Feature Story

A lot can change in a short amount of time. Stephanie Boettcher was a perfect example of this; as I look back on my best friends life and the struggles she’s overcome, I knew I wanted to share her story.

Stephanie Boettcher grew up in Lindstrom, MN. Stephanie was the younger of two girls and lived with her parents in a suburban neighborhood. Stephanie was always very close with her father, more than any other member of her family Her sister was away at school in North Dakota and it always seemed as though her mother was to busy with work to focus on much else.

After graduating high school with honors, she started to notice a void growing between her parents. At first it didn’t seem to bother her that much but months went by and her parents feud continued to cause the family to drift apart. This is when Stephanie decided she needed to get away for a while and live her own life; so she packed up her belongings and moved to California to further her education as an interior designer.

The first quarter in California seemed to be just what Stephanie needed, she was making friends, having fun, and most of all staying out of the family drama. A few weeks later Stephanie received a phone call from her dad, the beginning of the conversation was much like it usually was; he asked her how she was doing and if she was enjoying her time in the warm weather. Even though the conversation seemed normal, Steph could tell something was wrong; after a few minutes her dad finally told her what was going on. He went on to describe that he and her mother’s relationship was over, and he would soon be moving out.

The next few weeks were somewhat of a blur for her; she spent most of her time alone in her apartment. Her roommates couldn’t stand to see her so upset all the time, so they finally were able to convince her to go out and try to have a little fun. Her innocent fun quickly turned to dangerous lifestyle. Soon Stephanie was going out every night and drinking until she was blatantly intoxicated. She soon realized that alcohol was no longer filling the void so she looked for another way to cover up her pain. Even though she was never into drugs, marijuana was common among her new friends, and soon became her newest crutch. Steph was smoking and drinking almost everyday. Her schoolwork began to become last on her priority list and her grades were a direct correlation of this. Because Steph was failing most of her classes, the school took matters into their own hands. Steph would soon be kicked out of her student apartment and have nowhere to go. She turned to her parents for money, but when they refused to send more funds for housing, Steph was forced to move back to Minnesota.

Being back home in Minnesota was a big change from the past year in California; she went from her fast paced life to feeling trapped in her mother’s house with no one to turn to and nothing to do. Stephanie’s best friends from home new this behavior was completely out of the ordinary for her. They knew she needed their help to pull her out of this funk. A few days later Steph agreed to go to a bonfire with her friends where she happened to be introduced to someone who would have a much greater impact on her life than she would have ever expected.

Tim was a fun loving guy who had quite the past of his own, something steph felt she could relate too. When they first started talking she felt Tim had a strange understanding of her something she hadn’t had in quite sometime and having that was very refreshing. Soon they became close friends, Tim took Stephanie on hikes through the woods, (which was something she loved to do, but had lost interest until this) helping her to look at things in a new light. Tim however had always been very into nature and the natural ways of life. Stephanie was intrigued to this way of life, but soon because very interested in it. Tim was beginning to open steph up to a whole new way of life.

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened to Stephanie Boettcher if Tim wouldn’t of been there, I know he feels he didn’t really have much to do with this success story but he was her guardian angel to the rest of us. Stephanie was in a tough situation where wrong decisions were made, which I’m sure most people could relate too. Never give up on the people you care about no matter how difficult it may be, in the end it might save their life.

And the Survey Says

Survey taken by Chisago County High school students grades 9th-12th show both good and bad news. In past years Chisago County was ranked as number 3 county in the nation for meth use/labs. It is now said that almost no students have ever used or tried meth. The new concerns among school officials is the growing problem of alcohol consumption and illegal prescription drug use. The survey states that almost 40% of high school seniors have binge drank within the last month, and another 8% has said they have NEVER drank before! This means 92% of the High school students have drank at least once!

One measure being taken is a plan to put a stop to underage drinking. Social Host Ordinance will hopefully soon be put into the works to prosecute parents or people over 21 for hosting underage drinking parties at their homes.

We hope to see these outrageous numbers go down soon with this new plan in progress.

