I would guess most bad grades are the result of not studying. I suppose some are the result of not understanding the material. And, admit it, some are the result of being dumb.

I know, I know, it’s not “politically correct” to call anybody dumb. But face it, some people are. Like the two high school seniors from California I read about recently.

These guys apparently had it all. They lived in an affluent area, went to a modern, new high school, one was planning to study law in college, but they managed to make some bad grades. Now that doesn’t make them dumb. Oh no, you have to go above and beyond for me to call you dumb!

On April 20, one of the boys requested a copy of his official transcript. School administrators noticed that his “average” grades had become “excellent” grades. They suspected the grades had been tampered with and notified the sheriff’s department.

On the night of May 19, a school custodian saw two boys running from a darkened classroom. The next day one boy was arrested. The other boy turned himself in later.

The sheriff’s investigation reveled that the two had broken into the school on several occasions, installed spyware on school computers in order to capture passwords, and used the passwords to gain access to the computers and change their `C’, `D’, and `F’ grades to `A’ and “A-` grades. They also have been accused of stealing tests and sending the test answers to dozens of their friends.

According to an article in the New York Times, the charges against the two include identity theft, burglary and computer fraud. If convicted of all charges they face up to 38 years in prison.

One of the boys lawyers compared the crimes committed to those of Ferris Bueller, the character in a 1986 movie who hacks into his school’s attendance records. “Does this young man deserve to have his future ruined over this event? I think absolutely not.”

Changing grades could certainly be considered a prank, but breaking into the school? Installing spyware on the schools computers? Stealing passwords? These are crimes, and serious crimes at that.

Do they deserve 38 years in prison? Probably not, but the crimes can’t just be laughed off either. One freshman at the school “…likened the alleged crime to a `really cool’ James Bond mission. `Maybe they were just doing this to help their friends,’ he said.”

It seems to me that the way kids think these days, these two are probably already some sort of folk hero. If they aren’t punished, it would send a message to other students that, at least some of the time, crime does pay.

What do you think? Should these two be punished the same as someone who breaks into a school to steal something with a monetary value? Should they be punished like someone who hacks into a computer to steal money or government secrets? Should they be punished like someone who steals passwords in order to steal someone’s identity? Or should they be given a good talking to and allowed to continue their schooling with corrected grades?

But it’s an election year so we’re starting to hear how the politicians and the political parties plan to deal with the pressing problems facing us.

So it was with great amusement, and some amazement, that I read an article in the Dallas Morning News about a platform meeting of the state’s Republican party. Now I don’t mean this to be an attack on the Republicans, the article just happens to deal with their meeting. Don’t write in and attack me please. I’m just the reporter here.

According to the article, “Robert Hurt went to Washington and didn’t like what he saw – nudity in the nation’s capital.”

“Mr. Hurt offered statistics: He’d heard that 20 percent of the art in the National Gallery of Art is of nudes.” (Gasp!)

“He offered detail: On Arlington Memorial Bridge overlooking the famed national cemetery, ‘there are two Lady Godivas, two women on horses with no shirt on and long hair.’”

“Actually, they are classical sculptures about war – one called Valor, depicting a male equestrian and a female with a shield, and Sacrifice, a female accompanying the rider Mars.”

“The GOP platform will be presented today to the full convention. Like all platforms, it’s a statement of principle and a political document to rally the troops.”

“In this, a presidential year, it advocates prayer in school, getting out of the United Nations, teaching intelligent design with evolution in science classes, repealing of the minimum wage, declaring illegal immigrants criminals and outlawing abortion with no exceptions.”

“Last week, the Texas Democratic Party decided not to call for a federal Department of Peace and Nonviolence in its platform for fear Republicans would use it against the party in the fall campaign.”

Luckily the “war on nudes” didn’t make it into the final platform, but neither apparently did anything about fixing gasoline prices or a host of other problems that one would think might be addressed.

Some of the “planks” in the platform like prayer in school and abortion are the same old issues that have been brought up every election year for decades now. These laws came about because of Supreme Court decisions and there is very little that politicians can do about them. Why keep bringing them up year after year?

And when people are having such a hard time keeping up with rising prices, what sense does it make to repeal the minimum wage? At least we don’t have to worry about more bureaucracy with a new Department of Peace and Nonviolence. If the police can’t keep us safe from violence in the streets, what hope would a bunch of bureaucrats have?

But seriously, don’t we as citizens have a right to demand more from our political parties than this? Shouldn’t we all be writing to our delegates to let them know that we expect the platforms adopted at the conventions to address the real problems facing us? Is this a reflection of the apathy that is evident in low voter turnout in state and local elections? Can we expect any improvement in our government if we don’t get involved on a local level by writing letters, attending open meetings, or at the very least voting?