1903-04 Volume 28 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

154 THE SCROLL.Enterprise and energy are written in every feature of universityactivity. In athletics the 'lUini,' as they proudly callthemselves, have' advanced to a strong position, and there isno sign of retrogression. The most interesting athleticevent recorded is the famous Eastern trip of the Illinoisbaseball team, when the Western men vanquished Princeton,West Point, Yale and Pennsylvania, and met defeatonly at the hands of Harvard by the narrow margin of 2to I. The entire West followed this team with sympatheticand enthusiastic interest, and the Illio account of the trip,giving many hitherto unpublished details, justifies the generalsupport given the team by Western college men. Themilitary school occupies an uncommonly prominent positionat Champaign. The cadet corps is so large it is organizedinto a regiment, with full field, staff and band, and comprisingtwo battalions of infantry, of four companies each, andone battery of artillery. Such a school is of immense practicalvalue to the state of Illinois, training up, as it does,men well fitted for schooling the state national guard, whichnow occupies, under the new army reorganization laws, aposition of increased importance in the scheme of nationaldefense. A commendable feature of the book is the recognitionof original literary effort in the way of short stories,apart from the department of 'Roasts.' Along with theusual plethora of slaps of local import there is a clever oneunder the title, 'A Declaration of Independence,' signed bythe sororities, laying down the law to' callers at sororityhouses, as to frequency, late hours, vocal offerings and othertendencies, for which the genus undergraduate is knowneverywhere. It is a good work the girls are doing. Precedencein the order of fraternity lists does not seem to bevery highly valued. The first three are in proper chronologicalorder: A T A, 1872; 2 X, 1881; K 2, 1891; then, however,come 2 A E, 1899, and A T n, 1895, while * A ©, 1894,is in sixth place, and * K 2, 1892 (suspended in 1893 andrevived in' 1903), is put near the bottom of the list, precedingonly K A © and II B *, both 1895, and preceded by ahost of later chapters. The fraternities are apparently dividedin their interests, as evidenced by two social clubs,one comprising A T A, K 2, * A © and 2 A E, and the other,A T n, B © n, 2 X and * T A. Such combinations, thoughostensibly for social ends only, rarely fail to have furtherinfluence. * A ®'s showing in college honors is good, to