siuDE.com

Jordan Wicks has a message for administrators: she wants to compromise.

Wicks is a member of the women's rugby team, one of the sport clubs that may be most affected by administrators' decision not to increase the campus recreation fee by $25.60 per semester.

Current plans for the first phase of Saluki Way, which calls for the construction of a new football stadium, would cause the university to lose six of 12 tennis courts, three of six playing fields and the cricket pitch.

Willie Ehling, director of Recreational Sports and Services, has said the increase would pay to allow the university to maintain its current number of facilities and add new elements, such as adapted fitness trails, restrooms and a band shelter.

However, administrators said Thursday they would only propose a 60 cent increase in the fee, meaning three unlighted fields and six tennis courts would be lost when Saluki Way construction begins. Larry Dietz, vice chancellor for undergraduate affairs, said administrators were working to save the cricket pitch.

The playing fields are used to play rugby, soccer and lacrosse.

"We don't care if we get all the fancy lights or bathrooms. We just want somewhere that we can play, that's our place," said Wicks, a sophomore from Ancona studying animal science.

Wicks said she and her teammates would be willing to pay a fee to keep the fields, even if the money were only charged to those playing intramural sports.

She said the rugby teams practice four days a week for two hours, and would not be able to maintain their rigorous schedule if forced to share fields with other teams.

Todd Marlo, a sophomore from Marion studying animal science, said he was happy the fee would not increase.

However, he said he believed some intramural sports teams were being treated unfairly.

"I like the athletics here too, but I know they're taking over," Marlo said. "They run this school, in a way, with how the budget is."

Marlo said he did not believe sports teams would be able to share athletic fields easily.

"In high school, they said that our football practice field could share, but the coaches will run you off," Marlo said. "They'll give you a little corner where the storm drain is so you can practice on that, but you won't get anything else."

Other students said they were more concerned about fee increases than a loss of outdoor recreation facilities.

Chanel Ballard said she was tired of hearing about fee increases.

"Yeah, it is only $25, but in the end that actually adds up to something that you could have been eating or a bill that you could have paid," said Ballard, a junior from Chicago studying advertising.

Ballard said she does not play intramural sports, but understood those teams might be upset about the lost facilities.

Money to replace the fields could come from the $83 million budgeted for the first phase of Saluki Way, Ballard said.

"There's some money somewhere. Someone has some money somewhere besides it coming out of the students' pockets and our parents' pockets," Ballard said. "I think it would be a good idea for them to try to find different funding elsewhere."

Allison Petty can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 259 or allison.petty@siude.com.

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