FOR TWO DAYS this week, Uni's second-floor hallway will be strangely empty. The calculators will get a rest (ideally, since calculators don't usually correspond with outdoor activity), the sophomores will get the chairs all to themselves, and space to stand around in the hallway will be in abundance.

On Thursday, Uni's freshman class will embark on an overnight trip to the 4-H Memorial Camp adjacent to Allerton Park for two days of climbing, falling, running, yelling, doing geometry, and building boats out of cardboard.

This will be the third straight year that Uni freshmen have gone to Allerton. The idea and initial plans for this trip were developed in 2005 by current junior Isaac Chambers, who wanted a way to help his class bond and to provide some alternate learning experiences.

Chambers had done a similar trip in middle school and thought it would be a fun thing for Uni to try. His class took the plunge in April 2006, and a new Uni tradition was born.

"The Allerton trip is a great experience in many ways," said Chambers. "It allows students to learn in a new environment, bond with their fellow classmates, and get a break from the regular schedule."

This year, the trip is largely being coordinated by health teacher Andi Phillips, with help from freshman class officers Ollie Goldbart (president), Claire Liu (vice president), and Revathi Maturi (secretary-treasurer).

According to Phillips, a few changes were made to this year's experience with input from faculty. Previously, the trip was two nights and three days, and featured not only outdoor activities but also more academic classes, such as English and history.

This year, Phillips said, the trip has been shortened to two days and one night, and all formal academics besides geometry have been set aside to allow more time for things like scaling the camp's climbing tower and building cardboard boats.

Liu is excited about the idea of the reorganized trip.

"I really look forward to doing a lot more fun and unique activities, and fewer classes than previous Allerton trips included," she said.

The freshmen will depart Uni on Thursday morning and return the next day. Groups of four or five students will sleep in each cabin overnight. Chaperones will have their own cabins.

Sophomore Anna Gooler, who took part in last year's trip, thinks it's a good experience.

"Even though it was raining the whole time, I still had a lot of fun, because I got to know people better," she said. "You're bonding with your class, and you're having an awesome time applying things you learned in school to nature."

One of the main goals of the freshman trip is to help students get to know their fellow classmates better by participating in team-building activities.

"I feel that since our class doesn't share one floor anymore many of us have grown apart," stated freshman Amanda Hwu. "Many of us don't talk to some of the people we used talked to a lot during subbie year. I think Allerton's going to be a a great bonding experience for my class and it will give us the opportunity that we need to reconnect."

"It's going to be a refreshing, interesting break from school," Liu predicted. "Memories will be made."