Day after day, I have been hearing about the nation's response to the "Snooki issue". I was appalled at the sheer ignorance that was traveling throughout the media.
There are some FACTS that need to be stated about the whole situation in order to form a JUST opinion.
This is an attempt to inform you of the Truth in hope that you will spread this TRUTH to the public. By doing this you will not only fully understand what it going on, but you will be clearing the air, and as a result improving the reputation of both Rutgers and Douglass alike.
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Fact 1: Money is not a factor.
Yes, Snooki WAS paid $32,000 dollars to come to Rutgers, and Toni Morrison was paid $30,000.
Snooki was paid to come ENTERTAIN. Entertainers ALWAYS earn more than novelist, or activists. The number above is her asking price(side note: Spike Lee’s Asking price is between $30,00 and $50,000). The reason she was brought to Rutgers was due to her unbelievably high demand. RUPA, polled students (as they usually do for booking celebrities) and the majority asked for Snooki. Because RUPA’s main objective is to give the school what they want, they delivered. If there is anyone to be upset with it is RUPA. Nonetheless, Snooki’s popularity was cemented in her ticket sales. The wristbands for two showings, sold out in 2 hours. If no one wanted her here that would not have been the case.
Toni Morrison, an AMAZING author/Nobel peace prize winner used to teach at Rutgers(cool right?). As a result of this, when Rutgers asked her to speak at graduation, she considered it an HONOR to come. Because of this, she HALVED her asking price ($60,000). It was her kindness that allowed us to book her at a price that would be kind to our wallets. This reduction in price, allowed RUPA to not only lower the price of the Rutgersfest 2011 t-shirts, but also added funds to the Rutgersfest 2012 pool. (This means less comes from OUR pockets)THANK YOU TONI
Fact 2: Snooki is a celebrity, what did you expect?
Yes, Snooki got on stage and sat and answered questions and “poofed” a girl’s hair and watched people dance.
Yes, that’s what we paid her to do.
Again, RUPA, only delivered what they believed that the students wanted. If there is anyone to send an angry letter to, it’s their student polling system.(remember, you can’t make EVERYONE happy)
I doubt anyone is going to better (or worsen) themselves from hearing what she had to say. Nor does it worsen the reputation of Douglass, b/c we do not affiliate ourselves with her. If anything, we should be informing people about the accomplishments of Toni Morrison. BUT ARE WE? NO.
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Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read this response. By choosing to INFORM yourself, you are ENRICHING yourself.
I wrote it to INFORM. The media is doing an excellent job at ignoring the FACTS and as a Douglass woman I could not let that go unchallenged.
I have talked to NUMEROUS RUPA members as WELL as read articles in which Toni Morrison comments on the issue.
P.s
I love how Snooki was Front page news all over the nation, but the fact that Rutgers raised $380,000+ dollars for CHILDREN ,during Dance Marathon this past weekend, has YET to have been mentioned…..
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