Keeping Penn's computer system up to date is a multi-million dollar affair.

The University, which currently owns approximately 30,000 computers, buys 7,500 new machines each year.

Ensuring that all computers are kept relatively up-to-date is the main reason for the significant investment.

"We try to encourage people to keep up to a minimum standard," said Mark Aseltine, who is the executive director for Technology Support Services.

When the University buys a new computer, it expects it to have a four-year life-span, Aseltine said. This means that one-fourth of all computers are replaced every year.

The annual cost of buying new computers is about $15 million.

Libraries -- which replace about 150 computers per year, according to Library Director of Information Technology Michael Winkler -- are one of the biggest purchasers of new computers.

Winkler noted that one way to slash the cost of buying new computers is to buy in bulk.

At the end of four years, an increasing number of computers are donated for further use.

Aimed at bridging the so-called "digital divide," a Penn-sponsored program provides low-income West Philadelphia residents with used computers.

"Penn can harness these technologies in a responsible way and help people in West Philadelphia," Center for Community Partnerships Associate Director Cory Bowman said.

The Bridge the Digital Divide program is the result of an Engineering senior thesis in 1998 by then-undergraduate student David Park.

Bowman said that the computer redistribution program shows that undergraduate initiatives can "lead to major projects that they themselves implement and continue through the work of other students and even full-time staff at Penn and in the community."

It is now responsible for collecting, refurbishing and distributing computers the University has discarded.

The initiative provides West Philadelphia schools and non-profit and community organizations with about 150 computers per semester, Bowman said.

These computers have been generally well-received, according to organizers.

Philadelphia residents have been "incredibly appreciative," Coordinator of the Penn Program for Public Service Susanna Corson-Finnerty said.

The program also gives training to new computer users and future computer instructors.

One benefit to Penn of having a system for distributing computers is that it guards against an environmental hazard on campus.

Bowman noted that when disposed computers are left in a trash bin, University members can be exposed to unsafe levels of lead and mercury.

The program also adds "efficiency to getting rid of old equipment," Winkler said, noting that the CCP provides an organized and systematic way to discard used computers.