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ORANGEBURG, NY — To help protect college students, faculty and staff in emergency situations, Verizon Wireless today announced the donation of 10 wireless phones to the State University of New York at Stony Brook as a pilot in the company's newly expanded program, Wireless At Work On Campus. The donation also marks the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October 1- 31).
The phones, specially programmed to dial 9-1-1, will be available from police officers at the University. Police on campus will assign phones to students they believe will benefit most from having a wireless phone to report an emergency.
" A woman gets abused in the U.S. every nine seconds," said Charles Hand, president of Verizon Wireless' New York Metro area. "In fact, 25 percent of college women in the United States will experience sexual assault or dating violence during their college careers, according to a recent national survey. Through the Wireless at Work on Campus program, we're supplying a vital communications link for women who may be at risk of being abused and need emergency services."
The university will administer use of the phones and instruct recipients about how to make a call in an emergency. Some phones may be reserved for students or staff who have orders of protection or are victims of dating violence or assault; others may be made available as a safety tool for students whose work or study schedules require that they walk around campus at night.
Verizon Wireless, formerly Bell Atlantic Mobile, is a corporate leader in domestic violence education and prevention efforts. Since 1995, the company has donated nearly 4,000 wireless phones to victims of domestic violence in the New York/New Jersey metro area. Verizon Wireless supports the Family Violence Prevention Fund through financial contributions and this year, funded posters designed to raise awareness of the effects of domestic violence in the workplace. The Wireless At Work On Campus program expands the company's involvement to colleges and universities.
About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless is the largest wireless communications provider in the U.S. with more than 25 million wireless voice and data customers and nearly 4 million paging customers. The new coast-to-coast wireless provider was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic Corp. and GTE Corp --now Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) -- and Vodafone AirTouch Plc (LSE:VOD; NYSE:VOD). The new company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, AirTouch Cellular, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. The new company has a footprint covering nearly 90 percent of the U.S. population, 49 of the top 50 and 96 of the top 100 U.S. markets. Verizon Wireless, headquartered in New York City and Bedminster, NJ, is 30,000 employees strong. Reporters and editors can find more information about the company in its Media Center on the Web at: http://www.verizonwireless.com/verizon/mediacenter/index. shtml
Editor's Note: For more information about the donation at SUNY Stony Brook, please contact: Chief Richard Young; 631-632-6350
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