There needs to be a plan for framework on how to attract qualified professionals to decide the curriculum, and teach these courses. If it's left up to local administrators, they will have no idea where to begin or decide what needs to be taught. We'll end up with a generation of kids who have been using iPads since they were babies being taught how to use Microsoft Word 2004 and Powerpoint. If we allow a curriculum to be set nationally, then we'll find we have no teachers capable of teaching the subject. It will most likely fall to whatever teacher is "good with technology." As someone who graduated high school in 2008, I had to take a class in elementary school in around 2000 that focused on Word and Powerpoint. Helpful. In middle school I had to take a course that focused on.... word, powerpoint, and excel. Slightly less helpful. Then, in two separate years in high school, I had to take 2 more courses on Word and Excel, rehashing the same information. When I got to college as a music major, I had to take 2 semesters of Music Technology courses. Did they focus on notation or mixing software? No, the focus was, again, on Word and Excel. It was odd considering that all of our papers were required to be electronically submitted, so we obviously knew the basics anyway.

I'm in Japan right now, and have been for over three months. If you want to taste the worst beer, come here. The arguably best beer here, Asahi, tastes like a Bud Light that's been open for 2 days, except worse. At the end of a workday, I'll find myself going to a store and wanting a beer, and then just giving up because I can't stomach these. What's worse is that they cost on average maybe ¥200 (~$2.50USD) per CAN. Hoegaarden is fairly common, which I actually like, is fairly common in some stores, but runs about 3-4x what I would pay per bottle in the states. If you go to a bar, forget about it. The cheapest beers you'll find are ¥500 for a half pint. It's very hard to find imports. If you manage to find a bar that has specialty microbrew imports (few and far between) you may find yourself paying ¥1500 (almost $20USD) for a glass. And for the record, Yuengling, Shocktop, and Leinenkugel are just some of the beer makers I like in the states that are in the $7 and under range for a six pack. I think that many European beer drinkers may not like them, because many Americans tend to prefer lagers to ales. I spent two weeks in Austria last year, and missed the flavor of hops very sorely. I really enjoy the variety that can be found in American beer. There are also many bars and breweries that run great weekly specials on very high quality craft beers, where most nights I can find somewhere where all beer is $2 for a 12oz bottle/draft. I just simply dont drink coors, Budweiser, etc

I will literally lick it off the plate! Not incredibly spicy, but man, what great flavor it has! The different favors (lime, garlic, etc) are also EXCELLENT.

Im on tour with a Broadway show. Sometimes our commute is a 2 minute walk across the street to our theater, other times it's a 3 hour trip by bus or bullet train. Drinking on the street is legal here, which can effectively double the time of the return trip.

Do people generally view social media as more destructive than other addictions such as cigarettes or alcohol? Some may regulate their addictions to cigarettes or alcohol because of their destructive effects on health or general productivity. Does the overall decrease in productivity from social media such as facebook, youtube, or twitter count for more than the decrease in productivity from drinking or smoke breaks? What about the effects of liver/lung damage?

A lot of the problem with this mentality is that it is P.E., Physical EDUCATION. At my high school (c/o '08) the focus was only half physical activity, but the rest was spent in a classroom setting, learning about various aspects of physical and emotional health, learning about everything from nutrition to healthy relationships. That's the aspect that will be missing, and frankly, I think it's horrible that students are allowed to miss so much. We were only required to have one year, and most of us did PE our freshman year and didn't do anything for the next three. I loved that we only had to do it for one year while I was in high school, but in retrospect I wish I had been required to have more credits. You would be surprised just how many people, especially in my generation, have no concept of proper nutrition.

Someone mod this man up!

I use facebook to keep up with friends, and make plans via chat. Sure, it's nice to keep up with people I haven't seen for a while, but the majority of my time on facebook is spent talking to people I hang out with regularly, and making plans.

That is very true. However, what are the odds of writing the EXACT SAME THING, with the same wording, punctuation, etc? They are good for checking to make sure a student has not plagiarized, since they bring works the professor may not be familiar with to the attention of the professor. If Johnny has the exact same paragraph as a book in the library, guess what? He probably plagiarized it.

I don't agree with this at all! How many of these kids who may have grown up to enjoy classical music are turned off by it forever? How many children will avoid their school music programs now, which have positive effects on everything from social development to grades? This makes me so angry.

I guess I'm feeling particularly sexist this morning.

A few years ago, I was complaining to my then-girlfriend about how much I hated dealing with airports and flying. She mentioned that she had never been in a plane before, but wanted to try it. So for a Valentines day surprise, I got a friend of mine who was getting his pilot's license to put me in touch with one of his friends from a small local airport. I talked to the guy, and he agreed to take me and my girlfriend up in a small plane for about a 20 minute flight. We flew over our town, found our houses, flew over the lake and dam, and since she was sitting in the copilots seat she even got to fly for about 10 seconds. She would have flown longer but we decided not to let her after she sent us into a steep dive. ;) Is that right for all girls? No, some would be scared out of their minds. She was admittedly a bit nervous, but I knew she wouldn't be the type to back down, she's pretty athletic and a bit of a tomboy. She absolutely LOVED it, and told all of her friends. It was something that made her feel very special, and even though we're not together anymore, remembering the look on her face when I told her what we were going to do while we pulled into the airport, and remembering how she looked at me when we left from the airport, I still can't help but smile. You don't have to do something incredibly cheesy or embarrassing, but sometimes little stunts like these that you will both enjoy can be more memorable than anything else you could do.

I'm a musician. Ever try playing in a tight group where you can't see/hear the other people without a slight delay of time?

I would really like to see Amazon make a commitment to not allowing purchased e-books to ever be pulled from the e-book readers of it's customers. I would like for them to think of e-books like people think of physical books in terms of ownership. If a bookstore sells me an illegal or stolen copy of a book by mistake, they damn sure can't come into my house and take it back.