Show your support at Thursday meeting
On Nov. 20, in the UC Ballroom on the University of Montana campus, from 9 a.m. to noon, the Montana Board of Regents will make their recommendation as to whether they think the Bitterroot Valley Community College should be formed.
You can show your support for this grass-roots effort by attending the meeting or e-mailing your thoughts to the regents. Remember, “history is made by those who show up.”
I am writing to encourage each of you to consider the historical effort that has been put forth by community members in the Bitterroot Valley in regards to establishing a local institution that will serve the vast educational needs of all who live here.
I am asking you to join me as an advocate for opportunity in the Bitterroot Valley by sending a strong message as to the importance of education in the state of Montana. We, Montana’s citizens, are entrusting you with a great burden, that of ensuring that education in this state does its utmost to “serve all potential students.”
The six communities located in the Bitterroot Valley, representing some 40,000 residents, have long awaited “service” from the higher education realm. In these uncertain times, the wait for re-tooling of skills, the wait for basic literacy and the wait for opportunities afforded others, makes your decision about providing local services even more critical.
Education is the key to productivity, to economic stability, to a rewarding personal and professional life, and education is the foundation on which community is built.
I urge you to be mindful of those of us who deserve equal educational opportunities and understand that the local initiative for establishing the Bitterroot Valley Community College deserves your wholehearted support.
Deborah Rogala, Trustee-elect, BVCC, Darby
Take steps to educate kids and yourself
When I first saw the Missoulian headline several weeks ago about the cat killings in Helena (“Helena men plead guilty to killing cats,” Oct. 3), I immediately turned the page. I couldn’t read it; it was too shocking. But then I thought about Gandhi’s famous quote: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” What can we do as a community to promote kindness and protect animals so that this doesn’t happen again?
Help children in this community grow up to be humane adults by supporting humane education in schools. Request presentations in your kids’ classrooms that teach respect and responsibility for animals; the Humane Society of Western Montana offers several at no charge. Talk to your kids about being kind to animals.
Please also take a moment and go to www.thepetitionsite.com/1/men-torture-kill-cats-in-helena-montana and sign this important petition. These horrific acts of cruelty cannot be ignored, and while the judge should not need a petition to prosecute these men to the fullest, I’m asking you to take a moment and sign it.
Also, be sure your voice is heard through phone calls, letters and e-mails to your legislators supporting stronger animal protection. Do your part to help pass laws that help animals. Speak for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Gandhi also said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
Lora O’Connor, Interim director,
Humane Society of Western Montana, Missoula
True colors show in choice of Emanuel
Don’t expect President Barack Obama to be withdrawing many troops from Iraq. His choice of Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff clearly indicates Obama isn’t serious about ending U.S. military action in the Iraq disaster.
Emanuel is one of the more influential members of America’s Zionist lobby and one of the Democratic Party’s most ardent hawks on Iraq.
Maybe Obama really did oppose the Iraq war a year ago. If so, he’s obviously changed his mind without letting his anti-war supporters in on that change.
It’s as if President Kennedy had proclaimed his support for racial integration and then selected arch-segregationist Strom Thurmond to be his chief of staff.
Richard Miller, Hot Springs
Bush’s agenda not good for lands
Like other federal regulations pushed by President George W. Bush, mountain biking, a sport he avidly enjoys, is being pushed in national parks and now the Bitterroot National Forest. The regulations allow harm to, and will degrade, the environment’s fragile soil, water, wildlife, plants and trees, not to mention the scenic and undisturbed area for the public.
The national forests are for the American public everywhere, e.g., Cleveland, Missoula, or a small Montana ranch. Since when can Bush and some national forest administrators (who listen to Bush and not the public) go for mountain bikes and manipulate regulations? Why is the American public going to have a part of our national forests taken away by the private interests of a resort, and Bush and other mountain bikers get their mountain biking?
A majority of Montanans are against having the resort get a part of Bitterroot Forest.
May I ask that President-elect Obama quickly reverse this regulation from Bush before it is too late for the Bitterroot and our national parks and national forests. I did not hear Obama say anything about the environment during his campaign. Past President John F. Kennedy passed the Wilderness Act, as have other presidents, especially as the majority of the American public is in favor of protecting the environment.
I do hope that we can see Obama as a president of the environment, especially with Bush going against the environment with past damage and, right now, getting his gift - mountain bikes regulations on our public lands. I have heard from conservationists that he is associated with a major corporation that produces and markets mountain bikes.
Daniel H. Henning, Missoula
Pig shooting was illegal act of cruelty
Regarding the pig-killing incident at the PEAS farm (Missoulian, Nov. 14 and 15), I would just like to express my sympathy for director Josh Slotnick, who had to spend an “exhausting” day explaining to us poor, dumb city folk where our food comes from, and that perhaps he should have known the farm is inside the city limits of Missoula, where the pigs should not have been shot (not “probably shouldn’t have been”), because it is against the law to discharge firearms in the city.
It is also ethically wrong and completely inhumane to have shot the pigs within sight of their mother, as obviously a wire fence would hardly have prevented her from seeing what was happening. This is not, however adamantly Slotnick might like to portray it as such, about “the way Americans receive and perceive their food;” it is about an illegal act of animal cruelty, and if this exemplifies the manner in which animal killing has taken place at the PEAS farm in the past, I have to wonder why no one has spoken up before. Or maybe the PEAS farm is one of Missoula’s many sacred cows, and doesn’t actually have to play by the rules.
Whatever the case, Slotnick, please spare us the sermon and the condescension, and start thinking about getting your own act together. The benefit that you and your organization provide to this community is both valuable and laudable, but it should not immunize you against the repercussions of irresponsible behavior, behavior which, in fact, undermines your cause and erodes your support.
Marian Moore, Missoula
U.S. can work together to be greener
Al Gore has challenged the United States to be fossil fuel-free and clean energy independent within 10 years.
I hope the new Obama administration will work to repower America by investing in our infrastructure, including better and faster energy-efficient rail systems and other green technology research. Many solutions, like energy efficiency and renewable generation, can be found at the wecansolveit.org and repoweramerica.org Web sites.
We can make America the country of hopes and dreams that our children want to inherit if we all do our share.
Jackie Beyer, Eureka
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Ray wrote on Nov 19, 2008 12:24 PM:
" Just for the record, I don't believe that the slaughter of pigs for food is "ethically wrong", "completely inhumane", or "an illegal act of animal cruelty". My great grandmother once slaughtered a chicken right in front of my 5 year old eyes, and though I don't remember I'd be willing to bet that the chicken's mother was nearby. She wasn't being cruel. She was preparing dinner. Why is a farm, where the slaughter animals is a normal and necessary part of life, in the city limits anyway? Couldn't the city wait until the farm is developed for shopping malls, luxury homes, or nightclubs before declaring it city? And by the way, what cause is being undermined and what support is being eroded? "
Rick Langlotz wrote on Nov 19, 2008 4:46 PM:
" Bicycling in the mountains is bad? There are no fossil fuels being burned, only calories. There are no mind-numbing televisions being stared at by junk food consuming, ever fatter folks. The only noise is the huffing and puffing of cardiovascular systems at work. I have a difficult time seeing the problem.
Rick Langlotz Lake Hughes "
Rick Langlotz Lake Hughes "
jt wrote on Nov 19, 2008 12:22 PM:
Clinton pardoned Marc Rich...won't it be interesting to see who Bush pardons on hi way out? "