Where are the Southern interns?

Apparently they are not in Jefferson City. There are five Southern interns at the Capitol, half as many as last year, and two of those are returning.

Rep. Bryan Stevenson (R-Joplin) has Southern in his district, and he didn’t get an intern from the University.

He turned down interns from other schools to keep the spot open for a Southern student only to find out in December he would not get one.

Luckily, Justin Zhang, a Truman State University student, filled in.

Which makes us ask, “Why are students giving up these golden opportunities?”

The University should be holding interviews to narrow down candidates. But instead, we are leaving open slots that could easily and should easily be filled by our students.

Communications, ecolonomics, political science, business, accounting and marketing are disciplines used in the Capitol building on a daily basis. And those are just a handful.

But somehow only five of the more than 5,000 students at Southern are interested.

This is a stepping stone for students of almost every major, so don’t let next year’s pool of candidates turn up shallow.