Thursday, March 31, 2011
What's it worth?
Snooki of 'Jersey Shore' gets $2K more than author Toni Morrison to appear at Rutgers
Snooki received $32,000 for two one-hour appearances called "Inside the Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi Studio" for a total of 1000 students, paid out of a required student activity fee fund. The event was free if you got there early enough for a wristband. Toni Morrison receives $30,000 for a commencement speech, by invitation event, in the 52,000 seat Rutgers Stadium, paid for by PepsiCo, which holds exclusive rights to campus soda vending machines. To use a cliche, this is an "apples & oranges" comparison, not a battle of colas. Both a reality show star & a Nobel Prize-winning novelist earn whatever the market will bear, & there's no point to being culturally snooty about it. Snooki is getting it while she can - she won't age gracefully, although no doubt she'll be around for years to come in increasingly strange settings on cable TV. It takes more luck than talent to become a "celebrity," but it takes smart management to remain one. But CEOs earn millions for failure, & the salaries of third-rate professional athletes who make it to free agency are mind-boggling. We Americans are so mesmerized by these sums that we don't notice when it's reported that a single worker with two children has to earn $27-an-hour (over $57,000 annually) to reach minimal economic security.
I imagine myself as a Rutgers student. I'm having supper at one of the "Grease Trucks" on College Ave. My choices for an evening's entertainment are: Snooki; a lecture by a famous novelist; a loud band at Court Tavern; or buying a six-pack, going home, watching TV & maybe doing a bit of homework.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
Snooki received $32,000 for two one-hour appearances called "Inside the Nicole ‘Snooki’ Polizzi Studio" for a total of 1000 students, paid out of a required student activity fee fund. The event was free if you got there early enough for a wristband. Toni Morrison receives $30,000 for a commencement speech, by invitation event, in the 52,000 seat Rutgers Stadium, paid for by PepsiCo, which holds exclusive rights to campus soda vending machines. To use a cliche, this is an "apples & oranges" comparison, not a battle of colas. Both a reality show star & a Nobel Prize-winning novelist earn whatever the market will bear, & there's no point to being culturally snooty about it. Snooki is getting it while she can - she won't age gracefully, although no doubt she'll be around for years to come in increasingly strange settings on cable TV. It takes more luck than talent to become a "celebrity," but it takes smart management to remain one. But CEOs earn millions for failure, & the salaries of third-rate professional athletes who make it to free agency are mind-boggling. We Americans are so mesmerized by these sums that we don't notice when it's reported that a single worker with two children has to earn $27-an-hour (over $57,000 annually) to reach minimal economic security.
I imagine myself as a Rutgers student. I'm having supper at one of the "Grease Trucks" on College Ave. My choices for an evening's entertainment are: Snooki; a lecture by a famous novelist; a loud band at Court Tavern; or buying a six-pack, going home, watching TV & maybe doing a bit of homework.
Labels: culture, in the news, Rutgers
