Marcus Sylvas walked into his friend’s apartment with the intention of burning the Phi Beta Sigma letters onto his flesh.”You’re going to get it burned on so it’s definitely something you want to think about,” said Sylvas, Phi Beta Sigma president and agricultural business finance junior. Tattoos, branding and piercings are applications of body art that have become more common and socially acceptable these days. But certain kinds of body art could pose health risks and legal problems.     Branding is illegal in Louisiana, according to Title 51, Part 28 of the Louisiana Administrative Code.”We just can’t offer that service, and we discourage any nonprofessional modification,” said Jake Brooks, a piercer from Atomic Tattoo on Lee Drive. Kathryn Saichuk, Wellness Education coordinator, said branding poses a high risk of infection.”Branding is done by heating surgical grade sheet metal to 1,900-2,100 degrees and then applying it to the skin,” Saichuk said in an e-mail.Meanwhile, branding sites that aren’t properly cared for can lead to infection. In serious cases this can cause the loss of large amounts of tissue or a limb, Saichuk said.Brooks said he’s also seen a rise in customers coming in and asking for dermal anchors, a type of surface piercing. Dermal anchors involve punching a scalpel into the skin. Unlike an earring, the punch does not go all the way through. The jewelry is then lodged into the skin because it has a bottom with small holes. The skin grows through these holes so the jewelry is irremovable without surgery.”I had them located two on each side in between the rib cage so they would be in between each bone,” said Konstantin Foltz, construction management engineering junior and member of Phi Delta Theta.Foltz said his fraternity brother handed down his piercings.”It was more of a symbolic meaning, more of a bonding type thing,” he said. “It was something fun to do, a passing down.”Title 51, Part 28 does not mention dermal anchoring. “Dermal anchors are a little extreme,” Sylvas said. “It looks more painful than being branded.”—-Contact Victoria Yu at [email protected]