Although it is the group's responsibility to pay for the installation of a phone line and Internet connection, both Cooke and Epps say their office is willing to provide financial aid for such efforts.

"If they need assistance, they should ask for it," Epps says. "They should ask for funding."

And although paying phone bills and emptying the trash are among the group's responsibilities, keeping the roaches out is not.

"In terms of cockroaches, they should talk to Yard [Operations] because that's not acceptable," Cooke says.

Walk-in Closets

With cramped offices too small to hold group meetings or serve as an effective headquarters, many organizations use their offices as closets to store supplies or records--a practice deemed unacceptable by Epps and Cooke.

"The College doesn't want to have the Yard being used for storage," Cooke says.

To combat this problem, Epps created 36 lockers in Loker Commons for groups to use as storage space.

"There should be a net increase in office space [from them]," he says.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Ballroom Dance Club has been using a Loker locker to store their $2,000 ballroom dresses after losing its Harvard Hall office due to renovations.

While Samantha L. Chaifetz '00 appreciates Cooke's efforts to find space for the group, the lockers, which are located in classrooms, do have their drawbacks.

"We can only get in when someone's there to let us in," she says.

The Harvard Chess Club (HCC) also has a locker in Loker, and HCC President Shearwood "Woody" McClelland '00 says it is "not enough."

"We have a lot of memorabilia that we would love to show the student body," he wrote in an e-mail message.

And unless the HCC can commandeer an office sometime soon, the prized Wolfe Cup won by defeating Yale will remain under lock and key in Loker.

If I Had a Million Dollars...

With every available space in Thayer and Holworthy booked solid, the many groups that have requested space may have to pursue other options.