While football fans hunkered down with a bowl of Doritos in preparation for the tight, tight pants of Superbowl Sunday, the Dinos men's basketball team stole the Steelers' thunder in another epic battle on the court.

Our men have kept us guessing all season--taking our hopes from the heart of Hurricane Katrina to fish-infested Newfie wharfs--and they dragged us kicking and screaming back to southern Alberta Fri., Feb. 3 to avenge losses to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns suffered earlier this season.

The Dinos women's basketball team kept hopes for clinching the top spot in their division as alive as Bob Barker with a pair of wins against the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns Feb. 3-4.

The Dinos took control of Friday's game in Lethbridge early and didn't let up. Our ladies were as ferocious as Russell Crowe in Gladiator. They sliced and diced their way to a 60-34 half time lead, shooting a stupefying 76 per cent from the field.

The Students' Union candidate's forums got off to a sluggish start Mon., Feb. 6 when three of the six academic commissioner candidates failed to show-up and the vice-president's acclaimed status made for an easy debate victory.

The forum began with a showdown between the three commissioner candidates who showed up. Brittany Sargent, Fraser Stuart and Blake Bergener told the 20 people in attendance what each considered to be the number one issue for undergraduate students.

Editor, the Gauntlet,

[Re: "Lady hockeysaurs record second win," sports article, February 2, 2006]

As editor of the Gauntlet I'm confident that you understand the impact of words and metaphor on society.

Despite our best intentions and careful planning, the Students' Union candidate review process always involves late nights, too much caffeine and days of neglected schoolwork. But these are small sacrifices, sacrifices that are well worth it to provide students with an informed overview of just who is vying to represent their concerns and spend their SU fees for an entire year.

Running under the banner of "I like indie rock too!" is VP events hopeful Eric Jablonski. Jablonski is the natural successor to Alex Vyskocil to continue the VP events current focus on concerts and art, and his platform focuses mostly on keeping the good times rolling and improving events such as That Empty Space and Cinemania.

Shannon O'Connor is ready to enter her second year as an SU representative in the position of VP academic without ever having won an SU election. Even though O'Connor was acclaimed academic commissioner last year, and acclaimed again this year, students could not ask for a student better suited to move into the position of VP academic.

In her platform, Julie Labonte promotes a more affordable, genuinely accessible university education, looking to capitalize on lobbying efforts with the minority federal government and the provincial government. She sincerely wants to use the VP external position to be an effective lobbyist and advocate for undergraduate students.

Emily Wyatt knows what's going on. With a year of external commissioner experience and as current president of the Resident Students' Association, Wyatt is aware of how the university works and how to best get things done.

Wyatt admits she isn't a political schmoozer; she isn't concerned with padding her resume or making political connections. Rather, she truly cares about students and wants to provide the strong leadership skills to build upon two years of successful SU leadership.

Tempers flared this week as Students' Union vice-president external Jen Smith lambasted candidate Mike Soron during the open question period of the SU external election forum.