The Snooki/Rutgers Saga Continues

29 Comments

1. 1
   NotWithoutMyTV
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 7:09 am

   I commented in the earlier thread, and I sort of feel like the words you chose were relevant to my point: “She’s just taking what she normally charges for bar appearances.” She’s fine for bar appearances. She’s a completely inappropriate choice for a college speaker.

2. 2
   Jazzy
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 7:19 am

   Totally agree, NWMT. Rutgers has made itself look pathetic by paying this drunk to speak to their students. What message are they trying to send? That she’s a role model of some sort? If I were a parent, I’d be demanding some money back too.

3. 3
   vallegirl
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 7:32 am

   I can see the parent’s pov more than the “OMG, she’s getting more than Toni Morrison” because Toni Morrison’s been getting these speaking gigs long before there was a Snooki and will continue to get them long after. Morrison’s right to be all “don’t know, don’t care.”

   But maybe all universities should think twice about booking talentless reality TV performers for “speaking” engagements. Because it does make Rutgers look like idiots to drop $32K on someone who’s likely functionally illiterate. It’s the optics that are embarrassing.

4. 4
   Snootchy Bootches
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 7:50 am

   I don’t care what school it is… not every speaker is going to appeal to everyone. Not everyone is interested in seeing a nobel prize winner. Some just want to have fun. And that doesn’t mean that they don’t take their studies seriously. It just means that they might need a break once and a while. I see no big deal for Snooki to talk there. As Nads said, it is the same as them getting a comedian or other entertainer. She isn’t giving a commencement speech, she is probably going to joke around in some auditorium in the Student Union. Some folks need to lighten up already.

5. 5
   cattyfan
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 8:24 am

   I just keep thinking that if the school didn’t squander money on unnecessary speakers, they could give more scholarships to some deserving students.

   The college doesn’t need to provide expensive entertainment. If I remember my college days correctly, we (the students) were perfectly able to entertain ourselves.

6. 6
   Nads
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 8:44 am

   Sorry NWMTV…totally misses your comment earlier, wasn’t trying to steal your thoughts!

   And catty, I’m with you on this, but unfortunately some colleges are all about enrollment these days. Getting great speakers, comics, and trashy reality stars are just great marketing tools when they try to sell the school on prospective students. It’s ridiculous….they’re all about numbers, and money.

7. 7
   vallegirl
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 8:57 am

   To me there is a difference between a comedian and a reality TV attention whore. One actually knows how to entertain and the other is a carnival freak. Snooki’s “draw” is akin to Charlie Sheen’s live show. There’s nothing more there than to gawk at her, and any club near the university could have booked her for that.

   Students don’t need to stay on campus for their entertainment. I know I’m a geezer, but SGP at UF got acts like Talking Heads and PFunk to perform for free and Rutgers is foisting Snooki on their students. Not fair.

8. 8
   Derek Hazelton
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 9:06 am

   As much as I would resent Snooki speaking to my college-aged student, mainly because she can’t complete a sentence, I certainly don’t begrudge her striking while the iron is hot. Would we be upset if any of the Drag Racers, for example, got paid to do a speaking engagement in the wake of all the bullying? Probably not. I think it’s the school’s way of seeming relevant and cool to the student body, the school is in Jersey, so maybe the president thought it was a good fit.

9. 9
   Snootchy Bootches
   Posted April 4, 2011 at 9:19 am

   You have to remember that there are different buckets of money for things and they often come from different places. The money spent for Snooki’s entertainment fee would never go towards a scholarship. I used to work for probably one of the top 3 universities in the US and would sometimes be frustrated at where money went and where money wasn’t available. But then I learned about how different things are funded differently. To paraphrase a quote from a movie celebrated in the latest Amazing Race recap, you can’t cross the money streams!

10. 10
    thiajok
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 10:01 am

    Well, at least it didn’t go to Charlie Sheen. There’s that to be thankful for.

