SEMO may get autism center

Southeast Missouri State University would build a $2.64 million center to diagnose and treat autism under a state spending plan backed by Gov. Matt Blunt and state legislative leaders.

The 18,000-square-foot building would be constructed within a 65-acre research park the university plans to develop southwest of the Interstate 55-East Main Street interchange now under construction, school president Dr. Ken Dobbins said Thursday. If all goes right, the center could be operating as early as fall 2008.

The university president said the proposed autism center is needed in Southeast Missouri.

"Right now individuals have to go to Columbia or St. Louis to get any diagnosis and help with the treatment of autistic children," Dobbins said.

In addition to diagnosis and treatment, the center also would be involved in autism education and research, housing both faculty and doctors. The university could directly hire doctors or work in association with hospitals, Dobbins said, adding that those issues still have to be worked out.

State Sen. Jason Crowell, R-Cape Girardeau, who lobbied for the project, said the center would be "an invaluable new resource" for the estimated 900 autistic children in the region.

The project is one of four for Southeast totaling more than $24 million that would be funded with Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority money. Southeast would also receive $17.2 million to complete the state's share of funding for the River Campus arts school, $4.5 million for a business incubator to house environmental and conservation companies and $173,000 to renovate space at the university's Sikeston campus for a dental hygiene clinic.

The clinic would provide space for a cooperative program with Missouri Southern State University to train students for careers as dental hygienists, Southeast officials said.

Southeast's projects are included in a list of 31 projects around the state totaling $350 million that would be funded by the Lewis and Clark Discovery Initiative.

The plan includes $335 million for campus construction projects around the state and $15 million to commercialize cutting-edge research under way at Missouri colleges.

Blunt's economic development director, Greg Steinhoff, and two key lawmakers -- state Sen. Gary Nodler, R-Joplin, and state Rep. Gayle Kingery, R-Poplar Bluff -- outlined the projects Thursday in Jefferson City.

"This is a one-time investment to help our universities and colleges build world-class facilities for our students to learn in," Nodler said.

By having the legislature approve spending for the specified projects, Crowell said, lawmakers can prevent any of the money being spent on embryonic stem-cell research.

"We are not going to do embryonic stem-cell research in the state of Missouri," he said.

Axed from the original project list are the proposed medical and business research buildings that were objectionable to opponents of such stem-cell research, including an $85 million project at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The autism center is a new project for Southeast, along with the dental hygiene clinic.

The governor last year proposed funding for the River Campus project and a business incubator that would house life-science companies. Under the latest plan, the business incubator project has been changed to focus on environmental and conservation efforts.

"There will be classrooms and office space in the building," Dobbins said. A site has yet to be chosen for the facility, but it might be built close to the science complex on the main campus, he said.

Dobbins credited Crowell with helping to craft the latest construction spending plan.

"Sen. Crowell has worked very hard on these projects and the appropriation process," Dobbins said.

Under the plan, the student loan agency would put money into a state fund from which lawmakers would make appropriations in a manner similar to how other state expenditures are made. Dobbins said it's similar to the process the state used in spending tobacco settlement money.

The proposed spending plan, Crowell said, has the support of a majority of lawmakers in the House and Senate.

State Rep. Nathan Cooper, R-Cape Girardeau, is among the plan's supporters. "The projects included in this list demonstrate a commitment to Missouri's higher education institutions, students and our state's economy," Cooper said.

Crowell said Blunt is scheduled to discuss the spending plan when he visits Cape Gir?ardeau for the Republican Lincoln Day celebration Saturday.

The Senate could pass the legislation next week and send it on to the House, Crowell said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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