Letters to the editor

Skating club gives thanks

On behalf of the Whitefish figure skating Club, skaters, coaches, Jennifer Boye, Kathy Ruggles, Jane Moody and the show committee, Beth Sobba, Donna Taylor and Jane Moody. We thank the community support of our ice skating shows' "Fantasy on Ice" and "An Enchanted Evening on Ice" we all enjoyed performing for you and look forward to seeing you next time.

Carol Anderson, Show Director

Whitefish

Higher wages to help economy

How can workers, students and people striving to make ends meet spend $50 to $200 a month on liability insurance? People on social security can't even afford gas to get to the store.

Montana could be a boom state. All it would take is one or two bills or steps to prosperity.

First, All students, low wage workers and motorists would be happy to live here. Just have state run liability insurance. Motorists would save $50 to a couple of hundred dollars per month. The courts wouldn't get cluttered up with uninsured drivers.

The state could have a maximum pay out of $50,000, which could be paid for with a few cents gas tax per gallon of gas. Think of all the extra money motorists could have to spend.

The second bill would be a boon to business all over the state. Like the president says, putting more money in the peoples hand would help the economy and more business' would rush to get to Montana.

The thing to do is get it done right now so some politician won't find a pet project and squander the money.

The deal is divide the coal trust fund equally among all registered voters that have lived in the state as a resident for at least a year. Each voter would have enough money to spend on paying bills, etc. It could be applied again in five to ten years to keep voters interested. Now this would be a boon.

If you agree, let your congressman know, so they can work on the idea and prosper along with the state.

Robert Hatlen, Sr.

Tidbits on the Carnival Queen

Hey Whitefish!

Boy do I wish I was in town for the Winter Carnival this year. My husband got some hair-brained idea about going to a sunny spot for the winter, so here we are in Havasu City, Ariz. I still receive the Pilot here, and have been kept up to par as to who all the Royalty is.

I am so happy Judy Gaphart is the Queen for the XLVI Winter carnival. The Pilot did a very nice bio on Judy but I felt there were a few things people should know if they don't already.

Judy is a real friend. She is always there when you need her. Her family ALWAYS comes first and, as a result, has beautiful young lady for her daughter.

She is one of those ever-on-the-road soccer moms, driving Jade all over the state for soccer games. Judy is one of the most dependable people I have ever met, therefore will make a fabulous and beautiful Queen in Whitefish' 100th birthday celebration year.

OH!! She is also very kind to her dog, That is really important!!

Congratulations, Judy!! I would give anything to be there "viqueening" it up with you as our queen! I know Winter Carnival will be a real blast, as always. I KNOW I don't have to say "have a great" time!

You go Judy!!

Becky Vance

Whitefish

Speech and Debate team

champions in more ways than one!

No one can dispute that Whitefish High School's Speech and Debate team is unbelievable, or should we say, unbeatable.

At the Divisional Meet on Saturday, Whitefish took first place by defeating the present State Champions, Columbia Falls. And after winning the state meet they proved it again.

The Whitefish Speech and Debate Team are also to be commended for hosting the incredible tournament. Students, staff and community members welcomed the eleven other schools in the tournament. Thank you to everyone who judged the event and worked the tournament. We are only as good as our community!

Thank you to our local merchants; Coca Cola, McDonalds, Montana Coffee Traders, Safeway, Stageline and Super 1 Foods for donating a variety of goods to our hospitality room. Our guests appreciated your generous contributions.

May good fortune follow the Speech and Debate team to Corvallis and may our sincere appreciation reach each and every one of you!

Megan Olson

Activities Director

Whitefish High School

To the editor:

I was infuriated and sickened to see these new posters that advertise our Whitefish High School wrestlers posed amid motorcycles, dressed in gang-like garb, and glowering as if they are "ready to rumble". Worse, they are entitled as being

"bad to the bone". Our kids? Whose hair-brained idea was this? Whoever it was, they would better serve this community if they would take themselves and those warped ideals back to LA or Phoenix or Chicago or the Bronx or wherever else they came from. "Bad to the bone" is NOT what are kids are all about. Most of us came here to escape that idiotic and warped mentality and our town and our kids always have been known for the love and respect of good sportsmanship. The best you can give is all that is asked for but is always admired.

