Snooki paid $32K to speak at Rutgers University, while Nobel-winning Toni Morrison only gets $30K
From NYDailyNews.com, Daily News Gossip
By Aliyah Shahid
Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, April 1, 2011
Life is good when you’re the Princess of Poughkeepsie.
Snooki was paid $32,000 by Rutgers University’s programming association to dish on her fist-pumping, pouf-wearing, hard-partying lifestyle on the “Jersey Shore” Thursday night.
That’s $2,000 more than the school is paying Nobel-winning novelist Toni Morrison to deliver Rutgers’ commencement address in May.
Click here for the full article.
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Snooki
And Snooki’s advice to the students? “Study hard, but party harder.” I think the fact that she was there at all shows the students of Rutgers already learned that lesson too well. But maybe I’m just an old fart so I’d love to hear what you think. Was Rutgers right to hire Snooki to talk about how inspirational it feels to be tanned? Please convince me. I don’t like being this cynical.
My thanks to novelist and prize-winning poet, Kerry Meacham for steering me to this story.
Here are some of the goodies I found this week. . . .
Writing and Social Media Blogs
10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments by blogging expert, Liz Strauss.
Andrew Mocete on the importance of the book cover, Don’t Flunk the Interview.
Some wise words from Albert Berg on a recent public meltdown, The Jacqueline Howett Guide to Becoming a Better Buzzard.
Fun Stuff
The Pop King of Community Building, Clay Morgan, brings us his March Movie Madness. Clay really knows how to get people involved. I’m pleased and humbled to say that, out of thirty-two movies, my nomination, The Princess Bride, was voted the best. As a prize, Clay will do a feature on me in the near future. I’ll keep you posted on that. In the meantime, visit his site to see how Clay keeps the party going, and drop in on Jessica Buttram at Meet the Buttrams. She’s the lady who gave me a run for my money with The Lion King.
The Princess Bride
A woman in Georgia . . . the country, not the state that tried to be part of a different country . . . anyway, she was digging for copper scraps to sell when she damaged a little fibre optic cable, cutting off web access. . . . For the entire country of Armenia. How fragile is this thing we’ve made so necessary? Read about it here.
Touching tale from Sarcastic Sam on how a Deer Protects Mother Goose. I love cross-species mothering stories. Animals can be such poingnant teachers of humanity.
And for my fellow Scarlett fans . . . she’s from Georgia, too, but this time the state. . . . a part of the original manuscript of Gone With the Wind, long thought to be lost, will go on display–proving, indeed, that, “Tomorrow is another day.” Click here for story.
All the best to all of you for a week of inspirational tans.
Piper Bayard–The Pale Writer of the Apocalypse
Very nice. You are Queen of the Madness for this year indeed! Congrats and thanks for the nice thoughts.
As for Snooki, um, how do you spell that noise an old man makes when he wants to just watch the freaking game but Mildred needs her toe nails clipped? Yeah, that’s how I feel about Snooki being invited to a college campus.
I mean, if you want entertainment then get an entertainer with something unique to offer! Funniest show I ever saw in college btw? Lewis Black. He killed it.
Lmao. Great analogy. And a great point. If you’re going to hire entertainment, why not hire entertainment? I mean, seriously. Who needs to actually hire a Snooki? They’re in every bar in the country. Thanks for stopping by.
Speechless. In a time when tuitions are through the roof, the government is facing a shutdown and Snooki’s getting 32 g’s from a college to tell students to party harder. What’s wrong with this picture? Think we need Donald Trump to come in and just tell all policy makers “You’re Fired” and we can start over. Always enjoy your spin on current events.
I know. I’m looking at putting two kids through college within the next seven years. Chaps a bit. Love the Donald Trump idea.
Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve often told my friends if Snooki can get a book deal, any one can. No true talent is required – as long as you are willing to look like a bimbo, tan to excess, get publicly intoxicated on a regular basis, and act like a fool. This is the type of entertainment young American’s are choosing to pay for.
You make a good point. This should be encouraging to all writers. Unless I think about the fact that Snooki probably can’t write much more than her name, and some writer whose name we’ll never know worked very hard to make her sordid life into a supposedly interesting book. Hmm. Ah, well. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.
Yes, you are right. I thought the same. Hopefully that writer got paid a good sum.
Yeah, and the Candie’s Foundation paid Bristol a over quarter MIL $$$ to be their celebrity spokesmodel for teen abstinence http://bit.ly/e0dRPg
Reminds me of a movie . . Apocalypse NOW.
Wow. I hadn’t heard that one. You know, when the truth sounds more like sarcasm than something Holmes and I would come up with. . . . I think you’re right. I need to go stock up on canned food, because the end is surely near. Thanks for your comment.
Possibly related posts. “Snooki from ‘Jersey Shore’ hits cops with expletive-filled rant.” So glad she found the time to speak with today’s youth. Maybe the end happened and we don’t know it?
Thanks for including me in the goodies. It was a nice surprise.
Good point. I wonder how we’ll know if the end already happened. . . . I know. We’ll be able to tell when Bristol Palin becomes a poster child for abstinence. . . . Oh, wait! . . . Thanks for stopping by.
I knew it!
We’re doomed. I mean the fact Snooki was on the NYTimes Bestsellers makes me want to hurl chicken nuggest all over her Manolo Blahniks.
But this?
It’s really hard to say “as you wish” to that news.
