A week after Halloween, the hallways of Atherton Hall were still overflowing with pumpkins left over from seasonal festivities.

So, the students living there took a creative approach to disposing of them -- launching the leftover gourds off a balcony into the secluded Ground Zero Courtyard.

"This is what you do when you have a rotten pumpkin that you don't want to throw out -- make it a party," said Monica Gonzalez (senior-communication sciences and disorders) as she watched residents enthusiastically dispel the old produce.

The idea was inspired by an unorganized event of the same kind last year, Shane Lani (senior-engineering science) said.

Last November, students opted to discard the pumpkins left after Halloween pumpkin painting and other festivities by spontaneously launching them out of their dorm windows.

This year, Lani, a resident assistant in Atherton's Atlas House, decided to organize the chaos into a more structured event.

With permission of his housing manager, he came up with a system that resolved safety issues while preserving the excitement of the original idea.

Initially, he intended to make a competition of the projectile pumpkins -- teams would be awarded points for their ability to hit one of three trashcan "targets" in the courtyard below -- but residents realized it would be much more satisfying to throw the pumpkins without concern for scorekeeping.

Some alternated their throws with volleys and all-out catapulting, cheering when the seeds splattered across the target area.

Others speculated on their ability to "clear" the brick wall that sat roughly 20 yards across the courtyard, though participants agreed it would have posed a threat to any unsuspecting pedestrians walking along the adjacent sidewalk.

Dan Slotcavage (freshman-engineering) took an innovative approach to the ideal pumpkin toss.

"With some surgical tubing and a funnel, we could build a legit launcher," he said.

For Chetan Safi, the event provided an outlet for tensions built up from a period of intense studying.

"It was a nice stress reliever before my exam tomorrow," Safi (sophomore-biochemistry and molecular biology) said.

The group said Sunday's ideal autumnal weather, combined with the opportunity to blow off any steam left over from the weekend, made for a successful afternoon.

"It was a smash," Lani said.