I can imagine that there are certain folks who would not hire someone with tattoos, but I also imagine that many people get turned down for jobs due to other personal appearance issues.
My opinion of tattoos has changed as I learned more and more about tattoos in ancient cultures. I have been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo, kind of macabre but my body will have a record of my undying love for my partner. 'Course, things can change, but 25 years even if we crashed and burned would justify a permanent mark 
As for earrings, I don’t get it, especially for cultures who pierce the ears of their infants. But, when I was in HS (1980s), the trend was multiple ear piercings and also ear cuffs (which I never knew if they were “clip on” or piercings essentially). It was not unusual to see someone with five or six ear piercings.
I think once someone is 18, they “should” be able to make the decision about tattoos and piercings. I would forbid my kids to do so younger than that, and I would try to convince them to wait until age 25 to do anything permanent, due to brain maturation research:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=141164708
Regarding buying out my roommate.
" It seems to me that rather than throwing cash at a problem, a better strategy is to be sympathetic toward your kid and help them to figure out ways to solve the problem. If I were asked by my kid,I would reach to to school administrators but only if my kid explicitly asked me to do or if she had done so and not gotten any response. "
My parents are the same ones who told me “if you tell the doctor your brother broke your shoulder, the doctor will tell the police and the police will take you away”. So…
It was a completely different schedule that was the main issue, and her lack of concern for my health and safety. I had already been clinically depressed and abused as a teen, and I could not take it any more. She wanted to live in the sorority house any way. My parents agreed to pay the money. I was very very happy to have a single, and even now, with aforementioned partner, we both like to have our own interests and space.
“we can work it out” was a song of the 1960s. My parents were raised in the Depression and the “don’t ask don’t tell” of the mid 20th century. I love CC and I love that we are living in a time when dialogue is possible about many, many things. I can hope our kids will live in a more communicative and tolerant world. My parents’ solution to my roommate issue was Occam’s Razor; the simplest thing to do if you don’t get along with your roommate is buy them out.
(and my friend will be doing that during her divorce, essentially - buying out her STBX)
. He actually texted “Howdy” to me last night, which is the official Aggie greeting. I think he is having a blast! We pick him up tomorrow afternoon and then cram everything we haven’t done already into the next week, along with getting my D’20 ready for school, too. Move-in at A&M is the 23rd, so we are closing in here. Yowza.