Helser Hall residents will show their pride this week by throwing and eating pies, playing kickball and trick or treating in Helser’s dens.

Helser Pride Week focuses on boosting the morale of Helser residents amid proposals to have the building withdraw from the Union Drive Association.

A proposal to fund Helser pride T-shirts was made to the UDA Senate earlier this month. When the request was denied, some Helser representatives claimed discrimination against their residence hall, and drafted a motion to separate the building from the association.

A different activity will be going on each day of the week, said Ben Harper, resident assistant of Richey House on the fourth floor of Helser.

“There’s student apathy toward the building because it’s going [to be torn] down in 2005,” he said.

The idea for “Helser Pride Week” came during staff orientation last summer, said Harper, sophomore in music.

“The idea was just to provide a week to be proud of where you live,” he said. “Students have heard about it and they love the idea.”

Monday’s event was Yellow Bucket Day. A bucket stuffed with candy was hidden in a common area of Helser, and students searched for the bucket to win the candy.

Tuesday’s event is a kickball game, part of the Helser Olympics. Harper said the Olympics are a chance for the houses in Helser to compete for points. The winning team will receive a prize at the end of the year.

Wednesday is T-shirt day. Each resident can purchase a T-shirt for $5 at the Helser Hall desk. Harper said the houses with the most residents who sport the T-shirts will win points toward the Helser Olympics.

Thursday’s event is a “Meet and Treat” in the Helser house dens from 7 to 9 p.m.

“Students can come by and meet other students and pick up candy on the way,” Harper said.

Friday’s pie-eating and pie-throwing contests are the culminating events, he said.

The first 15 people to show up at 3 p.m. will be entered in the pie-eating contest, Harper said.

Students can wind up and throw a pie at special guests, including Dean of Students Pete Englin, Residence Life Coordinator John Shertzer, hall directors and resident assistants.

All money raised will go to a charity chosen by participating students.

Matt Burns, Helser hall desk supervisor, has volunteered his face for the pie-throwing contest.

“Part of me hopes a lot of people show up and part of me hopes a lot of people don’t,” joked Burns, graduate in educational leadership and policy studies. “I don’t want to get pied too hard.”

Harper said any ISU student can take part in Helser Pride Week.

“We don’t care what building anyone’s from,” he said. “We’re just trying to get students to meet each other.”

Harper said residents are already thinking about next year’s Helser Pride Week.

“There’s been a tremendous amount of support from everyone,” he said. “[Residents] seem pretty excited — they get to throw pies at their RAs.”

Harper said the UDA senate’s refusal to fund all costs for the event has served to unite the students in showing their Helser pride.

“We’ve had a ton of support from students … from what we’ve heard from students, we’re not going to have enough pies.”