Meetings and Grammar

Students:

Unfortunately I do not know when these meetings with prominent politicians and private sector folks will be taking place, but I do know that you should email me if you are interested.

And keep thinking of questions for the former mayor of Tijuana [not sure which one] and also the mayor of Del Mar, who hopefully will give us an incredible in-class opportunity on March 11th.

For all of you, but most immediately affecting those who are writing papers, here is a link to getting the difference between affect and effect figured out. If you have questions, start here, and then email me. But I expect proper uses of these--and all--words in your papers. Remember, it's not that grammar is the primary purpose of these papers, but they are invaluable practice for the real world where there can be professional consequences for bad writing.

http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/affect-versus-effect.aspx

From Grammar Girl:
"It's actually pretty straightforward. The majority of the time you use affect with an a as a verb and effect with an e as a noun.

Affect with an a means "to influence," as in, "The arrows affected the aardvark," or "The rain affected Amy's hairdo." Affect can also mean, roughly, "to act in a way that you don't feel," as in, "She affected an air of superiority."

Effect with an e has a lot of subtle meanings as a noun, but to me the meaning "a result" seems to be at the core of all the definitions. For example, you can say, "The effect was eye-popping," or "The sound effects were amazing," or "The rain had no effect on Amy's hairdo," or "The trick-or-treaters hid behind the bushes for effect."