By Signe K. Skinion

The Graduate and Professional Student Council voted down a proposal for a multipurpose lighted sports complex at its Wednesday meeting with members citing the complex as costly and impractical.

In other business, the council also passed a resolution lobbying Gov. Jim Edgar to salvage the Chicago to Carbondale Amtrak route.

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The proposed sports complex has been a source of debate for the past few months after passing the Undergraduate Student Government Senate last semester. Some student leaders have voiced opposition towards a fee increase of $11.20 for two semesters to build the proposed complex.

Jon Coleman, GPSC representative, said he could not vote in favor of the proposed complex because there seemed little reasoning behind it.

My big problem was the entire proposal seemed very rushed when we (GPSC) first heard it, and that was why we delayed on the vote, Coleman said. Until I see a more useful reason for it, I cannot vote for it. I need something more substantial on why we need it.

The proposed complex would be multi-purpose but would cost $500,000 to build, University officials said.

GPSC President Bill Karrow said there were some reasons why GPSC could vote for the proposed complex.

Historically graduate students are the ones who use these types of facilities, Karrow said.

Mark Terry, GPSC vice president for graduate school affairs, said he expected the complex proposal to fail in the council.

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We had discussion in our last meeting in December, Terry said. Since we didn’t have quorum, we did take a straw poll and that showed a lot of opposition to the field. It was a solid vote tonight that showed nothing changed between then and now.

In the meeting Wednesday night, GPSC also showed strong support for a resolution asking for state government support for Amtrak funding.

A recent state proposal to cut the Amtrak route from Carbondale to Chicago has caused objections from University, city and state members.

Terry said if the Amtrak route is cut, it will directly affect SIUC students.

If those routes are terminated, there will be an impact on the students and an impact on enrollment here at SIU, Terry said. We the University, city and GPSC are lobbying Gov. Edgar to continue the subsidies for the Amtrak route to Chicago.

Terry said the resolution, which states the route is a critical mode of transportation for students, is one of the few things everyone has an interest in.

This resolution is something that will affect us all, Terry said. There really are not a lot of issues that the University, the city, GPSC and the Undergraduate Student Government agree on, but this is one of them.

Karrow said many SIUC students come from distant places in the state and rely on Amtrak for transportation.

SIU has students from every county in the state, Karrow said. If the route is cut, there will be serious enrollment problems because students cannot get here.

The resolution will be sent to Gov. Jim Edgar, Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, and Kirk Brown, director of the Illinois Department of Transportation. GPSC members will also be going around their departments with petitions in support of the resolution, GPSC leaders said.