The proposed location for Park51, a former Burlington Coat Factory.

By Shannon Sheridan

This summer, the country became entrenched in a controversy of religious freedom. When word began to spread about Muslims building a mosque at ground zero, the country was thrown into an uproar. The “mosque” is actually a community center complex located two blocks away from Ground Zero named Park51. The building was organized by Daisy Khan, Imam Feisal Abdul Rau, and Sharif el-Gamal. On August 3, 2010, a decision by the New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission cleared the way for the construction of the Park51 project. Public views of the proposed mosque vary. Some, such as President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg of New York City defend the project on the basis of religious freedom. However, others are against the building. In a Quinnipiac University poll, it was found that 52% of New Yorkers were against the plan, with just 13% supporting it.The main problem is not the fact that it is a new building going up; rather the fact that it is a Muslim building, the same religion whose fundamentalists were behind the 9/11 attacks. Many people believe that building this Muslim center will be an insult to the memories of the 9/11 victims. However, supporters of the center say that Muslims have the right to build the center, and that doing so will increase our tolerance of them, and show other Islamic countries that the United States is unbiased against Muslims. Only time will tell how the building of the Park 51 will play out.

LeBron James decided to take his talent elsewhere this summer with a multimillion dollar  contract signing with the Miami Heat. Lebron has moved down to south beach to team up with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh which now makes the Heat the obvious favorite in the Eastern Conference, not to mention the rest of the NBA. LeBron has recently talked to reporters from Gentleman’s Quarterly magazine about how as a kid he hated Cleveland but he can still see himself playing there in the future.

LeBron James sporting the new Miami Heat number 6

I spent the day asking fellow students their opinion on the “King of Cleveland” moving to become the “King of the Beach”.  Anthony Renz commented  “You would be stupid to not think he is a good fit in Miami.” Joe Eveland said  “They will work together well as seen in their recent gold medal victory together”. But the one thing that I heard the most from students was that LeBron’s choice to announce his move on “The Decision” was tactfully wrong.

In my opinion, not only did LeBron ruin the respect of millions of fans because of the betrayal of his family, he has ruined the NBA as well. He has completely lopsided the Eastern Conference by putting three players that average 20 points or more per game on one team. The Heat are the obvious favorites to win an NBA title for the next 6 years. If the Miami Heat do not win the championship this year then it will be a complete mockery of the NBA and will just continue to prove that LeBron will never be what Michael Jordan was for the NBA.

I am sure that we have all heard about the massive British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. So how does this far off accident affect small town Danville, Pennsylvania? More importantly how does it affect you? The spill may have happened months ago but the residual effects are just now being felt. To you seafood lovers out there this means trouble, seafood prices are rising and show no sign of slowing down.

The Gulf of Mexico accounts for roughly 33 percent of the U.S.’ fishing industry but, due to the oil spill 19 percent of the fishable area is now covered in oil. The loss of fishing grounds has caused the U.S. to lose 3 billion dollars in revenue. The U.S. now has to import that amount of fish from other countries causing fish prices to rise.

I went around the high school to see what students thought about the recent disaster and subsequent rise in fish prices. Travis Stine said “I’ve always enjoyed crab and since the oil spill getting crab has been harder so we switched to chicken.” Frank Ulrich added “The oil spill hasn’t really affected how much seafood we eat. We just switched to different kinds of seafood.” I myself enjoy many kinds of seafood from river trout to lobster to deep sea fish like shark and swordfish. While the amount of seafood I eat has not drastically changed the types have. Gulf fish such as crab, lobster, shrimp and other exotic seafood have risen in price. To counteract the rise in prices we have switched to more river fish like trout. This is a sound plan to save a few dollars for any one who likes seafood but doesn’t like overpaying for it.

The Summer Lift-a-Thon is always a big event for the Danville Ironmen Football Program.  It is the Summer spectacle where the team, coaches, parents, and media alike finally get to see what all the winter and summer work was for.  This year certainly surpassed expectations.  Nearly every record was broken. As well as the “believed” record for total weight, set by  Dylan Dailey, a Senior linebacker and captain. Dailey lifted over 1,500 lbs in just four lifts ( push press, squat, bench, power clean ).  To do the math for you, that means that Dailey pushed out more than 375lbs in each lift.

Not all the focus was on Dailey, however, Garret Llewellyn followed closely putting himself second on the record board in three of the four lifts.  Cody Cooper also stole some of the spotlight, squatting over 500lbs three times to set a new Lift-a-Thon record.  “It feels amazing to be the number one lifter for squats of all time.  Unreal.” says Cooper.

All this work was not just for glory in the Fieldhouse, it was more for the football field itself, where Danville has high expectations for the upcoming season.  “Our expectations are very high this year, a lot of kids stepped up and worked hard.” says senior lineman Aaron Trate.  The team opens their season September 3rd @ Shikellamy.  When asked about how the team feels about Shikellamy, senior captain Anthony Sori stated,”They don’t stand a chance.”

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg poses at his office in Palo Alto, Calif.

By: Sara Gerdy

The Chinese public has taken what seems to be a trip back in time due to the recent Government ban on Google, Facebook, and twitter. As of July 20th 2010 there are 25 million Google searches per minute, and 500 million Facebook users. What did people do before these two incredibly popular resources? What would YOU do without them today? On one hand Senior Nick Inverso says he would just have to settle for “Bing!” even though he’s not a huge fan. On the other hand Junior Megan Ingraham says  without either site, “I would get as far as my front yard and be scared. Without Facebook I would lose my friends and without Google, research papers would need to be outlawed.” China is struggling to figure out how to function without these two web powerhouses.

I would get as far as my front yard and be scared.

In addition to the Chinese public being out of touch with their friends, the ban has had some more devastating effects. The inaccessible Facebook and the banned Google may be the cause of multiple injuries, and even death. Consider this example; In Australia, two girls were trapped in a storm drain. They updated their Facebook statuses, via their cell phones, a classmate saw the news and contacted help. Red cross officials are saying that the lack of social media, and other applications such as Google People Finder has removed a key tool in a emergency rescue.

China’s extreme totalitarian government practices are preventing people from the things we take for granted, instant information and social contact. French Teacher Carla Graham says that she probably Googles at least once a day. She commented “it’s right at your fingertips, without it I’d have to do this the old fashioned way.”  While Mrs. Graham is loosing about loosing her access to information, people in China have greater concerns without Google and Facebook.

Peace Danville. Stay Social.