Snookie gets 32K for telling Rutgers students to party harder

[howaboutme]

Rutgers University hired Snookie of Jersey Shore fame to speak to the student body at $32K, and basically what she told them was to study hard but party harder. This waste of money could have provided a scholarship for a student or helped others in need and instead they hire "Snookie" to speak at a fee that is 2K more than a Pulitzer Prize winning author that will speak at graduation. Rutgers probably gets a declining amount of state money and this is what they use it on?

The name of the individual responsible for making this decision needs to be made public and also to justify and disclose any relationship with the media and her entertainment promoter. It is one thing if students were paying admittance, but another when the University is subsidizing it.

This is another example how the entertainment media is used to dumb down society. As George Carlin says we are purposely being made willfully ignorant by the owners of our country, and powers that be.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/sns-rt-life-us-snookitre7305lq-20110401,0,3820537.story

[supernova]

1. Snooki snookered them out of 32K

who exactly is the stupid one in that equation.

[dkf]

2. The students voted on how they wanted their students fees used.

They wanted to be entertained, not enlightened.

[alp227]

5. yeah i agree as a college student i know that student bodies appropriate the money

that's spent on events and stuff from the mandated "student union fees" or whatever it is. Still while I believe in diversity and free speech I am astonished that a stupid reality show star is valued more than a quality author.

[dkf]

8. I guess more of them watch Jersey Shore than read Toni Morrison.

I wonder how the book sales compared...

[misanthrope]

15. Which just shows that our vocational school approach to universities...

...is bankrupt in ways more than monetary.

[JI7]

38. how is this even enteraining ?

[Union Scribe]

42. Maybe the admission standards need to be re-evaluated.

In fact, I think this is a great idea for all universities. Drag Snooki in and if people throw money at her, they have to go back and repeat 12th grade.

[tabasco]

3. Idiot student committee needs to learn about

recall and replacement.

[BeyondGeography]

4. This will be among the footnotes in that big history book 100 years from now

How decline was staring us in the face and America's elites, rather than trying to stop the bleeding, played right along. Maybe call it Rot at the Top.

[howaboutme]

9. That summarizes it pretty well.

The "Rot at the Top". :toast:

That's crux of the real problem that the working and middle class of the USA must face. The rot at the top works only in the interests of adding to their own abundant wealth by dumbing down and sacrificing the USA.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acLW1vFO-2Q

[customerserviceguy]

6. Good old Snooki

Putting the "rut" back in Rutgers...

[bluestateguy]

7. I can't understand the logic of paying someone $32,000 to give a speech

I just can't.

[alp227]

10. Sarah Palin got 75k to speak at a California university

Sarah Palin Speech Contract Should Not Have Been Secret, Rules Judge (Brian Ross, ABC News investigative reporter): "A California judge has ruled that the $75,000 in fees paid to Sarah Palin for her speech at a state university should not have been kept secret."

[howaboutme]

11. Why doesn't the media give us the names instead of BS

Why aren't there names mentioned? The media always talks in abstract vague terms instead of reality. Who signed the contract at Rutgers and at California? Give us their names so we know who we should specifically be critical of.

[Modern_Matthew]

12. Anti-intellectualism is strong in this country. The student body should be ashamed. nt

[howaboutme]

43. It is driven by the MSM

because they profit from it, and it keeps Americans willfully ignorant (to use George Carlin's words) while the US owners / PTB can continue to pillage the country. Americans need to take these small molehills and turn them into mountains of outrage.

[PufPuf23]

13. I would not recognize "Snooki"

but netertainment with bite is better than bullshit from the establishment.

Akin to Mr. Carlin, reality is more readily exchanged by humor and irony.

As for the OP, do you even recognize the inconsistency you posted?.

[Raine]

14. Yeah better Snooki than Palin

not that either one is worth hearing but Palin is more damaging to your brain. :silly:

[Initech]

35. Kind of hard to tell the difference.

[howaboutme]

20. Yes and yes, and see 19.

Guilty as charged. You called it "netertainment"; I call it dumbing down America. But by even bringing this up I am guilty of promoting the foolish damaging hype that I despise.

Sometimes we need to note the gullibility of all to acknowledge our own gullibility.

[Pool Hall Ace]

16. I had to Google "Snookie"

Can I claim a prize for not knowing who she was??

[howaboutme]

19. LOL - The arrogance of being a pop culture outcast

Is this an example of the pop culture "in crowd" knowing how to play the public on their ignorance of pop culture, or not?

It's done exactly as the title of the OP read, and by playing on the belief that everyone (who is anyone) knows exactly who the big important players. The message is if you don't know Snookie or Snooki or GLP (edited to GTL) you aren't really worth knowing anyway.

I know exactly what you say, because like you, I knew virtually nothing about Jersey Shore or Snookie or Snooki or whatever this latest Hollywood phenomenon is about. I have never watched Jersey Shore but I did catch Leno recently when she was on, and everyone seemed so enamored by this unknown so I investigated.

