Proofread! Proofread! Proofread!

I've come to the opinion that whenever anyone, anywhere, utters or types the phrase "damn you auto-correct!", what they're really saying is "I failed to proofread before I hit 'send.'" I kick myself mentally when I make a mistake of that kind, and I'm not particularly sympathetic to that excuse, whether or not the incorrect communication is sent from a mobile device. Nor am I exactly impressed when obvious errors make their way into things sent with the official imprimatur of respected institutions.

And so, I present to you the relevant parts of two e-mails I received today. The first comes from Hofstra, riding high off last night's debate. It boils down to "wasn't that awesome? Doesn't it make you want to give money?" Here it is:

Let's leave aside the fact that, according to that New York Times piece I referenced in passing yesterday, Hofstra itself bore very little of the cost associated with hosting last night's showdown, with most of the money being fronted by Trustee (and Chairman Emeritus, and by 2030, namesake of 50% of all buildings on campus) David S. Mack.

"Rivetting." "Predominent." "Enitre." All three errors appear in an e-mail that is not only asking for money, but one that went out around a quarter after one this afternoon - in other words, not in the heat of post-debate euphoria.

Two hours later, another e-mail crossed my screen, this one about the Sy Katz parade incident to the Cornell at Columbia football game on November 10. That e-mail had the following image on top:

That's a wonderful image; it doesn't get much better than Bones on parade down one of the most famous streets (Fifth Avenue) in one of the world's most famous cities (New York). But the text is just flat out wrong. Like most college football conferences, the Ivy League only plays a single round-robin, and thus the site of the Cornell-Columbia game alternates between Schoellkopf Field and Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium at Baker Athletics Complex. (Yes, Columbia does indeed have THREE layers of naming for its football field.) But back to the point: Cornell visits Columbia in football every other year, and so the parade is BIENNIAL, not annual. Of course, this slight looseness with the language doesn't change the fact that the Sy Katz parade will feature its usual high level of awesomeness - and I look forward to being there in three and a half weeks to contribute my own personal flavor of awesome* to the proceedings.

* To be very clear about this, "my own personal flavor of awesome" ≠ "any sort of drunken antics."