BULLETIN: The Nov. 20th dues deadline has passed. If you still have not sent in your check, you must do so ASAP.

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In this issue:

1. President's Notes
2. Division Notes: What's Happening in the Southern Division? What's Happening in the Northern Division?
3. The Public Relations front...
4. The Recruitment front...
5. LNITT on-line
6. Wanted!
7. Announcements!

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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 1. PRESIDENT'S NOTES <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[by Robert Lendvai, President]

Dear Members,

I feel that our organization is right on track to be a major force in US table tennis. There is no mainstream popular sport in the US without serious collegiate participation. Frequently, the sport you pick in college is one you stick with for life. Three years ago, as a Dartmouth freshman, I felt the lack of a table tennis club to be such a deficiency in my school's menu of activities that I had to remedy it right away. I founded a club myself! Just because I couldn't kick the table tennis habit... The LNITT and the promise of competition that it brought made having a club so much more rewarding! All the sudden I could tell recruits about upcoming away meets and practices that were aimed towards competition. I know that many of you are in the same boat -- sustaining interest in a sport that is not one of the big three can be daunting. And it's easier with a healthy league -- The LNITT is your best friend when it comes to showing people the kind of speed an excitement our sport has to offer. And nothing makes you look forward to the next practice more than a 22-20 loss the previous weekend... The LNITT, coupled with the hard work of table tennis players absolutely unwilling to give up their sport, can make US intercollegiate table tennis a reality. In US Table Tennis, that makes the League not only a major force, but also vital one.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 2. DIVISION NOTES <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

----- What's Happening in the Southern Division? ----- [by Division Director Joseph Su]:

The fall Southern Division meet took place at Hofstra University on Saturday, November 8th. Eight schools attended, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, RPI, Hofstra, Columbia, NYU, Cooper Union and Princeton University. I was my pleasure to have met the entire Southern Division last week at Hofstra! This meet was by far not only the biggest but also the most successful one we have ever had. I would like to personally thank Hofstra organizers, among them Dr. Araki and Nobuhiro, without whose tireless dedication and efforts this tournament would not have been possible. Of course, I would also like to thank all of you the team captains for your ongoing interest and active participation in the League of Northeastern Intercollegiate Table Tennis.

Current Southern Division Rankings:

1. Johns Hopkins 2. RPI 3. Columbia 4. Cornell 5. Hofstra 6. NYU 7. Princeton

More detailed results and letter about the tournament from Dr. Araki (Hofstra Advisor and tournament director) can be found at www.lnitt.org

----- What's Happening in the Northern Division? ----- [by Jason Deeken, Northern Division Director]:

I am pleased to see that the Northern Division matches have been running smoothly since a somewhat rocky start in October. Thank you to Yubei Teng of Babson and Lewis Shi of Harvard for taking on the lion's share of the hosting duties and acting as tournament directors.

Bad weather forced the cancellation of the meets at Harvard and Babson last weekend. Stay tuned for scheduling updates to make up these matches.

As far as the standings are concerned, MIT A looks to be firmly in command of first place. Only Babson stands between them and an undefeated season, that match to be played at Babson on December 13.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jason Deeken

(detailed scores from previous meets are at www.lnitt.org)

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 3. PUBLIC RELATIONS <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
[by Karen Chang, Public Relations Director]

The past few weeks have been spent creating a sponsorship proposal to different equipment retailers (e.g., Paddle Palace), in hopes of getting funding and discounts to improve the general quality of the league as well as benefit all league members individually (DISCOUNTS! DISCOUNTS!). Among our financial requests were travel reimbursements, 3 star balls, T-shirt printing subsidy (yesm we're going to have T-shirts!), trophy/awards purchases, and internet hosting fees. As we await the response from retailers, information is being added to www.lnitt.org site on a daily basis to keep members informed of all the latest news and happenings within the League.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 4. RECRUITMENT <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[by Yubei Teng, Recruitment Director]

During the last two weeks, I have tried to recruit more schools into our league. But results have been somewhat disappointing. I've made many contacts at other colleges, but email is proving to be a difficult form of communication, in which to convince strangers to join us. If you know anyone who plays table tennis at other schools, please let me know. We are willing to try anything to encourage schools to join. Northeastern University has only two people -- insufficient for a team. Therefore, for the time being, they're forming a temporary team with a student from Emerson College! We're expecting to finally met them at the Boston University meet on Dec 2nd. Let's welcome them then. Hopefully, we will be seeing many more schools soon!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 6. LNITT ON-LINE <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I have updated the What's News and Results&Schedules sections. The front page is redesigned, a java news scroller is added on the front page. Just click on the headline to see the details! It now works without java too... A photo album will be added this week. If you have any photos from tournaments that you like me to include, you may send them to me for posting either electronically or in the mail. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you'd like your picture returned.

It's all at http://www.lnitt.org

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 5. WANTED! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

* Co-Recruitment Director: Responsible for finding, contacting and recruting college teams to the LNITT. Great communications skills a must!

* Newsletter Editor: Put together a newsletter about once every three weeks. Good writing skills required.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 6. ANNOUNCEMENTS! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Selling a used table? Have an upcoming tournament you'd like to announce to the world? Send your announcement to newsletter@lnitt.org and indicate that you'd like it in the announcements section. It'll be here next time.

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(c) 1997 League of Northeast Intercollegiate Table Tennis Editor: Robert Lendvai, President (president@lnitt.org)
Send comments, feedback, suggestions to: newsletter@lnitt.org