When a student organization wants to have a meeting or set up events including speakers or concerts, concerns such as food and preparation costs and available programming space inevitably arise.

Gaining Reasonable Administrative Support for Programming, an ad-hoc committee of Student Senate, examines funding and space concerns that influence campus programming. The committee will identify programming problems, such as lack of appropriate space or fees associated with using that space, and research the solutions.

After completing the research, the committee will recommend action to university administrators and possibly at the April Board of Trustees meeting.

According to the committee's 1992 recommendations, the committee formed in the spring of 1991 when students became frustrated with the amount of money allocated to student programming and the lack of programming space on campus.The university has implemented many of the group's recommendations, said Mike Sostarich, the senate's adviser and associate dean of students.

Previously, organizations had to pay a rental fee to use campus facilities such as Baker Center Ballroom, Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium, the Convocation Center and Grover Center. But because of GRASP's initiative, student groups no longer pay that rental fee, he said.

Student organizations still pay rental costs such as a $2 fee for every table and $.50 for every chair. Labor costs for facilities management to set up an event is $15.75 per worker each hour.

Total costs depend on the size of the event, the number of workers needed and the distance workers have to deliver the materials, said Gary Dicken, director of facilities management moving services and surplus management.

"The costs are reasonable, but student organizations don't have the money to pay for it," said Melissa Wervey, the senate's university life commissioner and committee chairwoman.

Student groups could avoid the labor costs if they set up for events themselves, Dicken said.

Facilities management should only charge for lost or broken items, not for renting chairs and tables, Wervey said.

Besides examining the costs associated with using programming space, the committee is examining catered-food costs and available meeting space, Wervey said.

If a group wants to have food at a meeting, it technically cannot bring in outside food and must use Baker Center Food Service. But an event catered by Baker Center is expensive, Wervey said.

A meeting for 50 people with cookies and punch might cost a group as much as $88. Catering services generally estimates three cookies per person, at $4.65 a dozen, said Julie McCune, Baker Center Banquet and Catering secretary. Each gallon of punch is $12 and has 20 servings.

"If a group is having a small, organizational meeting, it should be allowed to bring food in," Wervey said.

Baker Center Catering also offers cookies and punch like those served in the dining halls for a lower cost. For $44, a group could serve about 50 people. In this case, punch costs $5.25 a gallon and cookies are $2.45 a dozen.

Student organizations sometimes find a shortage of meeting space in Baker Center. Rooms used for dining during the day could become meeting spaces at night, Wervey said.

"We need to utilize all the space we can," she said.