Daniel Stephens, 43, of Ross Township, Allegheny County, should have considered the consequences he and his family might encounter before he got himself in trouble with the law.

Butler County Court should be reluctant to accommodate a request he has submitted to the court, sending a stern message not only to Stephens but also to others flirting with criminal predicaments similar to his.

Stephens is the man arrested Jan. 29 in Cranberry Township for arranging a meeting with what he thought was a 13-year-old girl with whom he allegedly planned to engage in sexual activity. Instead of a 13-year-old girl, his Internet contacts actually were with an undercover agent.

Stephens, who is under a court-imposed ruling forbidding him from being alone with his 13-year-old daughter — even though he is not accused of any wrongdoing with her — wants the court to lift that condition on the grounds that it poses a hardship when his wife is working. He described difficulty arranging transportation for his daughter for after-school activities.

But arranging transportation while obeying the court ruling is possible, so Butler County Court should not approve Stephens' request.

Giving in to Stephens' request would not advance the message to child predators that Butler County is not the place to ask for leniency or special accommodations.

Pennsylvania's State Board of Education has earned an "A" for voting to allow high school and college students to serve on the board, albeit as non-voting members.As board chairman Karl Girton pointed out, their membership could be a source of valuable input in regard to education policy and regulatory decisions.The Keystone State can't regard itself as a pioneer in terms of this initiative, however. Sixteen other states, the District of Columbia and Guam already have students serving on their education boards in various capacities.The Pennsylvania board plans to have the student representatives in place during the 2008-09 school year or sooner, if possible. The bylaws change opening up the board membership to students stipulates that the board chairman will appoint four students to one-year terms — one member and one member-elect each representing high school and college students.The two member-elect positions will give newly appointed student representatives a one-year orientation period. At the end of that year, members-elect will then serve one-year terms as full members.Not only will the state board have the special perspective of the student members, but the students appointed will gain a valuable perspective on the workings of the educational machinery in the state.Meanwhile, their service could be a valuable addition to their resumes as they pursue their respective paths in life.Thus, the education board's bylaws change represents a potential win-win not only for the board and students, but for the state government, which always is in need of new, energetic talent.

During the 2007 Operation Roadcheck, Pennsylvania State Police inspected 2,795 commercial vehicles and found 28 percent were unsafe to operate.According to state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller, those vehicles were removed from service until the problems were rectified.Praise is in order to the state police and municipal police who will participate in this year's Roadcheck, which is scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday."Highly trained and certified state police personnel and municipal officers will be stopping commercial vehicles around-the-clock to inspect safety equipment and check driver's licenses, endorsements and log books," Miller said.Roadcheck is sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, a not-for-profit organization that includes law enforcement and safety officials, truck and bus companies, industry associations, insurance companies, commercial vehicle drivers and others. The program is international; not only is it held across the United States, Mexico and Canada also participate.What's puzzling and troubling is that the program, despite being well publicized prior to being held, still is able to find so many unsafe vehicles on the roads, as evidenced by last year's 28 percent statistic. Obviously, many drivers of unsafe vehicles believe that their dangerous vehicles will be able to escape detection.Like last year, state and municipal police must prove them wrong.