# The Apprentice -- 9/22/05 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2005, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864 "2005-09-22T11:36:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864/21 "2005-09-24T18:01:10Z")
She didn’t really say they were “cheap,” just that they would feel “ripped off” if they had to overpay. That part didn’t really sound offensive to me- more like she was saying that they weren’t suckers. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864/22 "2005-09-24T23:12:24Z")
Does anyone think we’ll see a lot of PM’s being voted exempt? Are these candidates confident enough in their own talents, to spotlight the PM in Trump’s mind? If we’re going to have a rules change every season, how about having the winning team vote someone into the boardroom? We’ve seen tasks where a team won **in spite of** the PM. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864/23 "2005-09-25T15:21:44Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Does anyone think we’ll see a lot of PM’s being voted exempt? Are these candidates confident enough in their own talents, to spotlight the PM in Trump’s mind? It was a stupid change. Why would anyone ever vote for the exemption? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864/24 "2005-09-25T15:43:36Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > Alla’s pretty proud of herself. She’s the Russian woman who says she came to the US “with nothing” and became a multi-millionaire. Um, the website says she came to the US “with her parents” and at 19 owned her first real estate. Guess she saved her allowance for a few years or something. It’s possible. That’s exactly what Cornelius Vanderbilt did, turning his savings from selling newspapers into a ferry business at the age of 15. [Alla’s website](http://www.allawartenberg.com/aboutus.htm) says that she saved money from working multiple shifts for a telemarketing firm, and used that to buy her first real estate investment. But according to the Smoking Gun, she later made money as a stripper, dancer, and escort: > **["Apprentice" Wannabe's X-Rated Past](http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/apprentice-wannabes-x-rated-past)** > > SEPTEMBER 12--The newest season of NBC's 'The Apprentice' doesn't debut until next week, but we've already made our pick for Donald Trump's next flunky. Meet Alla Wartenberg, whose network bio describ ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864/25 "2005-09-26T03:18:46Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > If we’re going to have a rules change every season, how about having the winning team vote someone into the boardroom? We’ve seen tasks where a team won **in spite of** the PM. Winning team vote one of their own in, or someone from the losing team? If the latter, they wouldn’t have enough info to do so – and if the former, it really does seem against the most basic premise of the game. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864/26 "2005-09-26T13:17:07Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Winning team vote one of their own in, or someone from the losing team? If the latter, they wouldn’t have enough info to do so – and if the former, it really does seem against the most basic premise of the game. George or Carolyn, or someone from the winning team could pick someone from their team to go to the boardroom. You’re right – it goes against the basic premise, and it’s not something that would happen in the real world, where all members of winning teams are rewarded, even if some of them didn’t contribute. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864/27 "2005-09-26T13:22:57Z")
I can imagine some reasons why contestants would choose to grant another contestant immunity. This could be a means of strategically building up goodwill, for example–something that any good manager must do. Additionally, they may want to be perceived as fair and balanced, rather than conniving weasels–and with George and Carolyn looking over their shoulders, they would have a vested interest in striving for fairness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-apprentice-9-22-05/322864.md?page=1)