The very cool Marc Daniels, editor of The Cactus, Scottsdale High's school newspaper, and Smitty Smith, his best reporter and girlfriend, have run into hard times. The newspaper is struggling to survive; Smitty's admiration for Mr. O'Hara, the popular new teacher she has interviewed makes Marc so jealous that he dumps her, and as if that wasn't bad enough, Alan Corbett, the school's football star and his gorillas are threatening to beat Marc up for writing critical articles about Corbett's style of play. Both Marc and Smitty are young people of principle. The question is, what good are the best of principles in a desperate situation like the one they find themselves in?