Tampa banker pushes for kiosk-equipped UN on wheels

TAMPA, Fla.-A prominent Tampa banker is attempting to raise $1.5 million to create a 53-foot mobile classroom with informational kiosks to travel across the country and teach schoolchildren about the United Nations, according to the St. Petersburg Times. Inside the mobile classroom, a theater that seats 30 would highlight the UN's accomplishments and explain its charge. On the screen, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan would talk about peacekeeping in today's world.

Students would be given "passports" to move between kiosks detailing the different arms of the U.N, including the Security Council.

The traveling exhibit is the brainchild of Malcolm Taaffe, 46, who said he wants the United Nations Mobile Education Centre to be a tourist attraction that will also serve as an educational tool.

Taaffe, the senior vice president of Morgan Stanley in Tampa, is aiming to have the mobile classroom on the road by September. The UN Department of Public Information signed off on the project in January. Admission would be free.

"A lot of people will never get the chance to see the United Nations and to learn about its mission," Taaffe told the newspaper. "I want to change that."