Aaron Vehling

Adopt-A-Block, the final Homecoming competition in which teams will pick up garbage in their designated areas, seems to be a positive end to a fun weekend.

That is according to junior James Amble, who will be competing with his social fraternity, Fiji, against 15 other teams.

“It is a great thing,” said Amble, the social chairman of Fiji. “We get to clean up (the community) and get it done with right away.”

The Adopt-A-Block event will play a key role in the overall competition because more points will be offered for it than other events.

Amble has a different outlook on the importance of the event.

“I want to look at it as cleaning up the community and not as a competition,” he said.

The Adopt-A-Block idea originated with the Alcohol Education Committee, a campus organization comprised of students and community members that deals with alcohol education.

“Adopt-A-Block encourages students to take more active roles in the community,” said Sarah Harvieux, chair of the AEC.

Although Adopt-A-Block was AEC’s idea, it passed it on to the Homecoming Activities Committee, Harvieux said.

HAC coordinator Paula Stuettgen and her staff scheduled the cleanup for Sunday.

The participating teams will meet in the Water Street parking lot at 1 p.m. Sunday. Each team will be assigned a block from north of Water Street, the Third Ward or the Historic Randall Park neighborhood, Stuettgen said.

Teams will have pre-marked garbage bags and will be accompanied by a marshal to ensure fair play.

Whichever team collects the most garbage in the designated amount of time wins the competition.

Teams will automatically receive 25 points for participating. First place receives 15 points and $50. Second place gets 10 points and $35. Third place gets 5 points and $25.

After Adopt-A-Block is finished points from the entire Homecoming Week will be tallied. The winner will be posted Monday in Davies Center.