March 30, 2005 :: No. 162

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of the New York Times bestseller “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America,” will speak at Cal State Fullerton at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in the Titan Student Union. Her address is open to the public free of charge.

An author, journalist and contributing writer to Time magazine, Ehrenreich experienced firsthand the hardships and challenges faced by the working poor.

In 1998, she left her home, took the cheapest lodgings she could find and accepted a variety of minimum and low-wage jobs. She wanted a first-hand look at what life was like for millions of Americans who work for poverty-level wages.

During this time, Ehrenreich moved from Florida to Maine to Minnesota, working as a waitress, a hotel maid, a cleaning woman, a nursing-home aide and a Wal-Mart sales clerk. While taking these jobs, she lived in trailer parks and residential motels. She also discovered that no job is truly “unskilled” and that they all exacted an enormous mental and physical toll.

“My aim was to see whether I could match income to expenses, as the truly poor attempt to do every day,” she said. She discovered she could not.

Ehrenreich will be available for book signings after her speech. Her appearance is sponsored by University Advancement, the University Honors Program, Student Affairs, Women’s Center, Women’s Studies and the Arts Inter Club Council.

For more information, contact the University & Scholars Center at 657-278-7440 or univhonors@fullerton.edu.

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