11. 11
    wcsdancer
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 10:36 am

    I can’t imagine what that oompa loompa could have to say that is worth five cents much less $32K. *facepalm* And I was always taught that being an alcholic, dysfunctional skank would get in the way of a career, now it seems to *be* a career. I hate this culture of celebrity without talent.

12. 12
    jersey4041
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 10:38 am

    I think having a comedian speak is completely different. Many of them have busted their hump at one point to get where they’re at. It’s not an easy job, I’m sure you’d get more inspiration out of a comedian. I’m not really sure what Snooki has to say. And I agree with the other poster, we had local bands and probably a reality show star that cost $3,000 at my school.

    My problem is that ANYONE charges THAT much for them to speak in front of people. It just bothers me as a whole. Like when did an hour of your time become as valuable as what some people make in a year??! It’s my entire problem with celebrity. You should be voluntarily traveling around and inspiring people, not demanding thousands to come down and fraternize with us lowly poor people. The whole thing bugs me when I read about it with anyone….

    Having said all that, some person should’ve said “Why would we pay more for Snooki then we would for Toni Morrison? that just doesn’t seem right”

13. 13
    cattyfan
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 10:57 am

    jersey4041…Speaking at an engagement like that is more than just “one hour.” For most speakers, there is a lot of prep involved (writing, rehearson, etc.)…although $32,000 is still a bit pricey.

    I used to get hired for the occasional public speech. The only way I would have charged that much is if I was trying to discourage someone from booking me.

14. 14
    georgiababe
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 11:01 am

    I don’t understand why people need to be paid to speak ANYWAY. I mean, my university has around 30,000 students and it’s a science and engineering research-based university, so there are a lot of alumni that come out of it that achieve really great things. If I were singled out to speak at the commencement, I would be honored. Why would they need to pay me?

    If you make your living being a comedian or an entertainer, then you have a right to ask for payment if you are hired to entertain. But a commencement address? I would just be happy to be able to make a speech, there is no way that I would ever demand $30,000. That’s so selfish.

    I agree with cattyfan, I think it’s just squandering money. When I was at university, the drama department (which I was a student in) constantly had plays and showcases going up, most of which were completely free. The music department was the same and even the other non-arts departments often had fun competitions like Battle of the Bands between engineering disciplines, or the fraternities and sororities would do these huge events that anyone could come and watch. Also free.

    That $32,000 could have helped out a number of students immensely. I certainly would have had a much harder time paying for school had I not received any scholarships and I think I would have been totally pissed if the school had wasted so much money on an idiot like Snooki.

15. 15
    georgiababe
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 11:05 am

    jersey4041, I just realized that you said almost the same thing that I did, but I totally agree. I find the whole celebrity culture totally disgusting, I just don’t understand why people should make $70 million a year. I know it’s proportional to what the studios make (and that actually, actors make squat compared to the actual production companies) but I don’t understand why people can’t SHARE that money. I mean, if you rake in $70 million a year, $1 million seems like a drop in the bucket.

    Maybe I’m just bitter because I work in the theatre, not film, and so I make nothing haha.

16. 16
    LAC
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 11:16 am

    Snooki? Really? There is a difference between being an entertainer and being “the entertainment”. Watching that walking version of “Spring Break Infinity” is not what those students probably had in mind. What a waste of money…

17. 17
    jersey4041
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 11:19 am

    Hehe!! I’m as much of a celebrity gossip junkie as the next but it truly does disgust me. I hated Angelina for the longest time until she finally said in an interview “I make a ridiculous amount of money for what I do”..At least she’s somewhat aware of it. This whole culture is screwed up. These people get paid bajillions doing something we did as children–for fun. They play make believe. They rake us for every dime they can on merchandise, music, movies, advertisements then complain when we want to know a little more about them. I could go on forever, but this is not the topic. And if I think about it too hard, my head wants to explode.

    Having worked with speakers on a smaller scale (medical education, Doctors, etc) I’m aware of much of what goes into it and if the speaker is a specialist, they’re usually prepared. Only the diva speakers would complain about anything. But we pay a heart surgeon $5200 to talk about new breakthroughs in medicine and Snooki $32k to talk about getting drunk at the Jersey shore…something I did 2 weeks ago. For real.

