“I was going to work hard,” Zerilli said in her column.

And yet not getting paid and ultimately succeed in the long run is how it works, right? Sorry, Zerilli, you are being taken advantage of and sadly universities and their business partners are exploiting bright, energetic college students like yourself and taking all the economic benefits of your hard work.

Instead of doing everything they can to get you started right in your career, colleges and universities are touting the idea that you need to find an unpaid internship. In Zerilli’s case, she has done four internships and yet still feels she is lagging behind.

Even more insidious, colleges are collecting massive amounts of tuition to work for free in businesses and nonprofits connected to the school. It is happening in many disciplines around campus and is increasing even more.?The culture of this type of student exploitation needs to end.

It should start at the top, but even university presidents seem to look to college students as cheap available labor.

On Michigan Public Radio, Thomas Haas, chairman of Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan, a nonprofit association representing Michigan’s 15 state universities, and president of Grand Valley State University recently stated in an interview that “we can get a college student on a very lower rate of pay, as an intern, and create maybe an excitement for that new business that’s a startup in Michigan.”

As a policymaker and a representative of higher education students and their alma maters, he, of all people, should be shouting from the rooftop that Michigan college students represent Michigan’s best bet on forging a new direction for our stagnant economic times.

An investment in a Michigan college student is a strong investment for Michigan’s future, not a free labor pool for short-term economic gain.

The suggestion and use of college students as a cheaper, exploitable resource to jump-start the Michigan economy degrades the high value of these students as future Michigan leaders to our state and our future.

Among these Michigan graduates is the next Henry Ford (creator of the affordable automobile), Herbert Dow (founder of Dow Chemical), John Sheehan (scientist who created chemical synthesis of penicillin) and countless others who will have important and lasting impacts on our economy, our sciences, and our future way of life.

So Zerilli, I say go to Greece and enjoy that once-in-a-lifetime experience and not to worry. Sadly, there will be plenty of unpaid internships waiting for you when you get back.

Philip L. Ellison

second-year law student