IN THE NEXT few months, Uni students can look forward to a busy school social calendar, beginning with tonight's winter formal at the Illini Union.

The dance will be the first all-school social event since the ice skating party co-hosted Nov. 17 by the junior class and Student Council.

The winter formal will take place from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. in Illini Union Room A. Last year's formal was also at the Union, but in a larger room. The sophomore class will host the event.

If you haven't bought tickets yet, they will be available at the door for $5, singles only.

Generally, winter formal is one of the more popular dances of the year, but that didn't stop Gargoyle reporter Anna Cangellaris from doing her part this week to encourage a good turnout.

"I remember my subbie year winter formal, which was way too much fun," the senior wrote in the Gargoyle staff blog. "The music was blaring, the people were happy, the dresses were sparkly, and everyone was dancing. It would be a darn shame if my senior year winter formal doesn’t even come close on the cool charts to my subbie year’s."

The rest of the semester will be filled with traditional social events such as spring fling and prom, but at least one new activity is planned: a junior class trip, scheduled for April 27.

The trip is yet another creation by junior class president Isaac Chambers, who designed the Allerton field trip as a freshman and organized last year’s sophomore trip to Six Flags St. Louis.

“I wanted to repeat the trip we did last year,” said Chambers of his latest idea. “Right now we have it narrowed down to Six Flags Great America and Paramount Kings Island.

Earlier rumors that the senior trip to the Wisconsin Dells would not be occurring turned out to be false. The senior trip will be take place during the three-day weekend at the end of February and beginning of March.

A year-end senior day trip to Six Flags, which in recent years has replaced "senior skip day," will also happen, although at this point a firm date hasn't been announced.

After tonight's winter formal, the next school dance will be on Valentine's Day — Thursday, Feb. 14, from 7 to 10 p.m. in the North Attic. Having a dance on a school night is unusual, but the following day will be a noon dismissal without regular classes. Students will spend that morning getting an overview of next year's courses.

The spring fling will be hosted by the freshman class April 12 from 8 to 11 p.m. at a yet-to-be-determined location. This is the last school dance available to all students before prom.

Prom is scheduled for May 17 from 8:30 to 11:45 p.m., location to be determined. This is the final dance of the year, and only juniors and seniors are invited. The junior class is in charge of the event.

"Right now we are working on prom committee," Chambers said, "but all we have done is work on a theme and ticket pricing."