OpenAFS Project
In 2003, USENIX awarded a generous $35,000 matching fund donation to the OpenAFS project, an ongoing collaborative effort chartered with enhancing AFS, a widely used distributed file system. The USENIX donation, matched evenly by Intel and Morgan Stanley, was distributed to members of the OpenAFS Advisory Council, which is responsible for the overall direction of the OpenAFS project. The OpenAFS Advisory Council is comprised of representatives from Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, the University of Michigan, Intel Corporation, Morgan Stanley, and IBM Corporation. Pioneered at Carnegie Mellon University and supported and developed as a product by IBM Corporation, AFS offers mid-sized businesses, large enterprises, and universities a scalable, high-performance, reliable, and secure file-sharing system.

Electronic Frontier Foundation
The USENIX Board of Directors renewed its support for the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) by committing up to $150,000 over the next three years to protect copyright and fair use rights related to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) legal cases. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) contends that the DMCA violates constitutional rights to free expression. The cases build on EFF's earlier precedent-setting victory, Bernstein vs. U.S. Department of Justice, where a federal appeals court ruled that code is free speech and, therefore, protected by the Constitution. The USENIX Association also helped fund the Bernstein case in 2000. For more information about the case, refer to DMCA and DeCSS Project. For more information about EFF, visit the EFF Web site.

Increasing Representation in Computing
USENIX continues to reaffirm its commitment to increasing the representation of women and under-represented groups in the computing professions. In our efforts to support more diverse participation, USENIX is assisting two programs sponsored by the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research. The first project is the Distributed Mentor Project, in which outstanding female undergraduates work with female faculty mentors for a summer of research at the mentor's institution. The second project is called the Collaborative Research Experiences For Women (CREW), whereby students work in collaborative teams with a faculty mentor at their home institution during the academic year.

USENIX Student Programs

Graduate and undergraduate college education is always of the highest priority to the Association. USENIX and its members value students and the research in the computing systems arena that is generated in colleges and universities. Recognizing the importance of this work, USENIX funds a number of programs for college students.

• Student Membership
  USENIX believes the participation of the "younger generation" in the community represents the future direction of computer technology. Student membership dues are kept low for students studying electrical engineering and computer science at accredited colleges on a full-time basis.
  Student membership information

• Conference Participation for Students
  USENIX strongly supports graduate and undergraduate student participation in our conferences. We offer students very low registration fees for USENIX technical sessions and tutorials. Also, the student stipend program provides grants for travel, accommodation, and fees to attend our conferences. Student contributions to conference programs are encouraged with best student paper awards and cash prizes.

• University Outreach
  Another way USENIX reaches out to students is through its University Outreach program. In exchange for an annual free conference registration and a complimentary educational membership, computer science department faculty and staff on various campuses distribute Association materials to students, maintain a library of USENIX conference proceedings, answer questions, and spread the word about USENIX's activities.

Pre-college Programs
The USA Computing Olympiad is just one of many community and student development programs USENIX supports, and this is not the first time USENIX has enjoyed the pride of a job well done. To see the 2004 team and the finalists, go to the USACO Web site. The USA Computing Olympiad is one of several pre-college and college computer education interests of USENIX.

Support for Other Organizations

USENIX has been a member of Computing Research Association for several years. The CRA mission is to represent and inform the computing research community, and to support and promote its interests. CRA seeks to strengthen research and education in the computing fields, and improve public policy-makers' understanding of the importance of computing and computing research in our society.