# Rutgers paying Snooki $30K to speak **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 2, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966 "2011-04-02T20:04:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/21 "2011-04-03T07:37:44Z")
The students are charged an activity fee because more and more students are choosing colleges based on the housing situations, the dorm life and the campus layout than on the academics. Colleges have found it useful to create a slush fund at the disposal of the student body to pay for various activities throughout the year. What the student body does with that money, the campus doesn’t care about as long as it’s not breaking any student handbook rules. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/22 "2011-04-03T15:35:50Z")
Who am I to point fingers? When I was in college, we paid Gallagher to come perform at our school. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/23 "2011-04-03T15:40:12Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I’m not sure why people hate her so much - you know she’s playing a role, right? I know. And maybe my response was over the top. (You try & rhyme ‘Raritan’) :eek: If what I wrote was offensive or over the top, I’m sorry. It was never meant to be any sort of personal attack. Yes, Snookie has to earn a living and I’m not begrudging her that. Its that college money is damn hard to come by for the people who pay for it, and some of us would like to retain the illusion that our kids will pull _something_ out of a college education beyond pot smoke, a lost virginity, and a bad tattoo. Granted Snookie showed up, took the ball & ran with it (which is what I hope every kid who graduates and gets a job does), but her story is really about right place, right time and thats it. I know Katy Perry got mentioned earlier, but its just wrong to compare the two. Ms Perry spent years practicing, working on her voice. She writes her own stuff (words, music, choreography for performances), performs her own songs, and she _makes it all work_. People pay for tickets to her concerts and leave feeling better/ entertained. People buy her albums on Itunes when they want to improve their mood. She also worked long, hard, and for years. She paid her dues in spades to be “an overnight success”. Yes, both Snookie & Katy Perry have/are a brand and a style. Both grew up near an ocean. Besides that and brunette hair, they have nothing in common. To be fair, its the Katy Perry story that I wish college kids would listen to & learn from. But college is about choices and this one is theirs. Doesn’t mean I’d ever skip a single [AgField day](http://agfieldday.rutgers.edu/). Good food, a live band at Passion Puddle, a chance to bet on cockroaches thanks to the Rutgers Entomology Club. Saturday, April 30th. Save the day, say ‘hi’ if you see me. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/24 "2011-04-03T16:13:20Z")
FWIW I was talking about using the entertainment budget to hire Katy Perry to come do a concert, not to give an inspirational speech. The school is using the entertainment budget to hire Snookie to come do a performance (which happens to consist of her speaking, since she is not a musician), not to give an inspirational speech. I was using Perry as an example of a fun, vapid pop entertainer for entertainment’s sake as opposed to hiring someone like Bob Dylan or Joni Mitchell. Nobody is hiring Snookie to give her life story or to be inspirational, and no one is hiring Katy Perry for that either. At least not at Rutgers. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/25 "2011-04-03T16:54:20Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > I know. And maybe my response was over the top. > (You try & rhyme ‘Raritan’) :eek: > > If what I wrote was offensive or over the top, I’m sorry. It was never meant to be any sort of personal attack. > > Yes, Snookie has to earn a living and I’m not begrudging her that. Its that college money is damn hard to come by for the people who pay for it, and some of us would like to retain the illusion that our kids will pull _something_ out of a college education beyond pot smoke, a lost virginity, and a bad tattoo. > Granted Snookie showed up, took the ball & ran with it (which is what I hope every kid who graduates and gets a job does), but her story is really about right place, right time and thats it. > > I know Katy Perry got mentioned earlier, but its just wrong to compare the two. Ms Perry spent years practicing, working on her voice. She writes her own stuff (words, music, choreography for performances), performs her own songs, and she _makes it all work_. People pay for tickets to her concerts and leave feeling better/ entertained. People buy her albums on Itunes when they want to improve their mood. She also worked long, hard, and for years. She paid her dues in spades to be “an overnight success”. Yes, both Snookie & Katy Perry have/are a brand and a style. Both grew up near an ocean. Besides that and brunette hair, they have nothing in common. To be fair, its the Katy Perry story that I wish college kids would listen to & learn from. > > But college is about choices and this one is theirs. Doesn’t mean I’d ever skip a single [AgField day](http://agfieldday.rutgers.edu/). Good food, a live band at Passion Puddle, a chance to bet on cockroaches thanks to the Rutgers Entomology Club. Saturday, April 30th. Save the day, say ‘hi’ if you see me. 😉 Snooki [took a man punch](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yu8a5U3OJnk&feature=fvwrel) and came back. What more do you want? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/26 "2011-04-03T17:08:56Z")
