Question

Sorry, another quick question... u is a vowel, so shouldn't there be a "an" before it?/

For example: "Distress is not an universal association..."

However, microsoft word keeps correcting me to say "a" instead.

Answer 1

Normally, there should be "an" before any word that starts with a vowel, yes. But I think the long "u" sound (as in "uniform") is an exception.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/esl/eslart.html