Iowa State University awarded its much-coveted vending contract to the Memorial Union Corporation. The deal promises to pay the Union approximately 80% of an estimated $1.4 million in annual vending proceeds.

Union officials are confident of their ability to bring ISU’s previously outmoded method of vending up to date.

“Currently, we have a 1950’s kind of food service,” said Memorial Union Director of Food Service Bill Young. “You’ve just got to walk around campus to see it for yourself.”

It is just this sort of comment that has traditionalists on campus up in arms about the Union’s commercial plan for success, a proposal that includes the establishment of a McDonald’s in the Hub, a space previously designated a non-commercial zone.

Other provisions in the Union contract promise more variety in vending machines, new food and drink machines across campus, card readers on an estimated 85 percent of the vending machines so patrons can use their ISU debit cards, a food cart in the College of Design building and a convenience store in the College of Veterinary Medicine complex.

Thus far, plans for a McDonald’s have been the lightning rod for criticism of the proposal. According to an article in the Drummer last spring, McDonald’s local operator John Dasher lobbied the state legislature in an attempt to change the existing franchise laws to allow for a fast food restaurant on campus.

What bothers some is that the negotiations were not made public and that the students were not sufficiently involved in the decision-making process that was supposed to serve them.

Young said he thinks that too much has been made of the anticipated commercial impact on campus and of the Union’s expected profit margin. He said that whatever monies remain after the Union pays 21.9 percent of its first-year vending revenues to ISU for vending rights will go back into the general operating budget for the Union.

Much of the Union’s current budget goes toward ongoing renovations in the food court and elsewhere — improvements that Young said will directly benefit students. The Union also intends to earmark a certain percent of vending dollars for student scholarships and departmental grants, a figure that could total as much as $18,000.

“We are certainly not going to gauge the students,” Young said, pointing out that the improvements in student vending would come from earned income rather than tapping the student body or the Iowa General Assembly.

On the question of a McDonald’s on campus, Young said, “Nobody wants glaring, garish signs on campus. We want to keep in tune to the current aesthetics of the campus. Once [the students] get over the initial jolt, they will find it tastefully done.”

Doubts persist about the Union’s decision-making abilities. Former GSB Vice President and Drummer staff writer Dave Cmelik wrote that prior plans to locate a McDonald’s near Gold Star Hall amounted to “desecration” tantamount to “putting a McDonald’s at the foot of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”

Both ISU and the Union have anticipated such criticism and intend to address student needs by surveying students at prominent vending locations.

Rob Santi, ISU Director of Business Affairs, will continue to act as the liaison between ISU and its chosen vendor.

Santi echoes Young, saying that the key to responsible vending on campus is to keep in touch with student opinion. To affirm the University’s commitment to quality vending, Santi points to ISU’s relationship with its former vendor, Tavco Company of Ames.

“Vending on campus won’t change drastically,” Santi said. “Nutrition has always been an interest. Tavco hired students to query customers on the desirability of the food choices. They left survey blanks at the Hub and had registered dietitians on staff to assure heart-health choices.”

Young said he agrees.

“Not many people eat meatloaf and mashed potatoes anymore. We’re trying to adjust to the demands of the younger generation.”

Whether ISU can achieve this level of responsiveness without becoming overly commercial remains to be seen. ISU and the Union hope to use the well-established reputation of commercial chains such as McDonald’s as a springboard to local success. In part, ISU modeled its current vending strategy on the University of Missouri at Columbia, a school where many believe efficient, modern food service and traditional campus aesthetic values have been admirably reconciled.

Critics charge that the Union’s vending initiative will bring to ISU the same capitalistic fervor that already exists in the food-service operations on other college campuses.

“Five years from now, when people go to other campuses, I want them to be able to say ‘the stuff at ISU was a lot better,'” said Kathy Svec, marketing director for the Union.

Svec said the Union created a highly visible logo for its new vending venture. “We want people to know you can come to the Union for good food.”

Young said, “Whether or not you agree philosophically with it [the Union proposal], you have to concede that we are providing a reasonable choice.”

Students will soon have the chance to judge for themselves, as the Union assumes vending responsibilities July 1.