Sperr acquitted of aiding and abetting charges

Shane Sperr was charged with aiding two uncles in the kidnapping of their 25 year old nephew and allegedly beating him unconscious over a period of hours. A 12 person jury acquitted Sperr on four counts connected to the "uncle kidnapping." The jury only deliberated for a few hours after a three day trial. Sperr was not found guilty in the aiding and abetting in the assault and false imprisonment of a young man; who originally told authorities he was the victim of a trap set to do him harm. When it came time for Shawn Dougherty to testify he told the jury he lied about the whole thing.

http://www.chisagocountypress/main.asp

Student Poll

I conducted a poll that involved fifteen students all between the ages of 18- 22. This poll was based on question about drugs and drug use. I asked a total of seven questions one of which involved a sentence answer. The first question was, What do you think the average age is when a person first tries any type of drug? There were three possible answers, A) 10-12 B) 12-15 C) 15- +. Twelve of the participants answered with B, three people said A, and no one answered with C. So looking at these answers you can see that these students who answered the survey believe that people are first introduced to drugs at a very young age. This can be both good and bad depending on the person, if you are a younger child experimenting; then they may just try a certain type of illegal drug and that will be the end of it. However, if you are a preteen that tries a certain type of drug not just to try it but to get a reaction from it you may have a greater chance of turning this into a habit.
The second question I asked was, Do you think your family upbringing has something to do with children using drugs? There were only two possible answers for this, either yes or no, 11 students answered with yes and the other four answered with no. I could see this going both ways, children going up in a home with not many rules about right from wrong, or homes that don’t discourage against drug use may give these children the wrong impression; thinking that drugs are okay and that they won’t affect their life. On the other hand a child can grow up in a fun loving, caring, relaxed setting and not want have any influence to try drugs, or they could completely become and addict. A lot depends on a persons’ personality and priorities.
The third question I asked, Was do you consider alcohol a drug? This question was just about split right down the middle which seemed surprising to me. Eight students answered with no and seven answered with yes. I was surprised by this answer because so many people said yes, I was expecting it to be all no’s across the board seeing as how it is such a common part of people’s lives. People always go out for social drinking, and use alcohol as “liquid courage.” Seeing as how this is so common among all classes of people, I wouldn’t expect for so many to think it should be illegal or think of it as a drug.
The forth question I asked is, What do you think the most common drug is? A) Meth B) Cocaine and C) Heroin. This answer was pretty well divided, I think because these aren’t the most common drugs; such as marijuana or alcohol. Meth received five votes, cocaine got seven votes and heroin received three votes.
The fifth question was, Which sex is most likely to use? The males received all the votes with this question, this wasn’t too shocking but I still expected the females to get a few votes. I think the reason behind the males accumulating so many more votes is because men are known to be more of risk takers and willing to try more things with dangerous outcome.
The last question asked was, Should any drugs be legalized? If so what ones? Eleven of the students surveyed said yes. Most of these students thought that only marijuana should be legalized, but a few others thought all natural drugs should be legal including mushrooms. The other four said no drugs should be legal.
Looking into this poll you see a lot of obvious answers that I think most people in Minnesota would answer similarly too. This survey was very informative to me to see what students believe and how they view certain drugs.

Steelers QB acquitted of assault charges

A complaint was filed March 5th against Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger for sexual assault on a 20 year old college student. The incident took place in a restroom stall in Capital City nightclub in Georgia. The women went to the hospital and doctors found small laceration and bruising along with male DNA, however this wasn't strong enough evidence to hold Ben. Charges have been dropped.

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http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/steelers/2010-04-12-ben-roethlisberger-fred-bright_N.htm

Jack's new Album

Jack Johnson

1820 Raleigh Road

Public on sale date: June 1st



Jack Johnson first picked up his guitar at the age of 14 and has being a legendary musician for close to ten years with has 6 albums with a seventh on its way. Jack Johnson is going to performing in Somerset, WI. Presale tickets will be available April 6th and public tickets will be available April 10th.

Jack Johnson grew up in Oahu, Hawaii performs alternative surf music. In his upcoming concert he will be performing a few songs from his old albums like "Banana Pancakes and Upside Down", along with his new album. Jack Johnson is one of four men in the band. You can see many of their performances on youtube or myspace etc.
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Enterprise Topic

The story I chose to take a deeper look into is the Anoka-Ramsey Nursing Program. I am very familiar with this because both my sister are going into the nursing field. My older sister Kim has applied for the nursing program three years in a row and finally made it her third year, regardless of her perfect scores. My oldest sister Krystal is now taking generals, working towards entering into the program. I will be interviewing Kyla Dropkin, one of the professors and Kara Link and Renee Cocchiarella , two students in the program. I think this will make for an interesting topic for the simple fact I closely know people in it and it is a major reason A.R.C.C. is so populated.