Nice weather and impeccable timing attracted about 150 students and a dozen members of the media to a rally by the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM), held yesterday under the afternoon sun one day after the University announced Lawrence H. Summers as the official Harvard president-elect.

In the group's second protest in two days, they criticized the secretive nature of the presidential search process and lobbied for a $10.25 minimum wage for Harvard workers--a figure that the Cambridge City Council has adopted as the official Cambridge living wage.

Members of PSLM have garnered extensive coverage recently from members of the national press in town for the presidential announcement.

Although the rally did not feature any celebrity speakers and did not attract more students than rallies held in the past, a news helicopter flew overhead and local news stations filmed students as they marched across the Yard armed with a loudspeaker and two drums.

"There's definitely far more press here than I've seen before," said Associate Dean of the College David P. Illingworth '71, who regularly attends PSLM rallies.

"I'm pleased, in so far as media coverage translates into effectiveness," said PSLM member Benjamin L. McKean '02. "I think this will really give us a lot of momentum."

While plans for the rally have been in the works for weeks, members of PSLM incorporated Summers into the rally on short notice after the presidential announcement.

"People have really learned a lot from us," McKean said. "We very effectively framed the living wage issue as one of the key challenges of Summers' presidency."