EDITORIAL- Reality TV unreal, Tommy Lee in college

Last Thursday you were probably in class. Last Thursday Tommy Lee was in class, too.

The… Last Thursday you were probably in class. Last Thursday Tommy Lee was in class, too.

The Motley Crue drummer is back in front of the camera — this time without ex-wife Pamela Anderson — as a college student at the University of Nebraska for a reality television show. Lee will be taking chemistry, literature and history of rock ‘n’ roll; he also tried out for the marching band yesterday. It sounds like a heavy load, but with the help of his private tutor and the comfort of his off-campus accommodations, Lee will probably pass at least one class. He’d be better off in Nebraska’s version of one of Pitt’s classes, drugs and behavior, while he’s at it.

Haven’t there been enough bad reality shows? The scary thing is not that someone thought this up, but that someone else agreed, and an entire network is supporting it. Not only does this lower the quality of television, but it makes college look absurd.

A Nebraska student, Paul Penke, said, “It’s like a big circus,” after seeing Lee parade around campus sporting university apparel on his way to the book store.

School officials see this as a way for potential students to learn about the university. What will they be learning? That college is a joke? Is it accurate to depict the University of Nebraska as a school that accepts high school dropouts who play in rock bands and have a history of substance and spousal abuse?

It’s not as though Lee is one of those celebrities who ended his formal education early and has voiced a desire to continue. While other universities run campaigns to promote academic integrity and healthy campus lifestyles, Chancellor Harvey Perlman at the University of Nebraska has his fingers crossed. And he should keep them crossed, because Lee is a bigger liability than a 16-year-old at a frat party.

Moving away from the star of this fiasco, many of Lee’s co-stars — legitimate students — will not have a normal semester this year. What would it be like to have Tommy Lee as your chemistry lab partner? Do you want to be that freshman next to him in literature? It is hard to imagine that the classes he enrolled in will carry on as planned — assuming he goes to them. The entire project is a poor effort to boost NBC’s ratings and Nebraska’s popularity while taking away from students at the university. You know, the people who pay to be there.

NBC and the University of Nebraska can achieve their goals in a much better way: Make a reality show about a high school dropout who actually wants to go back to school. Being a real college student isn’t a rock star’s side job. Show potential students what it’s really like to get the whole college experience — meal plans, limited funds, long hours of studying and all.