Saturday Soapbox: Standing up for what she believes

You can argue all you want about whether Linda Kane, the Central Times newspaper adviser at Naperville Central High School, overstepped her bounds by allowing student journalists to use profanity and print a first-person account of drug use at their school. And you can question some of the intemperate things she told this newspaper about her bosses. But here's what we'll always respect about her: It would have been easy when threatened with the loss of her adviser post to claim she was misquoted or taken out of context. Goodness knows, that's a common enough defense these days. But Kane never did that. For better or worse, she stood by her quotes and never once tried to shift the blame to someone else. It may have been the most important lesson she's ever taught her students: Even when times get tough, take responsibility for what you say and do. It may cost you your job in the short run, but it won't cost you your integrity. And, in the long run, that's far more important.

Reconsider dismissal

We aren't privy to all that led to Kane's dismissal as the Central Times' adviser. But might there not be room for reconsideration, perhaps a suspension from her newspaper duties with certain expectations for full reinstatement? After all, Kane said she has never been disciplined in her 32 years of teaching. But what she has been, in her 19 years as the newspaper's adviser, is a teacher respected and admired by her students, and a leader in fashioning a national award-winning student newspaper. Again, we don't have all the details surrounding her dismissal. But it seems harsh for a teacher who is thought of so highly by her students, past and present .

Those ringing phones

A bill has been introduced in the Illinois General Assembly that would ban those annoying "robo-calls" from politicians seeking your vote. You have to like this bill, though there could be problems with it in terms of infringing on free speech. Those could probably be averted simply by making robo-calls part of the national "Do Not Call" list. But what if citizens used their freedom of speech to turn the tables on the robo-callers, and by the thousands called their campaign offices, irritating the heck out of them in a statement of protest. Maybe then politicians would get a better appreciation of how annoying these calls can be, and put an end to them on their own.

Stress? You want stress?

As Associated Press report shows that many college students are finding life on campus to be a stressful experience. The pressures are so great that they can't eat or sleep. They're always anxious. Well, their parents just might be feeling the same way as they attempt to pay those ever-higher higher education bills, even as their kids face poorer job and wage prospects once they graduate. In the past decade, tuition has skyrocketed 70 percent at Illinois' private universities and doubled at state colleges. That can cause parents to lose sleep -- and their appetites -- too.

Best way to stop Wrigley proposal

Some want the state to buy Wrigley Field, including former Gov. Jim Thompson. Others think this is a foolish idea, and rightfully so, considering there are so many other matters of greater importance that should be high on the state's to-do list. The best way to keep this proposal from going forward is to attach a rider to any bill authorizing state acquisition of Wrigley Field requiring that the sale be contingent on the Cubs guaranteeing that they'll win the World Series this year. Now that would be a killer amendment.