Columnist wrong about who's boss

We, the (Naperville) Central Times staff, would like to address Jim Davis' opinion piece "Sorry, but even student journalists need bosses, too."

First off, in his title and throughout his article, Davis mentions Central Principal Jim Caudill as the Central Times' "boss." We would like to clarify this false statement. Mr. Caudill is our principal when we are students but is not our "boss" as journalists. Mr. Caudill has no legal right to edit the publications at Central. On the contrary, our student editors are the Central Times' "bosses," while our staff adviser is our guide. So while the Daily Herald's bosses can change their reporters' words, Mr. Caudill does not have that jurisdiction unless those words cause "material and substantial disruption" to the school day, according to the Student Press Law Center.

We also would like to clarify the actual controversy happening here at Central. While some readers don't like the first-person account because they feel it "glorifies" marijuana, that is not why Mr. Caudill wishes to censor us. The issue is whether or not our student publication should be allowed to use profanities. If the school district prohibits this freedom of speech, they are violating our First Amendment rights in accordance with student-press law. Other law professionals, such as the individual quoted in the front page news article, may not know the difference between a professional publication's rights and a student publication's rights.

While in the spotlight, we also want to clarify some of our opinions for the readers who may be confused about why we would publish profanities. The article that included swearing was a first-person account and therefore came directly from an anonymous Central student. His profanities are needed for the story because they represent a reality. Not just the reality that teenagers swear, but the reality of the passion that this student felt about his illegal activities. Also, we never publish profanities because we have the right. We publish them if we feel they are a necessity.

We appreciate the Daily Herald's coverage of this story.

Hannah Oppenheimer

and the Central Times staff Naperville Central High School