.” But, the struggles for this young mother didn’t end there. “After my court problems had been settled I was able to focus on work and taking care of Ava. But, it was very difficult trying to balance work, studying, and parenthood. I was very tired constantly and I found it tough to stay on-top of my school work,” said Berthiaume. “I was definitely happy that I waited a little while after high-school to start college. It took me some time to learn to manage all of the new things in my life and I don’t think I would have done so well if I had taken on that extra workload right away. I quickly finished my tma program and settled in at my job which really helped me grow up quickly. Now that I’ve spent some time being a mom and working I feel I am much more prepared to handle school,” she added.

              Berthiaume would like people to learn from her story and hopes that it can help other young mothers who are going through a similar situation. “I would like people to know that anything is possible and there is always more out there. Everyone has obstacles in life, but it’s how we overcome those obstacles that make us who we are."

Story 6

Interview with Jim Biederman, ARCC Psychology Professor

Trevor Walstrom

4-7-11

            In order to teach you must have a passion for your work and the patience to help others learn what you already know. For Jim Biederman, that’s no problem at all. “I have a very methodical mind and I learn new things by figuring out how to explain them.  Teaching was a natural next step for me,” said Biederman.

           

            Biederman is a professor at Anoka-Ramsey Community College where he has been teaching Psychology since 1993. “I didn’t go to college expecting to major in psychology, but it turned out that psychology was my greatest interest,” Biederman said. “I think I enjoyed psychology so much because I was already interested in the complexity of human behavior, trying to figure out why people do what they do,” he added.

            When asked about how he came to work for ARCC Biederman replied “I applied to a few teaching positions when I started looking for full-time work and was lucky enough to be chosen by ARCC.  I had never set foot in Minnesota. It turns out that I was incredibly fortunate because over 100 people applied for my position.”

            Biederman loves teaching and is very passionate about his work. “I like the act of teaching, explaining things I really like and know well to students. I have a tremendous amount of control over how I run my classes, which makes my work less stressful and more rewarding than a lot of people I know,” he explained. But, while he is happy with what he is doing, things are far from perfect.

            The publicly notarized passing of the budget repair bill in Wisconsin is not the only such case of state budget cuts in the upper Midwest. The bill, which aims to “balance the budget and reform government,” according to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, has essentially stripped many state employees of their collective bargaining rights. Lawmakers have begun to try and pass similar bills in Minnesota. “The conflict in Wisconsin got the most attention, but the Minnesota legislature has been proposing some of the same things here,” said Biederman. “When I started teaching, the State of Minnesota paid about 67-percent of the cost for a student to attend college. That percentage has slipped to about 33-percent now, which means tuition has skyrocketed and students are forced to take on more debt.  I really think the current legislature would be happy to cut that state support to zero percent and make college education a privilege for the wealthy,” he added.

            As a teacher Biederman can understand the importance of education in today’s world. “I’m afraid the easy economic times are over and it’s going to take a lot of work for a young person to be successful financially in the future,” he said. He sees first-hand how students act and behave while in school so when a student’s performance drops he notices. He has noticed many students who pay for classes and do not take them seriously. “I have never understood why a student would fork over tuition money and then skip classes, skip assignments, skip exams, and fail,” said Biederman. With the stressed importance of higher-education in America today he believes this to be a major cause for concern.

            Biederman has two psychology degrees, a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University and a Master of Arts degree from Northern Illinois University. He plans to teach psychology until he is able to retire.

Story 5

Trevor Walstrom

Speech on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome by Sierra Asamoa-tutu

ARCC, Coon Rapids Campus, 3-21-11

           

Sierra Asamoa-tutu uses her abilities to teach others, and help prevent Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, a problem that affects many, but few care to talk about. This is exactly the goal she accomplished at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, the afternoon of Monday, March 21^st, 2011.

“Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is completely preventable, but it starts with individual people making the right choice.” That is the motto of a young woman whose ambition is to help people, and prevent FAS at the source of the problem.

Asamoa-tutu works for the Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (MOFAS). MOFAS is a non-profit, state-funded agency that exists to “Raise awareness on FAS” according to Asamoa-tutu. MOFAS is the only state-funded agency of its kind. There is no federal agency like MOFAS.

Along with raising support on FAS, MOFAS also provides support to families affected by FAS. This includes knowledge and support for these families, such as providing information on treatment centers, and courses of action. The staff of MOFAS, which includes 13 paid staff members, five Family Resource Coordinators, and over 80 volunteers, aims to eliminate alcohol-related disabilities, and improve the quality of life for people living with a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome disorder.

Asamoa-tutu performs her duties by traveling across the state to high-schools, colleges, and universities, and giving speeches packed with information that is meant to help others understand exactly how common FAS disorders are. Among Asamoa-tutu’s speeches are facts and statistics that open her audience’s eyes and almost shock her listeners into paying attention. According to Asamoa-tutu, “90 percent of the time when a fetus is exposed to alcohol, the brain is affected.” This is a statistic which Asamoa-tutu uses multiple times throughout her speech to stress the importance of proper alcohol use. “Many times women will continue to use alcohol because they don’t know they are pregnant until the damage has already been done” explained Asamoa-tutu. “Its reasons like that that I do what I do” added Asamoa-tutu.

As Asamoa-tutu continued her speech, clicking through her PowerPoint, it was clear to see that her words did not fall upon deaf ears. “Drinking alcohol during pregnancy affects everyone” said Asamoa-tutu as members of the audience perked up at the thought of a problem actually affecting them. During her speech, Asamoa-tutu uses the entire room attempting to keep the attention of her audience, and it works. She provides a pamphlet with information regarding FAS, a sheet with many common myths about FAS, and a comprehensive PowerPoint that helps her get the message of MOFAS into the mind of her audience.

MOFAS was founded in 1998 by current organization president Susan Carlson. It is mainly run by a board-of-directors containing 22 members. Sierra Asamoa-tutu has been a part of the MOFAS cause for three years. Asamoa-tutu is a graduate of the University of Michigan. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Global and Intercultural Studies. “I really love what I do. It is very rewarding to help people on a daily basis, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

Story 4

Ashley Zimmel, the Irish softball star

Trevor Walstrom

           

            Ashley Zimmel may have been born in Ireland, but don’t assume that soccer is her favorite sport.

            “My foster dad told me all of these great stories of sport legends from all over the globe, and he told me that I was made to be an athlete, and in Ireland, softball and soccer are the only sports you can play at a young age, I hate soccer, so I went with softball.” That is how Ashley Zimmel would start her journey in the sport which she loves.

            While she has played many other sports in her promising, young career, including tennis, football, basketball, volleyball, and lacrosse, her true passion remains to be softball. Ashley has been playing softball for much of her life including two years for the Dublin Sparks, a total of eight years between the Coon Rapids youth, and high-school programs, and two years for the Anoka-Ramsey Community College team.

            Ashley is mostly an infielder, but hitting is her bread and butter. “I currently hold the record for most home-runs hit for Coon Rapids High-School, at 21.” Ashley’s greatest moment on the field was belting a walk-off home-run to win the 18-and-under U.S.A. Championship for her team.

            Ashley is currently a resident of Coon Rapids, and a student at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, but she plans to transfer to the University of Minnesota-Morris in Bemidji to complete her degree in Sports Management. There she plans to continue her studies as well as her softball career. Softball is certainly an instrumental aspect of Ashley’s life, “It really makes me understand that grades count. Don’t compete in the class, won’t compete on the field.” That is the motto of a young woman whose passion for the game of softball will certainly translate into many positive things in her future.