Iowa State students will have a more visible place to hold impromptu speeches and assemblies since the campus free-speech area has been moved by the Special Student Fees Committee.

The new location near the Hub will make protests and rallies more visible and easier to access on campus, said ISU Student-body President Rob Wiese.

The former location, southeast of Carver Hall, was rarely used because of the low traffic through the area.

Many times students used the steps of Beardshear Hall, the grounds south of the Campanile or in front of Catt Hall to hold rallies instead of the official free-speech area. Formerly, religious speakers were of the few who used the area, he said.

The free-speech area near Carver Hall was dedicated to Edward Allen, a former professor of mathematics at ISU. Allen was a member of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union and the area was proposed as memorial to his work.

Wiese said various rules about the use of the area need to be decided by the student body. Students will be allowed to reserve specific time periods for their speeches; however, reservations will not always be necessary.

“Students could reserve time at the activity center if they had some specifics in mind, but if it’s not reserved, anyone can use it to say what they need,” Wiese said.

Time limits may be in place to keep the area continuously open to all worthy protesters. The concept of the area is a “first come, first serve” basis, but there will also need to be time for other opinions, said Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance.

“When you literally apply the idea of free speech, there should not be set reservations,” said Madden, chairman of the Special Student Fees Committee. “On the other hand, when a group has a specific need for a time, they should be allowed to take it.”

The use of amplification will be discussed by the committee since the area is near classrooms. With the expansion of Durham Center, remodeling of the Hub and Parks Library nearby, the location may be too heavily used to allow amplification devices, Madden said. Amplifiers could possibly be used during weekends or nights when classes are not in session, he added.

A university committee will finalize the physical changes before the start of the fall semester. Included in these changes is the moving of a curved railing and an elevated platform for speaking, Wiese said.

“Also, a plaque will be placed near the area to recognize its use and the rules that need to be followed,” he said.

Madden said he believes the costs of the railing, platform and plaque will come to about about $2,000 dollars at the most.

The new area will face the double sidewalk that runs by the Hub with Marston Hall on the right and Beardshear Hall to the left. This will put it significantly closer to the administrative building, which was another goal of the move, Wiese said.

Wiese said the new area is large enough for spectators to leave easily if the speech is not appreciated.

“This is a much more high profile area,” Wiese said. “Hopefully more people will make use of it now.”