Snooki paid more than Toni Morrison?!?!?!?

I hopped on Twitter today only to find that Toni Morrison was trending and naturally I wondered why (hoping that she wasn’t the latest celebrity that people were trying to ‘kill’.)  Then, I saw a tweet that stated that Rutgers University paid Snooki a $32,000 speaker’s fee.  MORE than Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning Toni Morrison was paid to speak at commencement.  

HMMM!

I am terribly disturbed by this article; however, I'm not entirely surprised by this ridiculous news.  It's no wonder society is falling apart at the seams  if more value is placed on a speech from a reality 'star' whose celebrity has no merit than words of wisdom from one of the best writers of the modern era. 

It baffles my mind that a UNIVERSITY would want to provide students with advice from Snooki on "hairstyle, fist pumps, as well as the GTL — gym, tanning, laundry — lifestyle," instead of furthering academia and knowledge.   It just goes to show what society finds appropriate....and it certainly isn't intelligence.

“Gregory Kassee, vice president of the association's comedy and movies committee, said the group was looking for a speaker who would appeal to Rutgers students.”  SERIOUSLY?!  What is the appeal?  She hasn’t done anything spectacular.  She didn’t speak on anything that would challenge their intellect and make them think a little harder....she spoke about hair, fist pumps and tanning. 

I feel like I’m an old person living in some kind of time warp....what is the appeal?  I just don’t get it, nor do I want to!

I'm reminded of the phrase "knowledge is power" and so I wonder....if that statement rings true, has this generation lost its power???  Has it given up and succumb to a norm of foolishness and mediocrity? 

I feel like this generation isn't being challenged anymore....and that the proverbial bar keeps getting lowered to accommodate those who refuse to try.  I remember at time (not so long ago) when such outrageous injudiciousness was rejected by society.  Where did we go wrong?  I’m reminded every time I turn on the TV, the radio, or watch a movie that societal norms have shifted in a terrible direction and I yearn to return to a time where things had meaning.  Things made you think about love and life and the purpose of it all.  Things made you feel real emotions you had to deal with not run from and things made you want to go out and make a difference in the world. 

I guess these things are dying....and what we’re left with is a hand full of people who get it; and the masses who don’t and conform to the latest trend whatever that may be.  And if you have to ask what ‘it’ is.....I can’t help you!

So instead of Snooki's ridiculous advice of "Study hard, but party harder."  I'll leave you with some words of wisdom from one of the greatest authors to have graced this planet we call earth...

“A dead language is not only one no longer spoken or written, it is unyielding language content to admire its own paralysis. Like statist language, censored and censoring. Ruthless in its policing duties, it has no desire or purpose other than maintaining the free range of its own narcotic narcissism, its own exclusivity and dominance. However moribund, it is not without effect for it actively thwarts the intellect, stalls conscience, suppresses human potential. Unreceptive to interrogation, it cannot form or tolerate new ideas, shape other thoughts, tell another story, fill baffling silences.”  -- Toni Morrison

Link to the article:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/entertainment/post/2011/04/rutgers-pays-snooki-more-than-toni-morrison-/1