These images of being motorcycle gang-tough has no place in a town like ours where academic achievements and true, fair-minded sportsmanship are goals more worthy of pursuit. We don't want our kids to be "bad to the bone"! How about fair, good, and clean to the heart?

Psychology 101 teaches that how you paint your child creates and image that could very well remain with them all their lives. Let's keep Whitefish the home of good and honest kids whose clean-cut images are something to admire and to never, ever fear. Get those posters down, and let's encourage our athletes to be those who set the standard for fair play and honest competition. If not, and if in the future any of our kids end up living up to this projected tough image, let's hold responsible in courts of law the creators of this image. Who out there agrees with me?

Robert Morgan

Whitefish

Elected officials should

represent the interests of the people, not themselves

It appears to me that some of those who have been elected to represent the interests of the residents of their various States and districts, or

those whose terms are still active from previous elections, are somehow missing the point of their selection.

It occurs to me that most citizens, when going to the polls, choose a person whom they feel will best carry forward their concerns to Helena or Washington DC.

After observing the actions and reading the quotes of some of our elected officials, it is plain to see that there are some misguided individuals taking up space in Helena and Washington DC.

Our state and nation have some very serious problems to address, and unfortunately the country is very evenly divided as to the desired solutions.

Logically, no elected representative should consider acting as though they have a mandate of any kind when presenting any sort of a proposal. Taking an adversarial approach, and threatening to "monitor" every action of another elected official who happens to belong to a different political party, does nothing positive when it comes to solving the collective problems of our state and nation.

It is my sincerest hope that our current administration and selected legislators will put aside their penchant for political posturing, and

truly get down to the business of finding solutions to our problems, instead of being such a big part of the problem.

I can't help but think that the interests of the citizens of this great state and nation will best be served when our elected officials seek their guidance from those very people that elected them, rather than being influenced by paid lobbyists and professional politicians.

Ed Blackler, Bigfork

Rankled by wrestling poster

I was infuriated and sickened to see these new posters that advertise our Whitefish High School wrestlers posed amid motorcycles, dressed in gang-like garb, and glowering as if they are "ready to rumble." Worse, they are entitled as being "bad to the bone." Our kids?

Whose hair-brained idea was this? Whoever it was, they would better serve this community if they would take themselves and those warped ideals back to LA or Phoenix or Chicago or the Bronx or wherever else they came from. "Bad to the bone" is NOT what our kids are all about. Most of us came here to escape that idiotic and warped mentality and our town and our kids always have been known for the love and respect of good sportsmanship.

The best you can give is all that is asked for but is always admired.

These images of being motorcycle gang-tough have no place in a town like ours where academic achievements and true, fair-minded sportsmanship are goals more worthy of pursuit.

We don't want our kids to be "bad to the bone"! How about fair, good, and clean to the heart?

Psychology 101 teaches that how you paint your child creates an image that could very well remain with them all their lives.

Let's keep Whitefish the home of good and honest kids whose clean-cut images are something to admire and to never, ever fear.

Get those posters down, and let's encourage our athletes to be those who set the standard for fair play and honest competition.

If not, and if in the future any of our kids end up living up to this projected tough image, let's hold responsible in courts of law the creators of this image. Who out there agrees with me?

Robert Morgan

Whitefish

Old sol works on

Dolorous prophets frequently arise to proclaim the collapse of civilization because of exhaustion of energy-furnishing coal and oil. The remaining billions of barrels of oil are figured out and from that it is easy to calculate how soon the motors will stop.

They overlook one simple fact - the sun shone before there was any coal or oil. The coal and the oil borrowed their energy from the sun. And the same old sun keeps on lending the earth its power.

At the scientific exhibit of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis, a model of a solar engine was shown. The inventor explained that an adaptation of his machine to the proportions of the Boulder dam project would give it 5,000,000 horsepower capacity.

The inventor made much of the fact that his little engine utilized 15 percent of the energy in the solar rays it received.

This doesn't seem so important. A locomotive makes use of only a small part of the energy released by burning coal. Coal costs money and throwing it away in smoke and soot and ash and escaping steam runs up the expense account. But there is no meter on sunshine.

This letter to the editor first ran as an editorial in the Whitefish Pilot on Jan. 24, 1936.