Should I take an unpaid internship?

In the past few days I've had some opportunities present themselves to participate in interesting career related projects. However, none of these interesting projects happen to be paid *sigh*. As a college student without a job I'm sure you can all appreciate my desire for paying gigs...I mean what's a girl to do in an economy like this? In addition to not having a job at the moment, I'm slowly becoming swamped by papers and school projects which will soon occupy the better part of my life. So should I take on these unpaid projects?

I've already signed on to do the marketing for the Miss Caribbean U.S.A pageant here in Philadelphia. You can check out the website here: www.misscaribbean.info. It'll soon be undergoing a brand overhaul. The other project is an internship which will give me the chance to work on behalf of a non-profit company in New Jersey as they begin planning for their fundraising event in June. I'll be working in the capacity of PR point person on that one. And lastly, I'm trying to help a Caribbean internet radio show and artist management company with sponsorship and marketing. So many projects, so little time!

The bigger issue for me though is having no income come in while I put out all this time and energy doing something I admittedly love. What do you PR folk who stumble across this blog think? Should (poor, unemployed) college students take unpaid internships? Jane Smith, who blogs from across the pond in the U.K. thinks that unpaid work experience is wrong, as it's unhealthy for the long-term diversity of our country. But this article from Bankrate.com, outlines all the positives of an unpaid internship.

It's a hard call for me as I rent my own place and am responsible for all that comes with that but on the other hand...in this economy it's a chance to make contacts so that when I do get out of school it may be easier to get a full-time position.