Throughout the current discussion, we have been hearing about student
     costs and non-reimbursement.  May I address the institutions costs for
     the internship.  Our internships are also unpaid positions, only
     because non-profit institutions generally do not have funding for its
     current staff muchless for temporary internships, however, we do
     provide the mentorship and supplies for the interns to learn their
     skills.  Having been a mentor for  many years, I can say that I spend
     much more time sharing my time and expertise than receiving the
     equivalent amount of production from the interns as from a trained
     staff person.  I recognize this inequity and and have chosen to accept
     this by continuing my mentorship but, while I empathize with the
     students about being in debt (as I also was once a debt-ridden
     student), I hope that they realize that the institutions that they are
     volunteering at are non-profit institutions who are taking time to
     provide the students with valuable expertise and opportunity to
     enhance the students' future employment opportunities.  I think that
     we could all say that it would cheaper for us in time and staff
     productivity not to have internships at all but that is not our way of
     sharing so we accept and value our interns, we just can't seem to find
     a sponsor to fund that line of our financial statement.
     Carole DeFord
     Collections Manager