In the short time between semesters, the portable toilets have been removed and the ground has been torn up in the courtyard behind Dodson Auditorium.The early stages of construction are in preparation for a major University landscaping endeavor that’s part of Student Government’s goal to give graduating seniors the chance to leave a permanent mark on campus. Less than three months after the spending bill was approved by the SG Senate, ground has been broken and the concrete slab has been poured over the site of the 2009 Class Gift project. On Monday, bricks were laid atop the concrete slab to form a 6-foot-wide walkway around the courtyard.”This is a typical construction project, which means it will be ugly before it is pretty,” said Dennis Mitchell, campus landscape architect.SG and Mitchell have been vocal about their intentions to incorporate students into the landscaping and designing of the Dodson    courtyard.”We’re looking for a way for students to find a cost effective way to put time and effort into a lasting impression on campus,” said Shannon Bates, SG vice president.During the landscaping phase, the class of 2009 will be given the opportunity to work alongside the University by planting and designing the courtyard during several work-service days.”With it being my last semester, I want to take advantage of plans for seniors and leave my mark on campus,” said Andrea Sciarillo, mass communication senior. In November 2008, the SG Senate approved a bill allocating $70,363 from the SG initiatives account to pay for the Dodson project. Though the funds are being spent on a single project, SG’s class gift program is designed to be self-sustaining, as each project will generate funds for the following year’s project.Students from the graduating class of 2009 will soon be able to purchase engraved bricks in the courtyard for $75 apiece. SG has set a goal of selling 2,000 bricks which would generate $96,000 for the class of 2010.SG expects to put together a group of University juniors to decide how the future funds will be spent, but it’s still in the planning phase.”We want it to be a personal project for 2010,” Bates said. “From landscaping to replacing windows on campus, it’s really whatever they decide.”While the Dodson project’s pathway should be installed and the landscaping completed before May graduation ceremonies, it may take a full year before all of the bricks are named. To save the cost of digging up the bricks for engraving, named pavers will be inserted inside of the bricks as donations are made.Bricks will be sold and named in increments of about 400 bricks.Though the project is still in its first phases, Facility Services anticipates completing the sanctuary a full month in advance.”Most projects like this at LSU take years to get done, but I think Facility Services has helped us out a lot to get something constructed within the first three months,” said SG President Colorado Robertson.The Dodson project has progressed quickly because, while there has been significant input from students and SG, the design for the Dodson courtyard was approved by the University more than two years before the program was proposed.When SG approached the University with an idea for funding a class project, officials jumped on the opportunity to revamp the Dodson courtyard.”The University was only looking for funding, and the students provided a real way to pay for it,” said Mitchell. —-Contact Adam Duvernay at [email protected]