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Ignoring bullying no answer

RE: Families of bullied teens won't back down, Pique Oct. 7 I congratulate the parents for taking their concerns to the police.

RE: Families of bullied teens won't back down, Pique Oct. 7

I congratulate the parents for taking their concerns to the police. I don't think prosecution or jail is an effective way to solve bullying but what choice do the parents have if they want to protect their children?

When our son was in Grade 9 at a Vancouver high school I was phoned to meet the vice-principal with him. I was told my son had broken his hand when he punched another student. I was shocked because my son had never shown this type of behaviour before.

My son told me he had been bullied for the last six months and he had asked his teachers for help on many occasions. I knew about the problem but was told by the school that it was being taken care of. He never received any help and in frustration decided to solve the problem himself.

At the meeting the vice-principal asked my son to feel compassion for his tormentor because of his alleged difficult home life! We both were shocked at this proposed "solution." We demanded a more effective solution or we would go to the police. Four days later the student was transferred to another school to continue his bullying on someone else.

School administrators think ignoring the problem will make it go away. They don't want to admit some students, at a young age, need constant intervention and help to prevent their bullying tendencies to become worse. By not dealing with the problem, the bullies end up being put in jail and nothing is solved.

Tony Puddicombe

Vancouver

 

Dire assumption

Last week I found myself in the main day skier parking lots and was shocked at the amount of empty space I found there. It's become a great place to practice some new skateboard moves, or teach your girlfriend how to ride a motorcycle. With only 23 cars parked there last Monday, it's not the go-to place to park your car anymore.

Since there hasn't been a public report on the pay parking since mid-August, at the Oct. 19 th council meeting I asked if there were any updates planned for the future. I was taken aback with the answer I got, there are, but not until Dec. 21 st, , over two months away. I've noticed lately that the RMOW message has borne the mark of a professional public relations specialist (a PR Flak, in journalist lingo), and a classic tactic is to release damaging information on the eve of a major holiday, where people are least likely take notice of it. Given that it's only a matter of exporting a spreadsheet out of whatever bookkeeping program they use to keep track of the parking revenues, I get the feeling that the revenue numbers are particularly dire.

The first step in solving any problem is admitting you have a problem in the first place. Sweeping it under the carpet and pretending everything's great doesn't get you anywhere.

David Buzzard

Whistler

 

Civil discourse

"Okay. You can stop giggling now." (Alta States, Sept. 30) That's the sentence which prompted my letter to the editor ("Tired of tirades", Oct. 13) "Ol' Beaudry" had just spent an entire column ridiculing the value of an "expert" from Ontario, a guest of the Whistler Chamber of Commerce. Now, maybe this tourism management consultant didn't know what he was talking about - I wasn't there, I can't say. But I do know that he would feel awful after reading that article. I had reached my tipping point.

"I know that I'm going to get slammed hard by the usual suspects for my opinions," Mr. Beaudry had recently written. I thought it was time he heard from an unusual suspect. So I slammed him hard. (Okay, perhaps a touch too hard - I certainly didn't intend to imply that all of Mr. Beaudry's opinions are no better than crap, and in hindsight I should have left out "rancid," but for my first-ever pissed-off-letter-to-the-editor I think it was a decent effort.)

You'd think Beaudry could take it as well as he gives it. Apparently not. He branded me a bully for writing a strongly-worded letter that contained no threats whatsoever, drew a ludicrous parallel between my disgruntled little missive and the vicious racist and Islamophobic slander President Obama faces down south - slyly identifying himself with a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in the process, nice touch there - and accused me of truth-bending, yet quoted me as saying "Beaudry hates Whistler." I'm not sure about my truth-bending, but he just fabricated a quote!

Pique readers can decide for themselves, but as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Beaudry's over-the top response to my letter validates my view that Mr. Beaudry's writing is at times too angry and negative, at times factually inaccurate, and at times downright unreasonable.

