Hutchinson community Rallies for Rusty Hilst

By Carly Thompson Staff Writer

Rusty Hilst is a well-known radio broadcaster and match teacher in the Hutchinson area who has been diagnosed with ALS, a nervous system disease that weakens the muscles.

Hilst also had an impressive golfing career and was the Tournament Administrator for the Kansas Golf Association. He was inducted into the Kansas Golf Hall of Fame in 2002.

Hilst was also a golf coach at Hutchinson High School for 31 years, where he also taught calculus, trigonometry and college algebra. He became the Math Department Chairman in 1978.

His broadcasting career began at KWHK Radio in 1969, and he moved to KWBW in 1980, where he announced the games for Hutchinson High School, Hutchinson Community College, and the NJCAA Tournament.

Hilst received the Hod Humiston Award from the Kansas Association of Broadcasters in 2005. He was also inducted into the Hutchinson Community College Quarterback Club Hall of Fame in 2014.

Rusty’s friends and family have started a GoFundMe titled “Rally for Rusty Hilst vs. ALS” where you can donate to his medical expenses. There is also a Face- book page called “Rally for Rusty Hilst” where they post updates on Rusty’s ALS journey and stories of his life.

Here is a sample of what Hilst’s co-workers and friends have to say about him, his impact on their lives and the community.

“His willingness to share his stories with me continues to motivate me.

Rusty is a hall of famer in multiple areas of his life. Broadcasting, Blue Dragon Athletics, and Golf. His impact in all of those areas and specifically in Hutchinson and the state of Kansas is felt by many.” - Josh Gooch, Hutchinson Community College Athletic Director.

“Rusty has been synonymous with Salthawk and Blue Dragon athletics for decades and has had such a positive impact on generations. And I’d give anything to have about 10% of Rusty’s golfing ability.” - Denny Stoecklein, HutchCC Director Of Marketing And Public Relations. He has two sons whose high school careers were covered by Hilst.

See Hilst, Page 5

Patrolling TikTok makes you wish for a Y2K winter

Let’s be honest. All things considered? Social media is pretty bad for you. There are real, tangible effects we’ve seen studied from numerous scientific points. And yet, we still consume.

Of course, that’s the individual’s choice. At the end of the day, if you’re a grown adult, do whatever you want, use social media or don’t, it’s up to you.

However, there is one group where that choice is wholly unnecessary. Children. There is no room on social media for anyone under the age of 15. Any access to platforms like Twitter (a toxic waste of data that none of us can ever really escape) or TikTok (at best, a poorly-moderated platform for 5% funny content, 25% political rhetoric, 70% softcore or borderline porn.) is catastrophically harmful for young minds.

Even with proper education about online safety, children and teenagers’ brains aren’t fully developed. They will make mistakes. And those mistakes should be offline, because if they are online they can prove to me vastly worse for them.

An offline mistake is typically getting a little hurt, or getting grounded. An online mistake could lead young children into any number of terrible places. A harsh drop into neo-fascism before they’re old enough to comprehend what they’re being told, or any number of encounters with pedophiles, or just happening to see graphic footage out of a warzone, or a mental health victim taking their own life.

Any number of things can just happen on the internet, and without any real and effective way of keeping that away from children, the best move is to keep them away.

-For the Collegian Editorial board