New Humor Magazine Set to Rival Lampoon

Poonies beware! There's a new humor magazine on the block, called Snit, which is trying take the Harvard laughs market away from the Lampoon.

Although organizers refuse to criticize the Lampoon itself, Snit is "going to be done in a completely different way," said Debbie A. Cohen '90, one of the publication's founders.

Unlike the Lampoon's rigorous comp requirements, Snit will be open to writings from any undergraduate, said D. India Repp '90, another founder.

"That's what's innovative about Snit--we're not comping people," Repp said. "Some people who comp for various publications at Harvard Radcliffe find that there's threatening and pressured environment inherent to the comping process."

Despite the potential conflict between Snit and Lampoon editors, relations between the two magazines remain "jovial," according to Repp, who predicted a "a friendly rivalry."

Lampoon editors share Snit's conciliatory tone. "As soon as the first issue of Snit comes out we'll host a cocktail party for everyone who worked on it," said Lampy Narthex Paul R. Simms.

"Those who had really good pieces we'll get to comp the Lampoon," Simms added.

Poonies may not have much to worry about, however, since Snit's initial request for funding from the Office of the Arts was rejected because "the quality of the humor was judged to be not artistically...up to par [and] did not merit a grant," said Cathy D. McCormick, who works at the Office.

Snit did obtain seed money from private funding and has applied for grants from the Undergraduate Council, Radcliffe Union of Students, the Office for the Arts, and Radcliffe College, Cohen said.

According to Cohen, student interest in the production is high, as about 250 undergraduates expressed interest in the magazine at registration.

Organizers chose the name Snit, defined in the American Heritage Dictionary as slang for "a state of agitation or irritation," because "we thought it was a nice word," said Cohen, adding that the magazine will eventually come out quarterly but only twice this year.