Letters to the editor

Vote for Tester

In the few years I’ve lived in Montana, I’ve been to and lived in a lot of places around our state. I’ve met a lot of folks from all walks of life, each with a different and interesting story to tell. One person I’ve had the pleasure to get to know is Jon Tester, our next U.S. senator.

As a farmer, former teacher, and president of the Montana Senate, Jon is one of few people who wake up everyday wondering what they can do better to help their family, community, and state. Jon’s dedication to his family and state are the values we need representing us in Washington. As scandal after scandal boils out of Washington, it’s more and more clear that we need a fresh perspective to end the petty bickering.

I’ve been fortunate to call Jon Tester a friend for several years now and I think Montana would do well to give Jon the honor of representing us in Washington. Vote for Jon Tester this June in the Democratic primary and again in November. Together we can send a hard-working Montanan to Washington to represent us, not special interests.

Neal Ullman

622 N Benton Avenue

Thanks for donations

On behalf of all the students and staff at C.R. Anderson Middle School, we would like to thank the following local businesses: Van’s Thriftway, Albertsons, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Meadow Gold Dairy and Pepsi Cola Distributing for their generous donation of healthy snacks and Dole light juice drinks for our students during the Montana Comprehensive Criterion-Referenced Tests on March 6, 7, and 13.

Many students come to school without eating breakfast and others eat breakfast so early they are hungry by 9 a.m. Students require nutrients and energy for concentration on academic tasks. Eating breakfast or a healthy snack can provide nutritional necessities to prevent such symptoms as headaches, fatigue, and restlessness that interfere with academic performance.

Several studies have shown that students who eat breakfast have higher reading and math scores and improved memory cognition on tests, therefore the school nutrition committee felt it was important for all students to have a healthy snack the morning of testing.

C.R. Anderson Middle School is grateful for the wonderful support the above businesses have provided towards the academic success of our students and our school.

Peggy Schluter, Lisa Waterman

C.R. Anderson Middle School Nutrition Committee

1200 Knight Street

Recalling bullying

One of the most traumatic events of my life occurred a long time ago when I was in first grade at Kessler School.

One of my classmates was a little girl with dark skin, dark hair and a hairlip. I liked her and thought of her as my friend. But some of the other kids would chase her home after school, yelling, throwing rocks and worse at her. The teachers didn’t know about these after-school activities, or they would have stopped them.

One day, the bullies started their usual routine, and I hung back from the crowd, afraid to try to stop them.

The scene escalated, getting really nasty as they ran after her throwing rocks. At least one hit her and drew blood before she finally got home.

I was so ashamed that I hadn’t tried to stop them; I just ran home and cried and cried. She never came back to school, and I grieved to have lost a friend.

Bullying doesn’t just happen to gay people, it can happen to anyone, especially those who are different, unpopular or unable to defend themselves. “If it happens to the least of these my brethren, it happens to me,” said Jesus of Nazareth.

Alexandra Swaney

1205 Highland

Here we go again

We went into Afghanistan on a mission to get Osama Bin Laden after the attacks of 911. Had we stayed the course there, he would have been caught and his followers would have been dealt a severe blow. However, we did a 180-degree turn and had to go into Iraq. Now we are still in Iraq and Afghanistan and our president says we might need to go into Iran and we know from experience that he means what he says:

We cannot handle what is going on in Iraq. How does this president expect us to add another country for our military to occupy and become targets. How many more lives and billions of dollars will this adventure cost?

As I recall we are a member of the United Nations. If this body deems it necessary to go into Iran to prevent a nuclear weapons program, then it should happen from the U.N. and not the U.S.

Contact our representatives in Washington and stop any preemptive plans against Iran without total and complete support of Congress and the U.N. The UAE ports deal was stopped by the will of the people, let’s make our voice heard again.

Larry Pfeiffer

4148 Fox Ridge Drive

It’s still money

True. The Republicans didn’t raise our taxes. Instead, they raised our electric rates.

Neil Haight

500 Geddis

Credit unions

I appreciated the article that you ran on Sunday, March 12, concerning “Big Bucks in the Bank.” Phenomenal growth of the Helena area has undoubtedly made our city an investor rich environment. However, you overlooked a portion of the market share, approximately 20 percent, when you did not consider the area’s credit unions: Helena Community Credit Union, Rocky Mountain Credit Union, Elkhorn Federal Credit Union, Trico Educational FCU, and TriValley Credit Union. All of these credit unions are community financial institutions who offer many of the same services as the banks to anyone who lives, worships or works in Helena or the surrounding area. The credit unions like the banks are community centered, wanting to help in the growth of Helena. However, unlike banks, credit unions are owned by their respective members.

The information you shared about Doug Boutilier and Andy O’Neill was right on the mark. These two gentlemen are great businessmen, good leaders, positive vision purveyors, and excellent financial experts. The credit unions have also played a similar role in assisting with this process. I hope the citizens of Helena can recognize the role and efforts of the credit unions in our city too.

Bruce Nachtsheim

President/CEO

Trico Educational FCU

Voting with our wallet

We wanted President Bush to sign the Kyoto Protocol. We buy “Made in China.” We want green business (e.g., The Strawhouse Market), but we shop at ShopKo, Target and Wal-Mart because groceries and sundries are less expensive.

We want the president to distance himself from big oil, but we buy SUVs and drive in excess of the speed limits.

We too often vocalize one thing, then buy the other.

R. Beard

Box 85

Elliston