Student groups didn't show up to use reserved HUB-Robeson Center rooms more than 200 times last year, forcing the HUB to adopt a "two strikes and you're out" policy.

The HUB will now penalize student groups that do not show up to use the meeting space they have rented in the HUB. And so far, at least one student group, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), has had trouble with the new rule.

At Tuesday night's USG Senate meeting, President Galen Foulke canceled Wednesday night Student Services Committee meetings because the committee has already violated the HUB policy this year.

"If you have a committee that can't meet quorum, hold it in academic space," Foulke said. "I just can't allow that to happen."

Foulke said that if any committee, regardless of the branch, misses a meeting, he will cancel the rest of that group's reservations until committee members can prove they will attend.

"It is tough love, but it is love for the organization," Foulke said.

Student Affairs Director Stan Latta said the HUB Advisory Board discussed the issue last year because groups frequently were not using the rooms they requested.

"[There were] some groups that were a bigger problem than others," Latta said.

In an e-mail message, Latta said he would not name the groups that frequently reserved rooms without showing up.

Bob Brouse, supervisor of the HUB's Event Management Office, said some groups were "hit or miss," but others did not show up at all to use reserved rooms during the entire year.

Brouse said that because student organizations change leadership between semesters, many of the groups' new leaders are often unaware of the reservations.

According to the new policy, the first time a group does not use its requested room, an e-mail message will be sent to the group's president and adviser, informing them of the situation.

If there are two consecutive meetings missed, the group will lose current reservations and the ability to reserve rooms for the rest of the semester.

If the same problem occurs the following semester, the student group will not be allowed to rent at the HUB for the following calendar year.

Brouse said since the policy is new, he will not go after student organizations right away. If the group does not wish to use the reserved space, then they are asked to cancel the reservations as soon as possible.

"We don't want to shut the door on anybody," Brouse said.

USG Senate Vice President Alex Ibrahim said he thinks the new policy is a good idea for student groups and does not foresee missed meetings becoming a future problem.

"It forces us to get the participation in the committee meetings that we need," Ibrahim said.

In his e-mail message, Latta said punishing an entire organization because a committee within that group caused the problem would be unfair. If proven special circumstances forced a group to miss a meeting, its case would be reviewed and the penalty could be waived, Latta added.

The new policy states that if a student organization needs to cancel a reservation, there needs to be a 24-hour notification prior to meetings from Monday through Friday, or a cancellation by noon Friday for weekend meetings.

Association of Residence Hall Students (ARHS) President Abbey Rhode said she had mixed feelings on the HUB's new policy. She said the policy is useful for ensuring that rented spaces are filled, but student organizations should be able to explain why a meeting was missed.

"With student organizations, it is very difficult to get people to show up," Rhode said. "They aren't professionals."

Senate President Andy Banducci said the Student Services Committee would meet in academic space for the rest of the semester.

"Next semester it will be rectified," he said.