The annual reception of the Community Partnership Board (CPB), a program of the Cornell Public Service Center, will be Wednesday, April 14, at 5 p.m. in the Corson-Mudd Hall atrium on the Cornell University campus.

The CPB assists Cornell students in developing grassroots community action projects and administers grants to make these projects possible.

Here are the 1998 CPB grant recipients from Cornell and the programs with which they are affiliated:

• AIDS Education in Kenya -- Prudence Nkinda, graduate student.

This project will provide primary school students with accurate and appropriate information on HIV/AIDS, with the expectation that it will help them to make informed and responsible decisions in their lives. A two-month AIDS education series with primary school students in small rural villages in Kenya, Africa, will yield meaningful results in ensuring that Kenyan children learn about and prevent the spread of AIDS.

• Art Across Walls -- Vera Palmer, graduate student; Sean Teuton, graduate student; senior Anna Plesset; and junior Yamani Johnson-Taylor.

Cornell students have helped to create a sense of community for the Native American population at Auburn Correctional Facility through discussions of fiction, poetry, testimony, song, photography, film and other creative expressions of culture. This project made the voices of Native American prisoners heard beyond the confines of the facility's walls in a Cornell campus exhibit of various artistic productions of the Native men in the Willard Straight Gallery, April 5-10.

• Belle Sherman-Yoff Connection -- junior Justin Minkel.

Belle Sherman Elementary School in Ithaca will be connected with an elementary school in Yoff, a 600-year-old fishing village in Senegal, West Africa. Students, families and teachers who wish to participate will be able to gain access to e-mail and web sites, as well as regular mail, in order to share across international and cultural borders the details of their different environments and daily lives.

• Hope After School Soccer Program -- junior Pedro Medrano.

Children in the heart of South Central Los Angeles will be given the opportunity to join a summer soccer program. The soccer program will unify the neighborhood church, parents and youth of the area. Parents, who often work long hours and have limited resources, will benefit from a no-fee program that will enable their children to participate in a sport that encourages team building and positive group interaction.

• LADDERS (Learning About and Deciphering Decisions in Every Region and Society) — seniors Brady Russell and Kathleen Witter and the Cornell Women's Resource Center.

Through a series of role-playing workshops, the volunteers of LADDERS will illustrate important economic concepts to Ithaca youth. The goal of this project is to help elementary school students understand the way the world works. Students will not only begin to understand the complexities and importance of good microeconomic decisions, but they will also be more confident about their decision-making skills.

• Lifting the Limits — junior Howard Goldsmith and Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity.

A collaborative exhibit between the Special Children's Center and the Sciencenter, "Lifting the Limits" will be an exhibit on abilities and disabilities and the misconceptions associated with them. Beginning March 19 and continuing through June 27, this exhibit will raise the awareness of all who see it by providing hands-on activities, as well as emphasizing the importance of treating people with disabilities with dignity and respect.

• Mkhonto Project of Music, Theory and Practical Application — junior Vusumuzi Sibanda

Students at Southside Community Center will be encouraged to investigate music as a literary form and write essays on the literary aspects of their favorite songs. DJs will provide workshops for youth so that they can gain hands-on experience with the basic tools of the hip-hop tradition. Students subsequently will understand the legal and economic aspects of the music industry.

• "Our Voice": Newsletter for Ithaca's Homeless — junior Merri Greif.

"Our Voice" will be designed and developed by homeless people in Ithaca, in conjunction with Cornell students. The newsletter will promote education among the Ithaca community by allowing the homeless to describe their lives, goals and opinions openly in order to help others understand the conditions under which they live. Homeless people will receive technical guidance from Cornell volunteers, while Cornell students simultaneously learn about a different group of people, ultimately empowering all those involved.

• Sheshmani Community Development —junior Mason Bennett.

To address the expressed needs of the Sheshmani community of Africa — regenerative farming, seed security and self-reliant living -- this project will introduce current methods used in regenerative agriculture and agroforestry. Providing seeds and water security will create a more

stable system of food production. Together, Cornellians and community members will build a nursery for tree plantings that will eventually provide fuel, wood, forage and fertilizer. Cornell students will use the skills gained in the classroom to help the Sheshmani community combat their food shortage problems.

• University Action Summit — led by senior Sam Pollack and the Cornell Political Forum.

In order to help ensure that college students have a prominent voice in determining the future and ameliorating current problems, this project creates a venue through which students can gather, hold a summit, address their concerns, develop solutions and create action plans for community service improvement projects. On April 10, the University Action Summit held a summit on the Cornell campus with a keynote speech provided by Elaine Chao, a former president of United Way and former director of the Peace Corps.

• Water Monitoring — senior Danielle Wain and graduate student Matt Shuman.

The Cornell Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) has teamed up with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County and the Cayuga Nature Center to provide water monitoring experience for youth in Tompkins County. SWCS will work directly with young people to collect biological, chemical and physical data that serve as indicators of the health of aquatic ecosystems and water quality. This project makes water quality issues real and tangible to school-age youth, who will then become more concerned about the environment.