@ Golov - State/Fed Gov are not for profit companies. If they did pay the interns in these positions you would probably complain about them soaking up your tax dollars or some other asinine complaint.

For-profit companies can definitely pay their interns. All the places I have ever worked with interns, they weren't exactly given assignments that would cause the organization to lose gobs of money. Nope, they were unpaid gophers and trash men.

You do a day's work, no matter how unskilled, you should be paid.