September 10, 2004

Purchase of engraved bricks to help pay for facility

by Bonnie Marx

CARBONDALE, Ill. - - Employees in Student Health Programs at Southern Illinois University Carbondale want to show students they're as committed to the success of the new health facility as the students themselves through a campaign to help raise funds for the new building.

"Students taxed themselves to pay for this and we want to show them how much we support it too," said Christine Labyk, assistant director of Student Health Programs.

Student health fees will pay off the bulk of the $9.6 million in bonds issued for the facility, going up adjacent to the Student Recreation Center on the campus' east side. For the past 39 years, two buildings on Greek Row on the far west side of campus have been home to Student Health Programs.

When the student health facility opens in about a year, the main entryway will feature a walkway paved with engraved bricks, Labyk said. Student Health Programs employees hope faculty, staff, parents of students, campus groups and others will consider buying the individually engraved bricks.

"It could be for a special event, by parents for a graduate, a retiree, in memoriam or denote a time when SIUC was an important part of one's life," she said.

Cost for the bricks is $100 for a four-inch by eight-inch brick and $200 for an eight-inch by eight-inch brick. Purchasers may choose from among five different graphic elements - - a flag, a dove, a paw print, a graduation cap and gown and the Pulliam Hall tower. The buyer may choose the words for the brick.

A special extra that comes with buying a regular-size brick is the opportunity to purchase as many commemorative mini-bricks as the buyer would like. Cost for the smaller bricks is $25 each. They don't go into the walkway; instead they go home with the buyer.

Labyk said members of the SIUC Beta Eta Chapter of Alpha Gamma Delta sorority have purchased lots of the little bricks in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Alpha Gamma Delta.

Contributions from employees in Student Health Programs total $24,000 to date through payroll deductions and donations from friends, Labyk said. Employees of SIUC's pharmacy all chipped in for a memorial contribution in honor of the late Ruth Frank, former pharmacy director.

The bricks won't start going into place until the building is closer to completion, Labyk said, but she expects the fund-raiser will be an ongoing campaign over the next several years. She's tentatively planning two installations per year; purchasers will be notified when their bricks are to be unveiled and receptions will follow.

The new facility will house the medical clinic, pharmacy, Wellness Center, student emergency dental service, Counseling Center, insurance office, immunizations, laboratory, radiology, mental health clinic, sports medicine, Women's Services, and physical therapy from the clinical center, which currently is a component of the College of Applied Sciences and Arts. It also will house a 120-seat auditorium as well as conference rooms.

Those interested in getting in on the fund-raising campaign may visit the Student Health Programs' Web site,http://www.siu.edu/shp/, or call 618/536-7575. SIUC employees may contribute through payroll deduction.