diff --git a/user.inc.php b/user.inc.php
index b399de6..7455f01 100644
--- a/user.inc.php
+++ b/user.inc.php
@@ -57,24 +57,24 @@ function user_load($users_id, $accounts_id = false)
 	}
 
 	/* Load the user */
-	$ret = mysql_fetch_assoc($q);
+	$u = mysql_fetch_assoc($q);
 
 	/* Sanitize before using these in mysql queries */
-	$ret['id'] = intval($ret['id']);
-	$ret['accounts_id'] = intval($ret['accounts_id']);
-	$ret['year'] = intval($ret['year']);
+	$u['id'] = intval($u['id']);
+	$u['accounts_id'] = intval($u['accounts_id']);
+	$u['year'] = intval($u['year']);
 	
 
 	/* Get roles, and active/complete status for each role */
-	$query = "SELECT user_roles.*,roles.type,roles.name FROM user_roles LEFT JOIN roles ON roles.id=user_roles.roles_id WHERE user_roles.users_id={$ret['id']}";
+	$query = "SELECT user_roles.*,roles.type,roles.name FROM user_roles LEFT JOIN roles ON roles.id=user_roles.roles_id WHERE user_roles.users_id={$u['id']}";
 	$q = mysql_query($query);
 
-	$ret['roles'] = array();
+	$u['roles'] = array();
 	while(($roledata = mysql_fetch_assoc($q))) {
-		$ret['roles'][$roledata['type']] = $roledata;
+		$u['roles'][$roledata['type']] = $roledata;
 	}
 
-	if(count($ret['roles']) == 0) {
+	if(count($u['roles']) == 0) {
 		/* No roles, that's ok actually, the previous logic here was that
 		 * a user without roles is deleted.. but.. this could happen for
 		 * new users, or if someone deletes all their roles before adding
@@ -82,26 +82,26 @@ function user_load($users_id, $accounts_id = false)
 	}
 
 	/* Convenience */
-	$ret['name'] = ($ret['firstname'] ? "{$ret['firstname']} " : '').$ret['lastname'];
+	$u['name'] = ($u['firstname'] ? "{$u['firstname']} " : '').$u['lastname'];
 
 	/* Email recipient for "to" field on emails */
-	if( ($ret['firstname'] || $ret['lastname']) && $ret['email']) {
+	if( ($u['firstname'] || $u['lastname']) && $u['email']) {
 		//use their full name if we have it
 		//if the name contains anything non-standard, we need to quote it.
-		if(eregi("[^a-z0-9 ]",$ret['name']))
-			$ret['emailrecipient']="\"{$ret['name']}\" <{$ret['email']}>";
+		if(eregi("[^a-z0-9 ]",$u['name']))
+			$u['emailrecipient']="\"{$u['name']}\" <{$u['email']}>";
 		else
-			$ret['emailrecipient']="{$ret['name']} <{$ret['email']}>";
+			$u['emailrecipient']="{$u['name']} <{$u['email']}>";
 	}
-	else if($ret['email']) {
+	else if($u['email']) {
 		//otherwise, just their email address
-		$ret['emailrecipient']=$ret['email'];
+		$u['emailrecipient']=$u['email'];
 	}
 	else {
-		$ret['emailrecipient']="";
+		$u['emailrecipient']="";
 	}
 
-	foreach(array_keys($ret['roles']) as $r) {
+	foreach(array_keys($u['roles']) as $r) {
 		/* Do the load routines inline, the explosion of user roles
 		 * means it's just silly to have a different function for each
 		 * one.  If we get one that has a crazy amount of stuff to do, 
@@ -119,11 +119,11 @@ function user_load($users_id, $accounts_id = false)
 			$u['years_national'] = intval($u['years_national']);
 			$u['willing_chair'] = ($u['willing_chair'] == 'yes') ? 'yes' : 'no';
 			$u['special_award_only'] = ($u['special_award_only'] == 'yes') ? 'yes' : 'no';
-			$u['cat_prefs'] = strlen($u['cat_prefs'] > 0) ? unserialize($u['cat_prefs']) : array();
-			$u['div_prefs'] = strlen($u['div_prefs'] > 0) ? unserialize($u['div_prefs']) : array();
-			$u['divsub_prefs'] = strlen($u['divsub_prefs'] > 0) ? unserialize($u['divsub_prefs']) : array();
+			$u['cat_prefs'] = (strlen($u['cat_prefs']) > 0) ? unserialize($u['cat_prefs']) : array();
+			$u['div_prefs'] = (strlen($u['div_prefs']) > 0) ? unserialize($u['div_prefs']) : array();
+			$u['divsub_prefs'] = (strlen($u['divsub_prefs']) > 0) ? unserialize($u['divsub_prefs']) : array();
 		//	$u['expertise_other'] = $u['expertise_other'];
-			$u['languages'] = strlen($u['languages'] > 0) ? unserialize($u['languages']) : array();
+			$u['languages'] = (strlen($u['languages']) > 0) ? unserialize($u['languages']) : array();
 		//	$u['highest_psd'] = $u['highest_psd'];
 
 			/* Sanity check the arrays, make sure they are arrays */
@@ -149,11 +149,11 @@ function user_load($users_id, $accounts_id = false)
 	}
 
 	/* Do this assignment without recursion :) */
-	unset($ret['orig']);
-	$orig = $ret;
-	$ret['orig'] = $orig;
+	unset($u['orig']);
+	$orig = $u;
+	$u['orig'] = $orig;
 
-	return $ret;
+	return $u;
 }
 
 function user_load_by_accounts_id($accounts_id)