Table tennis, anyone?

This Saturday, the Office of International Student Services will be sponsoring a Ping-Pong tournament, from 9 a.m. until noon in Room W184 of the Forker Building.

Jose Yeh, junior in electrical engineering, is one of the six International Peer Assistants who organized the event.

“We discussed one day how we could try to get American and international students together,” Yeh said. “We thought a sporting event would attract more people.

“I suggested a basketball tournament, but others [thought] this would be too much. We need to gain experience before doing the big stuff. So we decided to do a table tennis tournament,” he said.

Ayaz Hasan, junior in electrical engineering and International Peer Assistant, said the Ping-Pong tournament was one of several possibilities the OISS was considering.

“We initially thought of having an international food festival, but Ping-Pong seemed more fun,” Hasan said. “Plus there are other events where international food is available.”

The tournament will be divided into two skill levels, intermediate and advanced. In addition, a special “celebrity” tournament will feature several prominent faculty members, including James Melsa, dean of the College of Engineering.

“The idea [for the celebrity tournament] came from our office director, Dennis Peterson,” Yeh said. “He suggested inviting celebrities to play to attract more participation.”

“[We invited the celebrities] to attract people to come and see them and also to mix with the students,” Hasan said. “It’s nice for the students to be able to meet them. We’ve all heard of Dean Melsa but never met him before. It’s a good opportunity for us.”

Hasan said the OISS sponsors several other events to promote cultural awareness.

“We periodically have events to promote cross-cultural learning,” Hasan said. “We make visits to fraternities. We take international students there to see what it’s like.”

Hasan said one of the most popular events is Free Coffee Fridays, every Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Pine Room at the Memorial Union.

Most of the slots in the tournament have been filled, but Yeh said interested persons should stop by Free Coffee Friday today to check for available spots.