> [@Sateryn76](#): > > I don’t know guys… > > Snooki, drunk and whore-y she may be, but she’s been able to parlay a one-shot on a dating show to a multi-million dollar showbiz career. I wish I had had her balls and ability to think that way when I was in my early twenties. > > I’m not sure why people hate her so much - you know she’s playing a role, right? Cite? What makes you think she’s any different in real life than how she appears to be on the show? What makes you think there’s a public persona and a private persona? ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/27 "2011-04-03T17:11:17Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > This is not the comment of someone who is befuddled, flummoxed and bewildered. Or are you really going to spin this as an ingenuous inquiry into Snooki’s act? But that is what she does on the show. Why is it such a weird comment? If he was asking about some actress with a tawdry off screen persona, it would be insulting, but that’s Snooki’s shtick. Get drunk, look for gorilla juice heads, make comment on her vagina, fall over, lather, rinse, repeat. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/28 "2011-04-03T17:27:55Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Cite? > > What makes you think she’s any different in real life than how she appears to be on the show? What makes you think there’s a public persona and a private persona? Wouldn’t there have to be? I mean, the real woman must have some capacity for thoughtfulness, planning - at the very least, the ability to solicit, evaluate and accept good business advice. She needs a brain - has she displayed one on Jersey Shore? If not, this suggests she’s playing a role on that program. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/29 "2011-04-03T17:45:45Z")
I remember reading a NYTimes article where her own father said that’s pretty much what she’s like, and that even he was rather bemused about why people found her so fascinating. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume she really is that braindead. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/30 "2011-04-03T18:03:44Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > The students are charged an activity fee because more and more students are choosing colleges based on the housing situations, the dorm life and the campus layout than on the academics. Colleges have found it useful to create a slush fund at the disposal of the student body to pay for various activities throughout the year. What the student body does with that money, the campus doesn’t care about as long as it’s not breaking any student handbook rules. You missed the point. Students at this school are FORCED to pay into a slush fund for partying. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/31 "2011-04-03T18:08:06Z")
> [@Mr.Excellent](#): > > Wouldn’t there have to be? I mean, the real woman must have some capacity for thoughtfulness, planning - at the very least, the ability to solicit, evaluate and accept good business advice. She needs a brain - has she displayed one on Jersey Shore? If not, this suggests she’s playing a role on that program. People in Hollywood need a brain? HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/32 "2011-04-03T18:31:00Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > PS: haters gonna hate is a slang phrase meaning some people are gonna hate you regardless so give their opinion the attention it deserves(none to almost none) and move on. The word “hate” has been rendered meaningless by its relentless application toward any form of criticism, regardless of how richly deserved it may be. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/33 "2011-04-03T18:49:42Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > The word “hate” has been rendered meaningless by its relentless application toward any form of criticism, regardless of how richly deserved it may be. Hate hater! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/34 "2011-04-03T19:18:03Z")
I thought snooki was a character on one of those vampire shows. Learn something new every day ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/35 "2011-04-03T20:05:53Z")
[Sookie](http://truebloodguide.com/wp-content/themes/wp-vybe/graphics/cat/sookie/sookie-stackhouse-6.jpg). [Snookie](http://www.4tnz.com/files/gallery-4655381_0.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/36 "2011-04-03T20:33:39Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > [Sookie](http://truebloodguide.com/wp-content/themes/wp-vybe/graphics/cat/sookie/sookie-stackhouse-6.jpg). > > [Snookie](http://www.4tnz.com/files/gallery-4655381_0.jpg). Helpful reminder: Sookie = “I’d hit it.” Snooki = “Not with _your_ dick.” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/37 "2011-04-03T21:01:20Z")
The generation that elected Obama wants to hear a speech from a mush-brained bimbo from NJ! A good indication of the future course of this country!:D:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/38 "2011-04-03T21:06:21Z")
I think paying Snooki $32,000 to speak is very reasonable. I’m sure she can charge a higher fee to keep quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/39 "2011-04-03T21:11:15Z")
RU '89 \ \ ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966/40 "2011-04-03T21:53:45Z")
I’ve had an association with Rutgers al my life 9although I’[m the only member of my family who never attended clases there), and sometimes it really does make me wonder. In the case of Ms. Polizzi, I wonder because she _isn’t even from New Jersey_. She grew up in Marlboro, N.Y., and the “Jersey Shore” culture is an imported thing – I spent plenty of time time down at Seaside, and those characteristic expressions and attiudes weren’t there until the show aired\*. So the State University of New Jersey is gonna be paying an out-of-stater who’ll talk about ersatz Jersey culture. It’s a perfect match. \*Now, of course, it’s all over the place. One of the things I love to see at the Jerse Shore every summer is which current pop culture trend it’s going to rip off and sell without paying royalties. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rutgers-paying-snooki-30k-to-speak/576966.md?page=3)