<p>S has been nominated for membership in “The National Society of Collegiate Scholars.” Is this worth the $75? Doesn’t seem to be, but the “Honorary Board of Regents” is pretty impressive. Thanks to anyone who can advise on this.</p>
<p>Frame the letter…it’s a lot cheaper than paying $75 for the membership certificate.</p>
<p>For Who’s Who Among American High School Students, both my kids filled out the information to be included in the book, but we did not order the book. That way, they still receive the “honor” without paying a penny. Probably it’s not a huge honor to be in the Who’s Who, but apparently it does require nomination from a teacher or something.</p>
<p>Scam.</p>
<p>My son got nominated.</p>
<p>So did his entire floor.</p>
<p>I’m reminded of those ads I hear on the radio to “name a star” after someone. For some fee, they will register a star in your loved one’s name, and anyone who goes to whatever god-forsaken place they keep the “star registry” will see it. They seem to do a good business, year after year.</p>
<p>Driver-
The International Star Registry is in Chicago, last I recall seeing something about it. Wait, here’s the link <a href=“http://www.starregistry.com/[/url]”>http://www.starregistry.com/</a> It’s actually not a bad gift for “the kid who has everything”. You get this cute-sy diploma that says “John Smith (or whoever) is a STAR!!”. You get a map of the galaxy it is in, and the page, reference # of the “book” in which it is registered. I think it used to be around $35 bucks, but it now over $50. Some relative sent it to my younger s. several years ago, when he was in elementary school. He thought it was cool… for about 10 seconds. I have no idea where the certificate, map and all that stuff is, if that tells you anything…</p>
<p>Jym626:
I’ll cut you a ‘20% off’ deal - send me a check for $40, and I’ll name a star for any member of your family. Honest.</p>
<p>…and that’s about as much official standing as the ‘International Star Registry’ has. They have no affiliation with any professional society of astronomers. I remember hearing their ads on the radio some time ago, where they ‘promise to lock up the lists of the named stars in the vault of our Swiss bank’. Riiiiight. Along with all their incoming $50 chunks, I assume.</p>
<p>optimizer-
Only 20% off?? Is that the best you can do for an old pal?? I am sure this thing is not worth the paper it is printed on, but if I had to choose for a friend/relative to spend $50 on a !@#$%^&* video game or a pseudo star registry, I’ll take the latter any day. It’s right up there with the pet rock, the invitation to the “Who’s Who of American Students” and those International Student Programs that only the “best” students (aka, students with money) get invited to. Oh, I’ll put the certificate next to the Brooklyn Bridge I have in the the back yard. I bought that last Tuesday :)</p>
<p>Jym626:
Glad you brought up the ‘pet rock’ issue. I remember how it was an absolute craze for a while - talk about American marketing at its finest. A grudging tip<em>of</em>the_hat to the guy/gal who thought that up, and had the moxie to believe that people would actually <em>pay</em> for a hunk of ordinary stone.</p>
<p>Reminds me of a true story from many years ago. There were gas stations at 3 out of the 4 corners at an intersection in a suburb in the US. The owner of Gas station#1 raised the price to $3/gallon overnight, while the other two kept theirs at around $1 (hey, this was a <em>long</em> time ago). </p>
<p>Result? There was a queue of cars over two blocks long, waiting to fill up at station#1. The TV reporter on the scene asked one of the drivers in the queue just why he was waiting, instead of buying gas at 1/3 the price just a couple of yards away. The answer was “I want to be able to say that I filled up my car with the most expensive gas in the world.” Never mind that he could have filled up on $1 gas, and then claimed whatever he wanted with his buddies…</p>
<p>How the International Star Registry stays legal:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,49345,00.html[/url]”>http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,49345,00.html</a></p>
<p>Who’s Who doesn’t require a nomination from anyone, although some people may be nominated by teachers. The company buys mailing lists and sends out letters.</p>