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Ameren gets $4.75 mil of requested $130 mil hike NICK JOHNSON Daily Egyptian Ameren spokesman Leigh Morris said consumers would see minimal effects if regulators approved the utility company’s rate hike request. The Illinois Commerce Commission made sure he was right Thursday when it approved just $4.75 million
of Ameren’s requested $130 million hike. The rate adjustment passed by a vote of 3-2. AmerenCIPS customers will see an estimated 7.6 percent increase in electric rates and an estimated 4 percent reduction in gas rates as a result of the decision, according to an ICC press release.
“This decision may hinder our ability to provide the service our customers expect,� Morris said in a statement. “Over the next few days, we will thoroughly review the commission’s order and determine what steps we will need to take.� Please see AMEREN | 8
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UNPAID INTERNSHIPS under fire
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY GENNA ORD AND EDYTA BĹ ASZCZYK | DAILY EGYPTIAN
U.S. Dept. of Labor challenges forCoordinators: Unpaid internships For an unpaid profit companies that do not pay need regulation, not money internship to be employers treat the intern as a full-time interns had to do some tasks that are JEFF ENGELHARDT JEFF ENGELHARDT legal, the employer Daily Daily Egyptian Egyptian employee but only pay minimum wage. unbecoming of an individual because A full-time employee would earn a they are an intern.� must meet the Unpaid internship programs have Cody Wade spent nine weeks workKrissi Geary-Boehm has helped co- higher wage, she said. ing on the production of eight films in come under fire from the U.S. Departfollowing criteria: ordinate hundreds of internships and Interns would also lose protections Los Angeles as he rubbed shoulders in Hollywood. He simultaneously paid $7,000 to cover his housing, travel and some living expenses. He didn’t receive a penny for his work. SIUC law professor Cheryl Anderson said the vagueness of the federal criteria that makes an unpaid internship legal or illegal leave many situations open for interpretation. “If you are interning at a law firm or accounting firm and those kind of businesses, and providing services for their clients, then you would be hard-pressed to argue that you’re not benefitting,� Anderson said. Wade, a graduate student in professional media and media management from St. Charles, Mo., said he loved his internship and would not trade the experience for anything, but the nature of the film industry is tough for an intern. “It sucks working for free, and the film industry really takes advantage of some loopholes in the law,� Wade said. “I never had to deal with it, but some
ment of Labor as the director for the department’s wage and hour division, Nancy Leppink, has started to crack down on for-profit institutes. “If you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid and still be in compliance with the law,� Leppink said in the report. The legality of an internship depends on six criteria outlined in the federal labor law. Out of those six criteria, it is the “derive no immediate advantage� that Anderson said is the most open for interpretation. Anderson said in many cases, unpaid internships could be legal because often times the employer must train the intern extensively when an “immediate advantage� would be hiring a professional that needs no supervision.
Please see INTERN | 6
t Offer similar training that would be given in an educational environment t Benefit the intern t Have existing staff closely supervise the intern t Derive no immediate benefit from the intern t Offer no guarantee of job after internship t Make it clear there will be no pay JULIA FROMME | DAILY EGYPTIAN Source: U.S. Department of Labor
noticed one recurring theme: It is not the pay or lack thereof that dictates the quality of the internship, but rather the educational experience. Geary-Boehm, coordinator of internships and placement for the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts, said the U.S. Department of Labor’s crackdown on unpaid internships should focus on more than the legal obligations of for-profit institutions to pay interns. Geary-Boehm said many unpaid internships can provide invaluable educational experiences and the changes should come in regulations — not in paychecks. “I think what will eventually happen is that unpaid internships will have to be for college credit, and that’s the way it should be,� Geary-Boehm said. “An internship is supposed to be an educational experience, not a summer job. And that’s the problem; some of these internships are treated as entry-level jobs.� She said paid internships can be worse than unpaid internships because
such as anti-discriminatory laws in that situation, she said. Regulations she would like to see implemented include shorter durations and more college involvement. Internships that last a full year, even if they are paid, take advantage of the student and if the college is not involved, the educational experience could be lost, she said. “Internships should go no longer than a semester, but really eight weeks is usually a good amount of time for experiential education — because again it’s not a job,� Geary-Boehm said. “We set up these programs to make sure our students get credit and have coordinators working with them. That way it’s a triangular relationship between the college, business and student.� One of the programs the college has established is the Studies Programs, which sends students to Hollywood, Chicago, New York, Nashville and Washington. Please see COORDINATORS | 6