Gratuitous Capitalization

After panting for it for quite a while, I have the dubious honor of proofing several lesson plans before they are "published" amongst our colleagues. This means I am spending lots of time un-capitalizing random improper nouns that the writers wish to emphasize. I've also noticed it in other arenas as well; apparently capitalization for emphasis and asterisks are replacing "scare quotes" to slow down fluent readers. (Though I must admit I love the asterisk; it feels so... *right*.) Is this an unwelcome gift from the blogosphere? Is anyone else suffering through gratuitous capitalization in their workplace?

I'm also interested to know the proper etiquette when a non-editor goes about proofing a colleague's work on a shared file. Do you fax back a hard copy with scribbles on it? Do you change the shared file, and email them to say, "I fixed this"? Do you correct without comment, and lock the file so they can't change it back? I'd love to hear your stories.