ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell Public Affairs Society (CPAS) launched a wide-scale computer donation campaign in the spring of 2003 to extend the benefits of the Internet to schools and related organizations in Africa. With 150 computers collected so far, CPAS continues to solicit donations from the community with the intention of sustaining this project for several years to come.

The computers are destined for African nations, with an emphasis on institutions supporting women in schools, agricultural organizations and training centers, and health agencies. The computers collected to date already have been sent to Washington, D.C., for refurbishment and will be shipped to Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Mali in January 2004.

CPAS President Harvey Scott, a graduate student in Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, has spearheaded this campaign, which is coordinated with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Leland Initiative. The Leland Initiative is an effort to extend full Internet connectivity to 20 or more African countries in order to promote sustainable development. In January, USAID is sending Scott to Bamako, the capital of Mali, to assist with the installation and networking of computers collected by CPAS.

Although Scott's tenure as CPAS president ends this December, the CPAS organization is committed to supporting the Computers for Africa program for several more years. Two university departments -- Cornell University Library and Gannett: Cornell University Health Services -- have agreed to provide yearly donations.

Society members are asking the greater Ithaca community to donate functional used computers with a Pentium I, or greater, processor or its equivalent. Monitors, mice and keyboards are the only peripherals that can be accepted with the computers. All donations need to be in working condition; all software, including the operating system, should be removed prior to donation.

For more information, contact the CIPA office at (607) 255-8018 or by e-mail at cipa@cornell.edu .