Maybe Sarah Palin Can Save California's Universities

Her appearance in Turlock last week netted Cal State Stanislaus $200,000:

Sarah Palin spent only a few hours in Turlock. But the repercussions of her visit will last a long time, from the big money she drew to the debate over her appearance to a legal investigation into the nonprofit foundation that signed her.

Officials of California State University, Stanislaus, said they couldn't be happier with her appearance at the 50th anniversary gala, bringing in the most money of any event in campus history.

"I am really very pleased," university President Hamid Shirvani said Saturday. "It was an extraordinary event, unprecedented in the past five years I've been associated with the university, and according to many, unprecedented as long as they have been with the university."

Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa, who attended the gala, said the university achieved its goal.

"I think they hit a home run for raising money," he said. Officials estimated net income at $200,000. "I didn't know what all the rancor was about before; she's there for a school and she turned it into an educational speech."

There's quite a few schools in the Cal State and University of California systems. Perhaps the state needs to hire her to speak and all the schools some some of those smarmy students who protested might be able to get a reduction in their tuitions.