Did you know that the University of South Florida paid Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City" $15,000 to speak to students in September?

The Smoking Gun, which likes to dig up public records and share them, released that nugget late last week under the questioning headline, Really, Should A Public University Be Paying Jill Zarin $15,000?

What? Never heard of her? How about Aasif Mandvi, from The Daily Show? He'll be collecting $15,000 for a talk later this month at USF, too, the report notes.

The University Lecture Series is paid for by student activity and service fees. The Gainesville Sun's higher education blog notes that such use of fees in a down economy has come under fire. Your thoughts?