Rather than pack used computer parts away in the closet, you can donate them to the Ithaca Youth Bureau, where local teen-agers will refurbish them and donate them to low-income families in the area.

"We accept any computer or computer component," says Marty Schreiber, the program coordinator of the Computer All Stars program at the Ithaca Youth Bureau. "Local Ithaca City School District middle-school and high-school students learn how to rebuild the computers after school and may receive one of them. In addition, applications for computers are accepted from local families who have school-age children and who would not otherwise have a computer."

The Computer All Stars program is one of almost a dozen affiliated with the Cornell-Ithaca Partnership (C-IP), a U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -- and Cornell University -- funded program to bring university resources to assist in addressing the concerns of downtown Ithaca neighborhoods. The C-IP is a HUD Community Outreach Partnership Center (COPC), directed by Cornell Professor Patricia Baron Pollak of the Department of Policy Analysis and Management in the university's College of Human Ecology.

In one of its initiatives, the C-IP has fostered collaboration between the Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars Program and the Ithaca Youth Bureau for the computer recycling project. "These Cornell students are recognized for their academic excellence and leadership potential," says Susan Longest, a Cornell junior neurobiology and behavior major from Richmond, Va., who serves as the program coordinator of the Computer All Stars at C-IP as her work-study job. "They are committed to doing community service as part of the terms of their Meinig Family scholarship, and many are committing to the Computer All Stars for the duration of their academic career. They are managing the applications from the local students who want to learn how to refurbish computers and from the low-income families that need a computer. They also are working on finding other ways to use the recycled computers that can't be fixed, such as making wind chimes from the hard drives." Jill Wason, a junior communication major from Tuxedo, N.Y., and a Meinig Family scholar, who will be working with the teenagers in the program, said: "This summer, for example, two of us worked on ironing out some details for the Computer All Stars program, such as establishing several committees and determining what kinds of expertise Meinig scholars have to contribute to the program. We also have big dreams of creating a student-run store for recycled computer parts."

During the past academic year, about two dozen teens repaired more than 100 computers that were given away to families in the community. This year, the Computer All Stars program will have monthly units; each after-school unit can accommodate an enrollment of 12 teens. The Computer All Stars program could accommodate more community youth if funding is obtained to enlarge the training facility.

To donate a computer, volunteer to work in the program, apply to participate in the program or apply for a computer for your family, contact Susan Longest at the Cornell-Ithaca Partnership at (607) 216-0510 or COPC@cornell.edu . Middle- through high-school age youth may apply to participate in the Computer All Stars through applications that are available at Ithaca city schools and neighborhood community centers. Families needing a computer can find applications at schools, neighborhood community centers, the Cornell-Ithaca Partnership (313 N. Aurora St.) and the Ithaca Youth Bureau (1 James L. Gibbs Drive).