diff --git a/ground_station/resources/core/MapHelper.py b/ground_station/resources/core/MapHelper.py
index 8c4218c..86724fc 100644
--- a/ground_station/resources/core/MapHelper.py
+++ b/ground_station/resources/core/MapHelper.py
@@ -1,14 +1,15 @@
 import PIL.Image
 
 class MapHelper(object):
-    def __init__(self):
-        return
 
-    def new_image(self, width, height):
+    @staticmethod
+    def new_image(width, height):
         return PIL.Image.new('RGBA', (width, height))
 
-    def fast_round(self, value, precision):
+    @staticmethod
+    def fast_round(value, precision):
         return int(value * 10 ** precision) / 10. ** precision
 
-    def pixels_to_degrees(self, pixels, zoom):
+    @staticmethod
+    def pixels_to_degrees(pixels, zoom):
         return pixels * 2 ** (21-zoom)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ground_station/resources/core/mapping.py b/ground_station/resources/core/mapping.py
index 012e4bd..4c44881 100644
--- a/ground_station/resources/core/mapping.py
+++ b/ground_station/resources/core/mapping.py
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ class GMapsStitcher(object):
     def __init__(self, width, height,
                  latitude, longitude, zoom,
                  maptype, radius_meters=None, num_tiles=4, debug=False):
-        helper = MapHelper.MapHelper()
+        self.helper = MapHelper.MapHelper()
         self.latitude = latitude
         self.longitude = longitude
         self.start_latitude = latitude
@@ -66,8 +66,9 @@ class GMapsStitcher(object):
         self.maptype = maptype
         self.radius_meters = radius_meters
         self.num_tiles = num_tiles
-        self.display_image = helper.new_image(width, height)
+        self.display_image = self.helper.new_image(width, height)
         self.debug = debug
+        
 
         # Get the big image here
         self._fetch()