Gauntlet: Can you identify the three biggest challenges facing the University of Calgary?

Dr. Harvey Weingarten and University of Calgary's administration have rec- eived some pretty harsh criticism from faculty and students over the past year.

Not only were last year's planned budget cuts and reallocation pool roundly and almost universally panned, but Weingarten's ability to lead this university was also called into question by the Faculty Association in a recent newsletter.

In January 2005, I made an important transition. I became a label reader, a selective shopper, a picky eater, an inconvenience. I was branded a hippie, a know-it-all, a rabbit and a closet dieter. I became a nuisance to waiters and a host's worst nightmare. I became a vegetarian.

The University of Calgary is advising all staff, faculty and students that a male graduate student enrolled since 2003 has a past criminal record as a pedophile.

U of C administration were informed of the student's criminal record by Calgary City Police in February, according to a media advisory issued by U of C External Relations. A further mass email was sent to campus members by U of C Provost and Vice-President Academic Dr. Ron Bond.

The University of Calgary has the largest salary gender gap in the country, according to a recently released Statistics Canada report that compared earnings of full-time teaching staff at Canadian universities.

Female U of C professors make an average of almost $18,000 less than their male counterparts. The report, which included full-time professors, associates, assistants and all other ranks, found male U of C professors make an average of $101,645 per year, and female professors make an average of $84,070.

The security reports are in and despite arson, brass knuckles and a bomb scare, Bermuda Shorts Day 2005 went off without a hitch.

"BSD was really busy," said Campus Security Manager Lanny Fritz. "It was the biggest BSD we've ever had to date."

Fritz noted there were no major incidents or injuries during the annual year-end celebration Fri., Apr. 20.

The Alberta government has launched a comprehensive review of the province's post-secondary education system, angering critics who have called for an independent examination.

"We need to have a process of reviewing the system," said Advanced Education Minister Dave Hancock. "It'll be a comprehensive discussion and will include a broad range of stakeholders and the public."

In the late '90s, an entirely credible publication called The Weekly World News reported on the discovery of a strange half boy/half bat in a cave near a small town in Virginia. A lot of rednecks picked up the issue on the way back to the trailer park; prompting WWN to do a series of follow up articles on the infamous Bat Boy. Additional rednecks believed the articles and bat-fever took hold of the town.

With Calgary's professional theatre companies on summer hiatus comes the retreat from the reliable to fulfill the thespian's desire for new theatre experiences. Now is the perfect time to delight in the offerings of some of Calgary's emerging artists.

If you've ever been a member of a wedding party, you know it's not nearly as fascinating as it appears. There are the fights, drama, duties and of course the shockingly repulsive outfits. Don't feel like you are alone though, because these are also the circumstances the characters in the Pumphouse Theatres production of Five Women in One Dress find themselves in.