Student organizations, free stuff and curious students converged on the Winter Student Involvement Fair yesterday in the Ohio Union Ballrooms.

The Winter Involvement Fair is the second such fair of the year and featured 125 student groups. That was less than the Fall Involvement Fair, which this year featured over 500 organizations at Ohio Stadium.

“We do this fair in the winter for transfer and new students to campus and any student who wants to get involved,” said Kay Robinson, coordinator of student involvement and leadership on campus.

Donald Jones, a freshman in aerospace engineering, said the fair was successful in achieving its goal of showing students what activities students at Ohio State can participate in.

“I came here to see what kind of programs Ohio State has to offer,” Jones said. “I know they have a lot of programs that will look good on my résumé when I get out of college.”

Several organizations went all out to demonstrate what they are all about.

The Do Jung Ishu Club, an on-campus martial arts organization, demonstrated some of its moves among the crowd.

“If you’re going to have a fair that shows what we’re about, you might as well show what it’s like,” said Ray Block, a doctorate candidate in political science and member of the organization.

Ricardo Wilson, leader of the organization, said they have 6 to 8 members who attend their practices regularly.

The Swing Dance Club also demonstrated their dance moves on the floor. Laura Stonerock, a graduate student in pharmacy, said that group had about 20 people sign up for the club yesterday.

Over 20 fraternities and sororities also attended the event.

Mike Terry, a sophomore in business and a member of the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity, was disappointed with the turn out for Greek organizations.

“I think that it’d be a lot better if they didn’t have this deferred rush,” Terry said. “It’s hard to get freshmen to rush in the winter.”

Other groups were more oriented toward helping certain causes. Students For Recycling were at the fair recruiting students who want to get involved in recycling on campus.

Katie Lewis, a junior in microbiology, said that the club had almost 50 new students sign up for the club within the first half hour.

Students For Dialogue is a group whose purpose to gather people of different religions to learn about each other and build respect and tolerance, said Kinneret Kohn, a junior in international studies.

“We have interfaith dialogue groups, Muslim-Jewish dialogue groups, and (a) Muslim-Christian dialogue group,” said Batya Kopelowitz, a junior in accounting.

There were also several new groups at the involvement fair.

The Scrabble Club is new on campus this quarter, said Carolyn Wait, a freshman in nutrition dietetics and secretary for the club. She said that group has 30 members now, and meetings are every other Friday in the lobby of Siebert Hall.