GovernmentExecutive.com

The Washington Times reports today on the rift that has opened up between two House softball leagues over the issue of how playoffs should be run. Included in the piece is a detail always included in reports about softball on Capitol Hill: Since playing space on the National Mall is scarce, congressional offices dispatch interns to spend entire afternoons squatting on fields to ensure they're reserved for evening games. And reading this, I wondered what I always wonder: How come no one ever questions the ethics of using interns who are supposed to be getting experience working in the federal government for this purpose? If a federal agency used its interns (even unpaid ones) to reserve softball fields, wouldn't somebody be crying waste, fraud and abuse? (Federal agencies don't do this...right?) I actually don't think it's that big a deal to use interns as field placeholders, I just think there's something of a double standard at work.