New Magazines Hit Ground With a Bounce

Starting a magazine on campus involves a lot more than a catchy name and a cute logo. It takes planning, ambition and, for some, a willingness to sell their bodies to science.

But for the editors of new magazines such as Bounce, Boiling Point and Lambda, the ends justify the means.

The writers and editors of these magazines say they attempt to fill voids in UNC's literary world. But there is always red tape to cut through before these publications can hit the stands.

Identifying the Issue

Each startup magazine in this year's crop has leaned toward a specific UNC reader. The magazines were mostly initiated by vocal sophomores whose unique ideologies, backgrounds and interests are represented in the publications.

Junior Jenny Stepp and sophomore Tara Purohit used the title Boiling Point to represent their goals for the magazine. The name comes from the energy needed to make a change.

The two want their monthly to be the voice of activists and the catalyst for social change at UNC, but the editors said the magazine doesn't promote one political group. "Our natural target group is self-identified activists. Our concern is with ethical issues rather than the ideologies of conservatism or liberalism," Stepp said. "If we did, we would limit ourselves because we would then become partisan."

On the other end of the spectrum is the humor magazine Bounce. Editors refer to it as "the equal opportunity offender."

The Bounce staff wants to represent the lighter, more humorous side of newsworthy events and to fill the void left when the last humor magazine died out 15 years ago.

Casey Scott, a sophomore writer for Bounce, said anyone with a sense of humor is the target audience for the magazine. "Our magazine is sassy and buoyant. It's amusing whether you get the political stuff or not," she said. "We hope that it raises intellectual eyebrows and captures what people have been thinking for a while but have been afraid to say."

Bounce has covered everything from student elections to March Madness with a comical and satirical twist. But writers said being funny isn't easy. "Comedy is hard. Humor is personal, and it is hard to establish a style that is not offensive, but risk-taking," said sophomore writer Michael Carlton.

Like Boiling Point, Bounce has decided to be nonpartisan. Editors say that gives them "more people to make fun of."

Not all startups are new this year. Lambda, a subsidiary of Queer Network for Change and a supporter of the campus' Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender community, was resurrected in September after a one-year hiatus. The editors want more issues relevant to gay and lesbian rights brought to the forefront of campus activism.

Lambda is driven mostly by reader response and submissions. Its circulation is about 6,000, and issues are composed of editorials, poems and art from readers.

Frederick Hashagen, a sophomore columnist and editorial board member from Long Island, N.Y., is confident Lambda will become a fixture at UNC. "Lambda will continue to assert itself on campus and continue to be a beacon for the UNC LGBT community. This is our focus, and this is what we intend to stay committed to," he said.

Hashagen said that being a publication geared toward LGBT students has its stumbling blocks. "We have a very hard void to fill because a large part of Lambda's readership doesn't want to be seen with Lambda," he said.

Show Me the Money

Not only does determining subject matter involve risk-taking, but funding brand-new magazines does as well. Boiling Point and Bounce receive direct appropriations from Student Congress. Lambda is funded through QNC, which also receives student fees.

Once the necessary applications were filed and the ideas put forth, Student Congress awarded funds for the spring semester. A Congress budget meeting this past February awarded appropriations for next school year.

To ensure funds for a second year of publication, these startups had to publish this semester.

Now as the editors begin to include more advertisements and graphics in the magazines, the push to gain more funds becomes increasingly important.

Bounce and Boiling Point are considering selling subscriptions. Another option is to expand their advertisement departments. Lambda is looking into private funds, as the editorial board wants to become financially independent of the University.

On the more desperate end, Bounce editors have been known to donate blood and plasma once a week or participate in political science experiments to bring in extra cash.

To save money, the magazines use campus facilities for layout. Bounce utilizes the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Boiling Point and Lambda use Campus Y computers. To compensate, the Campus Y gets one free half-page of advertisements in each issue of both magazines.

Building for the Future

To reach as many readers as possible and to get the best writers, each magazine plans to diversify its staff by publicizing in the Pit and in the Student Union. All three aim to recruit more experts in their respective fields.

Longevity is also an issue for these new magazines. "We intend to build a staff that is committed to the magazine," Stepp said. "Readership plays an important role, so we must maintain good readership and build a staff that is interested in keeping a good thing going."

But some readership challenges are more specific to the individual publications. Bounce and Lambda have both identified issues from staying witty to ensuring the editorial board reaches its target audience as areas of concern.

Along with improvements, the future also will bring more campus publications. But before adding to the literary smorgasbord on campus, Jenny Stepp offers words of advice.

"Look into other magazines to see if you can contribute to an already existing publication because they probably already need your help. Otherwise, go out and find your own niche."

 

The Features Editor can be reached at features@unc.edu.