A school is facing criticism after it barred special-education students from participating in a spelling bee. Mendis Brown, principal of IS 252 Middle School Brooklyn, New York, refused to let two students participate in the contest, reportedly saying "You don't have the brains. "

Beginning February, the University of Sioux Falls, North Dakota will offer the first ever one-credit dating course called "Finding Dates Worth Keeping. " Offered through the USF Learning Institute, the authorities have appointed Laurie Chaplin as the course instructor. Chaplin, a relationships counselor and licensed therapist has been married for 28 years.

California State University-East Bay campus has its youngest student ever - an 11-year-old boy from Oakland, California. According to MediaNews, Terence Candell Jr. was just 10 years old when he started college.

Whiskey made at George Washington's Mount Vernon farm has sold for $100,000 at auction. Two bottles of a limited 24-bottle run of George Washington Distillery Straight Rye Whiskey, the first run produced at Mount Vernon in over 200 years, set the world record auction price for a bottle of American whiskey.

The holidays can bring tension for families when college students return home. The problem comes because of differing expectations of parents and their now adult offspring.