The reason many graduates persist with working for free is the lure of a possible paid job at the end of their internship.

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In one instance the commissioner found he had allowed an intern to take a publicly-funded laptop away at the end of their internship, and bought a new one for his next intern.

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Over the months of their internship, however, most soon figured out that on the other end of the phone were regular people just like them.

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It was scathing criticism, especially coming at the end of a string of sex scandals that had put restrictions on the lawmakers' internship program and led to the 2003 conviction of Silver's counsel, Michael Boxley, for sexual misconduct.

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