Hollywood is the pied piper of the 21st century but only if we allow them to be. They find someone that they like, promote, insert on their pop culture pedestal, and society automatically is in awe. They all take our money and we are all dumbed down.

[petronius]

21. GLP? What's GLP? OMG, I'm such an ignorant loser...

:cry:

[howaboutme]

28. Sorry it's talking GTL

Gym, Tanning, Laundry - Lifestyle. It's high level stuff.

You can't really blame her because notoriety is what these people and their promoters thrive on as success. Success is about public eyeballs and talk.

But someone at Rutgers who made the decision needs a brain transplant.

[Drahthaardogs]

17. Snookie would make me ashamed to be an Italian-American,

except that Snookie has no Italian heritage what so ever. She has been pulling off the improbable since day 1.

[athenasatanjesus]

23. I heard the most of her show mates are not only not Italian,but not from Jersey.

I get all my info on that awful show from Cracked.com.

[howaboutme]

33. Apparently the Italians are still being trashed by Hollywood.

I've heard Italian friends complain about Hollywood eternally portraying Italians as either mobsters or goof offs. Apparently with Jersey Shore that hasn't changed, and so the Arabs shouldn't feel left out. Their show is probably coming

[Drahthaardogs]

36. You would think that if they were going to put

the "stereotypical" Italian on the show, they could at least find a stereotypical Italian instead of a Chilean girl, don't you think?

[Dawson Leery]

18. A clear reflection on the students who attend Rutgers University

Consider somewhere else for your children.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

22. No... a clear reflection on the aspiring HOA members who run for student government

It is one of those things where merely wanting the job should disqualify you.

[howaboutme]

34. Excellent analysis.

Sometimes just wanting the job is an indicator of future poor performance.

[a la izquierda]

40. Oh FFS

I have a degree from Rutgers. Alums AND students are appalled. So, you know, nice broad brush.
And, oh yeah...I just defended my dissertation in history. We're not all dipshit party animals with no brains. If you don't think other colleges would do the very same, you're fooling yourself.

[a la izquierda]

41. Oh FFS

I have a degree from Rutgers. Alums AND students are appalled. So, you know, nice broad brush.
And, oh yeah...I just defended my dissertation in history. We're not all dipshit party animals with no brains. If you don't think other colleges would do the very same, you're fooling yourself.

[Liquorice]

24. It's not like she's making the commencement speech. The students just

hired her for entertainment. I don't really see the big deal.

[Duer 157099]

25. I hope they realize that most of them will never earn $32k/hour

Clearly Rutgers doesn't teach them anything about money management skills.

[Liquorice]

29. People in entertainment generally make more money, so no

matter who they would have hired, s/he would probably be wealthier than most of them will ever be.

[howaboutme]

32. Why is that?

Why do the deal makers on Wall Street and those in Hollywood and in entertainment automatically make more, by a factor of a thousand or 10,000 (or more), than average Americans doing a real and productive job?

Is that how capitalism is supposed to work. Or is it about belonging to a special club of exceptionalism and luck that most Americans will never have a chance to belong.

The way I see it, the banksters and entertainers should be paid minimum wage, and those in society that do real jobs should be paid much more.

Where did this rule originate that those in society that do the most are paid the least? Me thinks it is because the rule makers are those in the club.

[Liquorice]

27. ... wrong place. nt

[Warren DeMontague]

26. Well what did they think she was going to do- explain the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?

:shrug:

[JI7]

30. the UCLA ASians in the Library was trying to get on Snooki's show

so it's not just Rutgers. i bet other schools you would not think might do the same.

[Trekologer]

31. A number of very important points are left out which completely changes the dynamic

1. The financing for this and other entertainment programs (including concerts and other speakers) is from the student activities fund, a fee paid by all students (who vote every few years to keep the fee and the level of it via referendum), and the program selection is done by a committee of students. The university administration does not decide who to book. A portion of the funds also go to student clubs. The distribution of funds to clubs is also done by a committee of students.

2. The program that included "Snookie" also included a comedian. The $32k includes both personalities.

3. The commencement speaker who is taking a $30k speaking fee typically would command a $60k fee. She decided to give her Alma mater a discount.

[howaboutme]

37. Thanks for the tip

Do you have a link or reference? I agree it does change the focus from the irresponsible university to an irresponsible student body that probably subscribes to the Snookie philosophy of "party harder" with an education paid by wealthy parents.

Sorry if I sound non-empathetic about this. I never experienced the party life of college. I was married with a young child and worked 40 hours a week while commuting for an engineering degree at a major university.

[JI7]

39. yeah, but it still comes down to "why spend it on Snooki" ?

[Fearless]

44. Explains a lot about why you shouldn't send your kids to Rutgers.

Half the state sends to New York, Connecticut, or Massachusetts anyways.