Students at the University of Washington in America are hoping to ring in the New Year (08) with a memorial to martial arts movie icon Bruce Lee.

The students have collected more than 1,000 signatures in recent weeks in a bid to petition university officials to erect a lifesize bronze statue of the Enter The Dragon star on campus.

Lee, who is buried alongside his son Brandon in Seattle, Washington, studied at the university in the 1960s. He died in 1973.

The memorial design students have in mind features a meditating Lee seated. If university officials agree to students' wishes the statue will join other tributes to Lee in Bosnia and China.

A theme park named for the late action man is currently under construction in China. (KL/LAT/LJ)

Copyright 2007 WENN