3-4-99

   Ohio State University students will gather at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 6 on East 14th Avenue in the University District to dedicate the first off-campus emergency telephone in the memory of Stephanie Hummer, a freshman who was abducted and killed in 1994.

   The dedication will begin at the Evans Scholars House, 52 E. 14th Ave., with remarks from university and city representatives. A procession will follow, leading to the phone location at the corner of 14th Avenue and Pearl Alley, the location of Hummer’s disappearance. Evans Scholars -- golf caddie scholarship recipients -- and Undergraduate Student Government are sponsoring the project. Hummer was an Evans Scholar; the ceremony marks the fifth anniversary of her death.

   Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray, Vice Provost and Dean for Undergraduate Studies Martha Garland, and Columbus Safety Director Thomas W. Rice are scheduled to attend. Hummer’s parents, Dan and Sue Hummer of Cincinnati, also will attend the dedication.

   Evans Scholars have raised the first $6,700 for the Stephanie Hummer Emergency Phone Project through an annual May golf tournament, also in Hummer’s memory. GAI-Tronics, the Mohnton, Pa.-based manufacturer of the emergency phones already on campus, and its Columbus distributor, Graybar Electric Co., have donated a phone for the off-campus project. Steve Leffingwell, Evans Scholars House president, said the dedication will launch the pilot project to place at least seven emergency phones in off-campus locations. The University Engineer’s Office is assisting with the effort.

   There are 97 emergency phones on campus property that provide immediate access to the University Police Communications Center. The first 20 were installed in 1972; the university expanded the system in 1995-96, and three new phones being installed during spring quarter will bring the total on campus -- between High Street, King Avenue, North Star Road and the wetland research park -- to 100. Evans Scholars and USG members coordinated with Columbus Police and the Community Crime Patrol in selecting where to place the other off-campus phones, which will access Columbus police via the 911 system. Evans Scholars and USG have set up a fund to accept contributions to the pilot project, which coordinators estimate will cost $45,000 to complete.

Contacts:
Steve Leffingwell, Evans Scholars, 421-1656, or
Shane Hankins, USG, 292-2101