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	Darts & Laurels: Archdiocese, Faithful Tested by Controversy Daily Times March 12, 2011 http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2011/03/12/opinion/doc4d7af9de1c495566906569.txt A look at the week that was, the issues and people who made headlines, and a few darts and laurels for those who deserve them. DART: To the continuing controversy that is roiling the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. This should have been dealt with long ago. LAUREL: To the faithful. Many in the archdiocese are shaken in their priests and their leaders, but their faith remains strong. The church is more than a few men. DART: To those using the sex-abuse scandal to take unfounded shots at the Catholic Church. It will survive this, just as it has survived other problems. LAUREL: To the kids at Garnet Valley High School. Their Hi-Q team bested Penncrest and Chichester to capture this year’s Hi-Q crown. Kudos to all the kids who took part in this scholastic quiz competition. DART: To the brutal education cuts announced this week by Gov. Tom Corbett. Those cuts could wind up sparking tax hikes on the local level. LAUREL: To Carol Rockafellow. She’s the adviser for the winning Garnet Valley team. She’s been teaching at Garnet Valley for 31 years and participating in Hi-Q for 18. Nothing like going out on top. DART: To those who insist on lumping all teachers together as part of the problem when it comes to education funding. They’ve obviously never met Rockafellow. DART: To the increasingly bitter tone of the debate between municipalities and the SPCA. The organization announced a year ago that it was getting out of the animal-control business. Now towns are scrambling for a solution. Seems like they should be able to get together on this problem. LAUREL: To county Councilman Mario Civera. He continues to work behind the scenes for a potential solution that will serve all sides. DART: To Gov. Tom Corbett. Not so much for the brutal cuts he announced in his budget plan this week, but instead for his steadfast resistance to levying a tax on those firms drilling in the state’s Marcellus Shale region. Most other states do. Corbett is on record saying everyone needs to share in the sacrifice. That should include the natural-gas drillers. LAUREL: To local school officials like William Penn Board President Charlotte Hummel. They were barely making ends meet to begin with, now the governor may have stuck a dagger in the heart of the budgets. LAUREL: To Sen. Bob Casey and President Barack Obama. Both men this week took action to push the cause of anti-bullying. As anyone around Delaware County can attest, it’s a real problem. DART: To the fact that it took the videotaped ordeal of a 13-year-old from Upper Darby to really bring the problem into focus. Nadin Khoury probably didn’t want all this fuss, but his taped saga has certainly put the issue in a new light. DART: Bullying is not the only social issue plaguing us. Distracted driving continues to be a problem, and Pennsylvania continues to lag behind other states in taking action to combat the problem, especially when it involves young drivers. LAUREL: To Chester County Sen. Andrew Dinniman. He is again proposing legislation that would ban the use of hand-held devices while driving. Considering the brutal streak of fatal accidents in the region, it can’t come too soon. DART: To the trucker being sought for an indecent assault in a supermarket in Aston. We won’t go into what he did again, you just wonder how low our society can sink. And in the cereal aisle, no less. LAUREL: To surveillance video. Yes, some might see it as an increasing intrusion into our lives, but it is proving invaluable in catching criminals in the act and helping bring them to justice. LAUREL: To another gadget, the Automated License Plate Recognition Camera. It’s now being used by several police departments in New Jersey. It scans a license plate and runs it through various criminal databases. It helped corral an armed man wanted in several Delaware County burglaries. DART: No departments in Delaware County are using the device. Certainly, there must be a grant somewhere that will get this high-tech crime-fighting device into the hands of our officers. DART: To gas prices. Yes, you’ve heard this one before. But we’re headed to record territory as the price at the pump soars over $3.50 a gallon and shows no sign of falling off. Fill it up, and up, and up, and up…. LAUREL: To the arrival of warmer weather. Enjoy it before it gets too hot, because we’re all liable to be doing more walking instead of driving. DART: Everything seems to be going up, even that morning cup of Joe. Wawa this week hiked the price of a cup of coffee 6 cents. LAUREL: Hey, it’s still a bargain when compared to gas. LAUREL: To Cheyney University. The school had been on a warning list and in danger of losing its accreditation, but has since improved its performance and is off the list. Kudos to President Michelle Howard-Vital and her staff. DART: To fact that Cheyney will be among those schools hit hardest by state budget cuts. And its students are among those most in need of more help. It could put a college education out of reach for many of them. DART: To the possibility of scoring a 0.62 on a Breathalyzer test. It’s hard to believe a person could even be upright at that point, let alone driving a car. DART: To those who are using DUIs and underage drinking as an argument against privatizing state scores. The numbers from states that do not handle the sale of booze do not back them up. LAUREL: To an annual harbinger of spring. Kudos to the knockout displays at the Philadelphia Flower Show. And also a big thumb’s up to Stoney Bank Nurseries, which took several awards this year. DART: Now if it would only stop raining. Hey, it’s better than snow. LAUREL: To a new deal for Charlie Manuel. The Phils’ skipper and team signed off on a new, two-year extension this week. Charlie is every bit as popular with fans as his players. DART: To the bum knee that has put second baseman Chase Utley on the shelf. If his knee does not respond to treatment and keeps him out for an extended period, that would be a big setback for a team that is expected to go to the World Series. LAUREL: To March Madness. Sharpen up those pencils. The NCAA men’s tournament bracket will be in the paper Monday. DART: To Villanova. It’s trite, but the ‘Cats are “on the bubble,” and they have only themselves to blame. They’ve played lousy ball down the stretch, a long fall from starting the year ranked No. 6 in the nation.
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