18. 18
    sarcasatire
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 11:22 am

    I read a bit more info on this on a another site that said Snooki’s fee came from the tickets that were sold, and she was booked by the student committee. Toni Morrison was booked by another dept and, I believe, her fee was paid by the school. So, I guess it isn’t as bad when you consider the students paid Snooki out of their own pocket, for their entertainment, while the university offered them something a bit more high-brow. I mean, isn’t that what college is all about?

19. 19
    NotWithoutMyTV
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 11:37 am

    I could give the stupid old commencement address at Rutgers.

    I just choose not to.

20. 20
    Elmstreet
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    I would pay $32,000 to watch Snooki be forced to solve complicated math problems and field questions about geography, history, government, and basic grammar in front of a glaring audience. If my tuition fee is going towards booking a talentless skank who has more STDs than college credits to her name, they could at least humiliate her a little for my viewing pleasure.

21. 21
    cattyfan
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 12:39 pm

    “Snooki? Really? There is a difference between being an entertainer and being “the entertainment”.”

    nicely phrased, LAC.

22. 22
    itchy
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 12:46 pm

    I grew up in the town next door to Rutgers.

    That is all.

23. 23
    jersey4041
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 1:36 pm

    Lol! @Elmstreet! You are absolutely correct…or at least make it a game show “Are you Smarter than Snooki?”

24. 24
    LAC
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    Catty, thank you! On the same page about that silly oompa loompa.

25. 25
    LAC
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    jersey – LOL!!! In that case, they should open that up to the town of Rutgers and not just the students. There is a three year old out there that could win.

26. 26
    Elmstreet
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 1:53 pm

    @ Jersey – LOL! Even better, how about a spelling bee? I can see her asking the etymology of “Smoosh”, and if the judges could kindly use it in a sentence for her.

27. 27
    cattyfan
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 1:58 pm

    We’ll start by seeing if she can spell Rutgers. If she gets it wrong, no check for her.

28. 28
    Libithina
    Posted April 4, 2011 at 9:16 pm

    This doesn’t bother me at…let me rephrase that, I have no problem with her speaking at Rutgers, I do have a problem with that fee, ridiculous. When I was at college, Wes, Johanna and someone else came to speak. I didn’t go because I was too busy drinking Beast and Ripoff, but I heard that it was a total disaster. They got mad at the audience because of the questions they were asking, or something like that, and were eventually booed I think, I don’t really remember, probably a repercussion of said Beast and Ripoff (hey, I never said I was a good storyteller) remember a really old real world/road rules challenge with Julie and Melissa? They got into a huge fight prior to filming and it was something about speaking at schools. Full disclosure: Omarossa also came to my college, water balloons were thrown, I, alas, was not there, of course, because I thought frat parties were way cooler. Anyway, I’m just jealous it doesn’t take me one day to make $32,000. It kills me

29. 29
    hbgchick
    Posted April 5, 2011 at 6:41 am

    I worked for a university for awhile. My starting salary, as a “manager”, was $32K per YEAR. I also learned firsthand that universities sometimes make very stupid decisions
    Having said that, it’s one thing if Snooks is getting paid by the student body. If that’s who they want to pay for, fine, and I know that a lot of students would be as amused by her as they would be interested in anything Ms. Morrison has to say. And gotta love her “don’t know her, don’t care” attitude.

    What burns me is that Snooks and the rest of the JS cast get paid figures like this at all. Because, yes, I’m jealous, just like everyone else is. My advice to those follks are to save that money cause it’s not going to last. Of course, I doubt they will, because they’re young and when I was young I blew my money too. Sorta regretting that decision now, but what are ya gonna do?

    What really burns me, like another poster mentioned, the exorbinant salaries that are paid to famous movie actors, famous sports players, etc., but people like firemen, teachers, and police officers can barely get by. I just don’t get that. I mean, I know why it occurs, but it still pisses me off.