Recently, California State University, Stanislaus, paid Sarah Palin $75,000 to speak at its 50th anniversary gala. CSU Stanislaus, a financially troubled public university, also has been forced into making extensive cuts, but somehow $75,000 can come out of the budget to pay a keynote speaker for a gala. This isn’t about being partisan, nor is it about Sarah Palin. They could have been paying Bill Maher to come and give a nice diatribe on Christianity. The message and the speaker aren’t important; it’s all about the money and, more specifically, what the money means. As universities cut programs, classes and professors, it is a moral outrage to pay any sort of money for speakers to come to fundraisers.

Universities might strike back and say these paid speakers make the school money. In the case of CSU Stanislaus and Sarah Palin, the university allegedly netted more than $200,000 from the event.

However, first and foremost, the success of the event cannot be directly attributed to the speaker. Traditional donors are going to keep giving even if there isn’t a big name speaker. There’s no way of correlating with any degree of certainty that the reason the fundraiser made money was because of Sarah Palin. Next, speaking at a university should be considered an honor and a privilege, not just another paid job. It’s an invitation. Finally, and most importantly, the payment serves as a representation of the attitude that is still pervasive at any universities — an attitude that seems to completely dismiss the problems of the average student and continue on with business as usual, existing in a world of utter disconnect.

MSU also is guilty of these crimes.

During the past three years we’ve seen multimillion-dollar cafeteria renovations, along with the shiny new Duffy Daugherty Football Complex. Although these buildings really do glimmer, I have to wonder if this money couldn’t have been reallocated to save some programs that are being cut. Evidently it isn’t possible to cut down the scale of any of these projects to save programs. Along with that, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon’s paycheck is quite staggering.

Her $500,000-plus salary might be competitive as compared to her Big Ten compatriots, but that’s just indicative that the entire system is refusing to change. Simon did freeze her salary increase, but that doesn’t negate the fact that her pay is more than half a million dollars. Cutting one higher-end salary could save an entire program. I still think if the president’s salary were a mere $250,000-plus, she could find a way to make life tolerable. The school’s focus should and always must be on education.

Some of the programs being cut weren’t profitable, but this isn’t a corporation — it’s a public university. It must have accountability to the public; different standards exist. The recession has affected people across the country, including universities. We as students carried a hefty burden before the recession and now with the program cuts, tuition hikes and larger classes, it is only a matter of time before the overburdened backs of students break altogether.

Although the middle class isn’t dead, universities are doing a great job in trying to kill it. Other solutions exist that universities do not seem eager to explore. Spending on extraneous things continues while the average student works to merely continue attending his or her growing classes. CSU Stanislaus’ payment to Sarah Palin is the most recent example of this attitude and disconnect, which essentially is a staunch refusal to acknowledge the dismay of the public. The continued shortsightedness of schools surely will have an adverse effect; it’s only a matter of time before everyone starts to see it and not just the overworked students.

Matt Manning is a State News guest columnist. Reach him at mannin84@msu.edu.