Preventing unlimited free labor is worth a few units

I feel I have to respond to some of the points Harold Lee raised
in “All work, no pay makes intern class a dull choice”
(July 17).

I agree with him on one point: It seems unfair that students
should have to pay $600 to the university to work for free.

Lee fails to mention, however, that this fee only applies during
the summer quarter. Students can also do their internships during
the fall, winter or spring, when the fees do not apply.

All summer students who want to learn something face the problem
of having to pay for their units. But Lee doesn’t suggest
that all summer-session courses drop their fees.

Lee doesn’t take very seriously the concerns Kathy
O’Byrne raises about the reasons for the law that requires
students working at unpaid internships with companies to get
college credit. The idea that a person or company should be able to
profit from someone’s labor without that person getting any
kind of compensation went out with the abolition of slavery.

There are many industries in this town for which people are
basically required to have experience and connections in order to
get a job.

Students who want jobs in these industries are willing to work
for free. For-profit companies want to make money. If they can get
students to do the work, with no limits, why would they ever hire
anybody?

Lee suggests that students should “limit their
eagerness,” but let’s face it: If students are
depending on their “employers” to give them a job, a
recommendation or any help at all, they’re going to feel the
need to abandon all limits to their eagerness to show just how
great they’d be as employees. This is a situation ripe for
abuse.

About the only protection a student has are the
university-imposed rules limiting what they can do (we have had to
step in to address problem situations on a number of
occasions).

All classes require a variety of work. The internship course is
no different, except that instead of going to lectures and doing
assigned readings, students work off-campus in industries they are
interested in, write short weekly essays and a research paper on a
topic of their choice, and meet one-on-one with a teaching
assistant every other week.

The internship course requires that students reflect on their
work experience.

My students get an opportunity not only to try out something
before making life-changing decisions, but also to really think
about what it means in the greater scheme of things.

Most of my students recognize the value of this: I’ve lost
count of the number of students who have said such things as,
“I’m so glad (insert company name here) required that I
get credit for this internship,” or “This course has
really opened up my eyes.”

Many students complain that their studies have nothing to do
with real life. Here’s a course that gets them to connect
academic work directly with real life.

Lee is exactly right in his conclusion that students should
expect training instead of just resume padding. That’s what
the course is all about. So why would he want to get rid of it?

Kaswan is the political science coordinator of the UCLA
Center for Community Learning.