Following the success of last year's Freshers' Ball C&G Union sources have revealed that the 2003 Faculty of Engineering Freshers' Ball is going to be even more ambitious. Although the marquee on the Queen's Lawn appears to have disappeared, the after-dinner entertainments have been expanded to several venues including the Great Hall.

With C&G planning a "mini Summer Ball" questions inevitably must be raised about the financial sanity of such an event. IC's Summer Balls typically cost in the region of £70,000 with a dinner + entertainments ticket price of £50 a head -in contrast last year's C&G Freshers' Ball had a ticket price of just £15. It seems that this year the student ticket price has been increased to £20 and there have been rumours about the introduction of a new "entertainments-only" ticket in the same manner as the Summer Ball at a lower cost.

C&G Union sources are remaining tight-lipped about who might be attending as guest speaker for the dinner, fueling speculation that there may not actually be one this year. The past two years have been Professor John Perkins, Principal of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor Igor Aleksander, Head of Intelligent and Interactive Systems in the EEE Department as speakers.

The demands of organising such a large event may at least partly be responsible for C&GCU President Shrenik Patel's declining mental health. The state of plans for C&G's other freshers events, including a rumoured BBQ on the first day, appears hazy at best.