The State Pays College Students to Hang Out with Turtles

If you know any North Carolina college students who want to earn $8.25 an hour this summer doing things like acquainting the public with reptiles at a museum or filing court documents, direct them to this Web site before Jan. 23.

That’s the deadline to apply for one of 100 paid state government internships available in 2008, according to a news release from the state Department of Administration. Here are some of the things previous interns have done:

• introducing visitors to reptiles at the Museum of Natural Sciences
• working in the Office of the Governor
• publicizing the State Fair
• tracking the nesting patterns of loggerhead turtles on Bear Island
• clerking at the N.C. Court of Appeals
• assisting NC companies to compete in international markets