Congrats, eh?
Leanne
Thanks Leanne.
I know. There’s just no “as you wish” when a Rodent Of Unusual Size is making more in an hour than the janitors probably do in a year of cleaning up after the likes of her. It really is pretty scary. Thanks for stopping by.
Sometimes fiction is more believable than reality. Amazing! Great post!!
Thanks for the compliment, and thanks for stopping by.
Nothing new here. “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.” H.L. Mencken
I have to respect the fact that she has turned an otherwise talentless existence into a profitable one. Think about it.
How many people do you know that have no talent nor are they able to hoover money out of the millions of pockets?
Now THAT’s a talent.
That would be Paris Hilton and the Kardashian sisters. You make a great point. Snooki is the quintessential beme. Thanks for stopping by.
Hey Piper – I have just never understood the whole Paris Hilton, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, attraction. I mean really. People watch this? And then they think they actually should listen to what they tell them to do. Like the Kardashian sisters came out with a credit card for high school girls and tried to rationalize how it was a good way for them to learn how to control money and spending. What??? Huh??? Any parent that will give their daughter a Kardashian credit card gets what they deserve. I need to stop before I blow a gasket. Anyway, thanks for the shout out and the link. Have a great weekend.
I’m with you, Kerry. It’s a mystery to me why anyone would give those types the time of day. They’re the kind of people who couldn’t be fast food managers if their daddies didn’t buy them the jobs. Unfortunately, politics is littered with those types, too. Thanks for the tip, and thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Agreed. I don’t watch tv unless it’s on (a.k.a. parents and brother watching something). We have to sift through good materials.
I know. Five hundred channels and nothing’s on. I don’t watch more than a couple of shows, myself, and I am perfectly happy to live in the stone age without cable or satellite tv. I’d rather spend the money on a class and learn to do something rather than watch it. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Quote: “Please convince me.” I apologize for the great disappointment I will deliver, but I’m failing in building an argumentative case to convince you
Should I try convincing her? 
Quote: “I don’t like being this cynical.” Yeah, me too…:)
I think that the best comment would be: “No comments”
It was enjoyable to read about that though, even if in a kinda tragic way.
Thank you for the post
Lol. It’s my theory that in the heart of every cynic is an incurable dreamer. If we don’t laugh at this one, well, we’d just lose our heart. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
What’s wrong with society? Why do we pay a Nobel winner $30,000 for a speaking engagement and Snooki for $32,000? For that matter, why do we pay sports stars millions of dollars while the teachers couldn’t even make $200,000?
Wish I knew the answers. Does seem pretty backward, doesn’t it? Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
Oh, if only I had an answer to just one question of the above, I would have been a very wealthy woman by now, in 8 & 9 figures terms
But those questions tend to become like the question “Why do I have to click start when I want to turn off the PC?”.
But I’ll try, since I like the questions and I’ve pondered hundreds of times on them. I think it’s something like ecstasy (not the drug) and people need the release in their energy that they get by participating in such actions. It’s an “adrenaline rush” and it’s addictive (there’s reason the drug was named like that).
Sorry for the long comment.
I love comments, Irene. You may be onto something there. I just can’t help wishing they could get their rush in some more traditional way, like my generation did. You know. Like skinny dipping at midnight in the local swimming pool. It’s a lot cheaper.
And that’s a good question about the PC. Thanks for stopping by.
Snooki is from Connecticut.
I Tweet at http://twitter.com/pronetworkbuild
Wow. First it’s our politicians claiming to be from places they are not, and now it’s our celebrity party girls. Where does this deception end? Thanks for stopping by.
How can she be on Jersey Shore if she’s from Connecticut? I feel so cheated…
I know. Who can you trust these days? Thanks for stopping by.
ROFLOL. Truth is stranger than fiction and all that. A whole lot stranger.
I know. Like Snooki, herself, says, you just can’t make this stuff up. Thanks for stopping by and commening.
Funny thing is, they are paying her $32K to speak about why she does stupid, idiotic stuff. Hell, if they had Youtube in the 80′s and the cellphones we have now, I’d have been a hell of a hit when I got mad at a relative who invited me to a “Fall Festival” at the local Baptist Church when I was pregnant with kiddo #3–and introduced me to a parishioner as “This is my ___Tina, who is always pregnant.” The offending relative is still among us, so I left the relationship info off.
Anyway, I decided at 6.5 months pregnant to be a smart ass. I got a friend of mine to sew some potato sacks together, got a straw hat, stuck a bridal veil on top, blacked out my 2 front teeth and showed up as a “Barefoot, pregnant bride!” My aim worked…I never got invited to another one because the church ladies were NOT happy. The only rule posted was “No costumes that depict witches, warlocks, vampires and devils allowed!” THAT was a relief to me, because there was so much gossip in that place, I didn’t like going. I have Baptist Flashbacks every time I watch “The Unholy” when Ben Cross sings that hymn and he’s playing a CATHOLIC priest in it! ROTF!
Then again, anyone who watches the old skits on SNL knows I’m not BS’ing on that subject of a Baptist Flashback!
What a hoot! I grew up in a town where you were largely socially defined by the church you attended so I know exactly what you’re talking about. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your story.
I Always Thought Sex And The City Was About jersey shore o.O
Honestly, I’ve never watched Sex and the City. But from everything I’ve heard and read, they do sound pretty similar at the basest level. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.