Opinion Piece

Based on the editoral in the New York Times "Unpaid Interns - Rewarded or Exploited?", by  Maria Campo there seems to be some controversy over paid or unpaid Internships. Campo argues that the economy is too bad for interns to be paid, and that the students should just take it as experience gained. She mentions "Given that there are people with years of work experience who are currently unemployed and taking volunteer positions in the hopes of securing a paid job, college students can hardly expect their internship to be more than the apprenticeship and foot-in-the-door opportunity that it is." Basically she is saying that interns should not be paid because there are people who have even more experience then the students who are unemployed, so interns should come last, and just take it as an opportunity to learn more about that specific field.

When students take these internships the company may not be aware of the time these students are wasting. If the internship is as strict as any job would be, and is taking up their time, where they can not work at another job, why shouldn't an internship be paid? How can a person live after having so many loans to pay off from school and with the cost of text books etc. Some internships are five times a week for four or five hours or even more. Let alone finding another job that is paid,  internships are to be given while still enrolled as a student, so how can a student make a schedule for school, if the internship takes up all that time? It is understandable that people with more experience then interns can not even find jobs but maybe the reason is because they never took advantage of internships in the first place, and the people that actually do should be rewarded.

The other way I can see an internship not being paid is for the following reasons:

• It is a manditory college credit, and it is needed to graduate. If this is the case then it should be only one-two times a week for a few hours, this way a student can still take their other classes and work another job that pays.
• You are guarteened a job after. Lets be real most students take internships in hope that their work will be recognized and they can eventually make a career out of it after graduation

Some majors require an internship which could be worth 4 credits. This internship would have to be improved by the professor. In that situation, I can understand why it wouldn't be paid, because it's almost like either way you need it to graduate, so you would do it regardless. Also, if a student is guarenteed a job right after graduation it makes it easier to stay at an unpaid internship because even if you are not getting paid you know that you will eventually be making money to support yourself so its not a big deal. Although most internships are not paid I think they should be. Even $100 a week is a reasonable price for college interns. Atleast this way they can have some extra pocket money.