But the part which really has me scratching my head is the outrage he reserved for my quip about him wanting to focus on the top five per cent of the skier market. "I never said that, I don't believe that. In fact, that claim is as far from the truth as you can get." (Alta States, Oct. 21) This from the man who wants us to question the future of lift-accessed skiing, whose 2060 vision for Whistler excludes snow groomers, and who wrote "I think it's time we got back to what we do best - and that's attracting the most hardcore, steely-eyed, weather-resistant snoweaters to our slopes." (Alta States, Sept. 9, 2010)

As for why it's reasonable to remove lifts at Courchevel but not at Whistler, WB already has perhaps the most efficient lift system in the world and the process of removing multiple redundant lift systems was completed years ago. For example, the Whistler gondola and Olive chairs were replaced by a single lift, now the Creekside Express, and the two original green chairs were also replaced by a single lift, now the Emerald Express. The result?  Fifty per cent less infrastructure on the mountain, which I believe Mr. Beaudry would agree is a net positive. So the real question for Mr. Beaudry is which of the existing lifts at WB should be removed (and not replaced) to improve Whistler's skiing experience, and what segment of the skier market would benefit?

Eric Callender

Whistler

 

Rotary can meet students' needs

On reading the feature story by Claire Daniels (Growing up Whistler, Pique, Oct. 7), I noticed the inset on Camp Whistler and some of the "needs" listed by the students.

Vocational "Adventure Programs" offered through the Rotary Club of Whistler to our Grade 11 and 12 students address some of those learning needs mentioned. These programs run from two and a half  to four and a half days and are free, excluding travel and spending money. The students are billeted with Rotarian families and attend the many sessions presented by leaders in their related fields. More detailed information may be found on the Rotary Club of Whistler web site at www.whistler-rotary.org or contact me at kellybob@telus.net tel: 604-932-6288.

The Rotary Club of Whistler hopes that students will take advantage of these introductory seminars in their field of interest.

Bob Calladine

Whistler Rotary Club

 

Coast Mountain Veterinary Clinic farewell

Thank you to the spirited, hard working crew at Coast Mountain Veterinary Hospital; and good bye to everyone with four-legged family members that I have had the pleasure of working with in the Whistler and Pemberton community.

Over the last four years, I have seen many small miracles and have met many devoted and caring pet owners. Alas, I have moved and will have to say good bye.

Best wishes to all and good health to your pets!

Dr. Julie Mountifield

Squamish

 

A wave and thanks

Well that was a great couple weeks of October riding to top off a pretty good summer! As I was out enjoying the fall colours and sunshine, I came across a Muni trail crew and that reminded me that our singletrack doesn't build itself. So I think everyone who rides in this town should say a word of thanks to the trail-builders: Eric and Ryan and the Muni crew who keep coming up with new routes in Lost Lake; Jerome and Dave and everyone who attended WORCA trail days for maintaining old faves and creating new classics; and to Scotty and Steve and everyone else who just goes out and does it. Thanks!

And let's not forget Fooner and Seb and the rest of the freaks building the crazy trail-world of Pemberton.

Kudos as well to RMOW and SLRD for having the foresight to fund trail projects, to WB and TW and the other organizations who understand that biking is the lynch-pin of Whistler's summertime success, and to WORCA and PVTA for advocating on behalf of corridor bicyclists.

I'd be remiss if I didn't also say thanks to all our customers for making our shop a busy place, and to Wayne and the girls at Gone for keeping us well-caffeinated. See all y'all on Cowboy Ridge...

DaveThe Wave

Whistler Bike Co.

 


Stan Clarke Park name needs to change

Next time you visit this park, remember that not too long ago water flowed through this park. This beautiful waterway was then filled in... but not with just any old fill. There was a little lake just north of the Stamish river, and west of the highway. People probably visited this lake to cool down in the summer and enjoy the spirit of this place. I listened to a friend of mine tell a story of how his grandfather talked of a lake he would visit as a young man, it was within walking distance from the Stamish river but could not find any signs of this place.

This lake was completely drained to make way for the railway. What remained of the lake bed was trucked downtown and used for top soil to finish filling in "Stan Clark Park".

This park should be renamed to reflect the spirit of both the lake that was destroyed, and the waterway that once flowed through the area, not after Stan Clark.

John Buchanan

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