New Humor Magazine

A new annual undergraduate humor magazine is slated to appear on campus next year, but the publication's founders said yesterday it will not compete with the Lampoon.

Tentatively dubbed "Pickwick," the magazine will be divided into two sections-fiction and nonfiction, Tim D. Stone '83, publisher of the Pickwick said yesterday. The fiction writings will be freelance pieces ranging from satire to free-style while the non-fiction section will comment on the use of humor as a historical social phenomenon, he added.

The 15 members of the magazine hope to complete the wholly undergraduate-operated publication by April or May. "The first issue will be released in the late spring or early fall," Stone said.

"The magazine should be about 64 pages long, with 40 to 60 pages of editorial, depending on advertising," he said, adding, "We are going to mold the advertising to the pages so there will be no filler."

Members of the Pickwick plan to sell advertising and hope to solicit funds from the College to finance the publication. They also plan to charge for the magazine. "There will be no free distribution," Stone said.

"There is no point in giving it away because it cheapens the editorial product," Barry L. Parr, a second-year Business School student advising the publication, added.

The initial press run of Pickwick will be 2000 to 3000 copies. 'These will probably sell for less than $2 each," Parr said yesterday.

Stone said the magazine, which he had been planning for a year, would provide new opportunities for both experienced and novice writers. "It will encourage creativity in the literary field," he said, adding, "You do not have to see yourself as literary or be a member to contribute, because we want as large a group of undergraduates as possible to get involved."

Stone said that Pickwick would not compete with the Lampoon. "We encourage members of any organization to submit pieces," he said.

"It is fine for the kids to get together and form a magazine," John P. Ziakas '82, Ibis of the Lampoon, said yesterday, adding, "We are sure it will bring us a lot of laughs."

Stone said he started the magazine because "the world has joked incessantly for over 50 centuries and now is as humorous a time as any other."