Opponents of the proposed McDonald’s in the Hub will have a place to speak out during a rally this Friday at noon on the steps of Beardshear Hall.

The rally is being organized by an informal group of students who, as of yet, have no official name. The group is reported to include members of The Drummer alternative newspaper.

John Scriver, graduate student in sociology, is the “motivation” behind the upcoming “Anti-McDonald’s on campus” rally.

Scriver said they are holding the rally because the students, faculty, alumni and staff input was neglected in the decision by the university to put the restaurant in the Hub.

Scriver said he has received quite a bit of support from students who are on campus now, but said because so many of the students are gone it is hard to determine how many would be against the idea.

He is expecting at least 50 people to attend Friday’s rally, including students and representatives from the Parks Library and Food Science and Human Nutrition Center, who both have shown concern on this issue.

Andrew Chebuhar, a spokesperson for the group, is also expecting a relatively large turn out for the time of year and number of students on campus. “We’re expecting at least 30 or 40 people, but it’s tough to say at this point.”

Chebuhar said philosophy professor Tony Smith will speak at the rally and that the group is looking for other faculty members to speak.

“Iowa State students, faculty and alumni can only watch the administration do things without a public hearing on the issue where people speak for or against things like this,” Chebuhar said. “We want students and faculty to be involved in the decision-making process more.”

The vending proposal by the university, which includes building a McDonald’s in the Hub, must be passed by the state Board of Regents before anything is finalized. The proposal is tentatively scheduled to appear on the agenda at the next Regents meeting to be held in Ames on July 17 and 18.

“Realistically I doubt we can stop them, but there might be some technicalities involved that they won’t be able to steam roll over us,” Scriver said.

The rally is also being held to protest the accumulation of trash and the odor the group says is bound to come from the restaurant.

The group is also against building a McDonald’s because of the organization’s less than exemplary record on environmental issues and “labor degradation,” and to protest corporate influence over higher education.