Tradition is very important to Jennifer Searles. She is dotting the “I” in Script Ohio at the Ohio Stadium on Saturday, and her husband dotted the “I” for the Ohio State Marching Band for the past two years.Searles, a graduate student in material science, said she was nervous about dotting the “I” until she practiced it with her husband. “It is such a great tradition and I’m really excited about doing it,” she said. Jon Woods, director of the OSU Marching Band, said that Script Ohio is one of the most famous marching routines of college bands in the nation. “It excites the crowd every time, it never tires of effectiveness,” Woods said.The dotting of the “I” began in 1936 when Eugene Weigel, a former director of the School of Music and the OSU Marching Band, first had the band form a triple Block O formation that unwound to form the now famous “Ohio”. A trumpet player was the first person to dot the “I”. In 1937 a sousaphone player was chosen to dot the “I” for greater visibility, and the tradition has lasted for more than 50 years. Woods said that the dotting of the “I” has evolved in precision and size since it was first performed. The original band performed the leader move, where the 120 members closely followed the drum major. Today the 192 playing members rely also on their hours of practice to lead them on the field.Seniority determines which sousaphone player will dot the “I”. Woods said fourth- year sousaphone players choose which script they wish to dot based on the number of pregame ramp entrances they have performed. Fifth-year sousaphone players are eligible after all fourth-year players are done. If a script remains to be dotted, the process repeats. Jason Ebey, who dotted the “I” at the Cincinnati game this year, said that it is a tremendous honor.”Dotting the “I” is something that you work for, and the fans really appreciate it,” he said. “You get out there and every single person is looking at you for about 30 seconds. It is such a rush.” After dotting the “I” last year, Ebey was interviewed by Pennsylvania radio stations, pictured in The Columbus Dispatch and shown on several television programs.Woods said that Script Ohio is not performed at every football game, and the performance times can be at pregame, halftime or post-game. Script Ohio will be performed during halftime at Saturday’s game.