Those looking to fill a campus humor void can now find some satisfaction, but that opportunity may not last longer than this semester.
Carpe Noctem, a new humor magazine produced by the Publications Board, hit campus bins last week, offering students 13 pages of attitude-laden humor. The magazine surfaces less than two years after the Pub Board shut down operation of Jabberwocky, the short-lived humor magazine that has not printed since the spring of 1992 and has not appeared in the Pub Board budget for the past two years.
Carpe Noctem is the brainchild of Trinity senior Eric Jorgenson, the publication's editor-in-chief. Jorgenson's interest in creating a new humor magazine coincided with the Pub Board's desire to get a new humor magazine out for students.
"I decided that having a humor magazine was something I wanted to do during my term," said Trinity senior Mike Arlein, chair of the Pub Board. "The board was in favor of at least finding out if someone wanted to edit such a publication." The Pub Board decided to accept applications not only for a new editor, but also for an entirely new humor publication, rather than resurrect Jabberwocky.
"The title Jabberwocky was not going to do us any favors as far as getting an editor or a staff," said Pauline Myers, assistant dean of University life and adviser to the Pub Board, "so we decided to go outside."
Despite sustaining budget cuts from Duke Student Government for two years in a row, the Pub Board felt very strongly about publishing another humor magazine.
"Our decision to solicit an editor was unanimous, as was our decision to agree to Eric as the editor," Arlein said. "We thought that a $500 or $600 commitment was small enough to agree to even though our budget has decreased."
Jorgenson, the only student who applied for the editorship, chose to create a magazine different from Jabberwocky.
"I tried to give Carpe Noctem a broader spectrum of humor, from [cartoonist Jim] Funk to the Gap Girl," he said. "I also want it to read as a college humor magazine, but one that is particular to Duke. I tried to make it something people would want to pick up and keep or take home, not just toss away when they're done reading it once through."
The Pub Board gave Jorgenson $550 to produce Carpe Noctem's first issue, while Maureen Cullins, assistant vice president and dean of campus development, added another $300.
Although the Pub Board has already allocated $1,108 of its 1995-96 budget for Carpe Noctem, the publication is still without an editor for next year. The magazine's current staff consists entirely of seniors, except for one underclassman who will be abroad next semester. Despite advertisements in The Chronicle and an open meeting for students interested in Carpe Noctem, it is still without a staff for next year.
"I know a humor magazine will always be around every three or four years," Jorgenson said, "but I'd like to see Carpe Noctem come out at least yearly for now, and eventually come out once a semester. It needs to get a cycle of people coming through."
One of the Pub Board's primary goals in authorizing Carpe Noctem was to ensure the magazine's long-term future, Arlein said.
"The main way a publication can become long-term is if there is a dedicated staff with a lot of underclassmen, so there is a constant supply of interest and manpower."
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