ITHACA, N.Y. -- Cornell University is announcing its eighth annual Pre-Orientation Service Trips (POST) program for new Cornell students. POST, a program of the Cornell Public Service Center, provides a group of first-year and transfer students with a head start on making friends, an introduction to community service work and a familiarity with the Ithaca community before the start of the school year.

Beginning Aug. 17 and ending the morning of Aug. 22, 75 incoming students, aided by 14 upperclass team leaders, will spend their days and nights exploring the Ithaca community through service work and recreational programming. The students come from 21 states, Puerto Rico and Singapore.

POST participants' daytime hours will be devoted to service projects, working with a total of 15 local agencies over a four-day period, for a combined total of more than 1,500 hours of service to the community. Agencies with whom the students will be working this year include the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Longview -- An Ithacare Community, the Ithaca City School District, the Ithaca Fire Department, the Salvation Army and the Southside Community Center. Service projects include helping prepare local schools for the new school year, trail maintenance at various sites, painting projects and helping agencies clean up and organize a variety of spaces.

During the evenings, POST students will take part in a number of activities designed to help them develop friendships and orient them to the Ithaca community. These activities include a scavenger hunt through downtown Ithaca and a community dinner with agency representatives. The program culminates with an evening barbecue, Aug. 21, at Stewart Park, which will include the students, community members, campus officials and some early arriving parents.

For more information about POST or the Cornell Public Service Center, call (607) 255-1148 or visit this Web site: http://psc.cornell.edu .