The Daily Collegian

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian is UMass's daily newspaper. Known as New England's largest daily college paper, the Collegian has a circulation of 14,000. It is widely read throughout UMass and in the surrounding towns. The paper features a popular comic, horoscope, and crossword puzzle section on the inside of the last page. It is also known for its student-produced editorial page. The Collegian is run by a student staff, and supported by advertising revenue.

[edit] History

[edit] Comics - Aluminum Foil

The current Collegian comics page is undistinguished, but from February 5, 1976 to December 17, 1979, it was anchored by an original, a completely off-the-wall, and totally enjoyable strip called Aluminum Foil, written and inked by Steve Lafler '79 (BFA). Aluminum Foil is the story of the exploits of Gerald Forge and Benb, and the universe of supporting characters that Lafler imaginatively populated. At the height of the strips' popularity, the annual Halloween festivities sported as many people dressed as Gerald and/or Benb as anything else.

Aluminum Foil is firmly grounded in the UMass world (Gerald spends a fair amount of time on PVTA buses), but within that space Lafler created an alternate universe similar to what Bill Griffith does with Zippy The Pinhead, but in a comparatively more approachable and less obtuse manner. Aluminum Foil is like Zippy, however, in the sense that AF is not a "gag" strip. The "one-off" strips are more like surreal social commentaries; the jokes are saved for the series in the strip having an actual narrative.

"One-off" example strip

At the strips' inception Gerald was paired up with his buddy Stan, who was soon cut from the strip. The strip gets its name from Lafler having a bored Gerald and Stan wrapping their heads in aluminum foil.

According to an interview in the Collegian of October 18, 1979, Lafler said that the "point (of the story line) is "you can look at things in a different way and see how crazy things really are. It shows that you can choose from alternatives that are not accepted by society."

[edit] Cast:

• Gerald Forge Gerald is a UMass student of indeterminate age. He's always seen with a foil helmet obscuring his features, though in one strip we actually see him take the helmet off: <paste strip here> Gerald (and Benb) love the Grateful Dead. Dead lyrics and philosophy are infused throughout AF.

• Benb ("ben-buh") Gerald's best friend. Benb loves pie. He has a mystical aspect to him; in many strips he is shown demonstrating certain mental and/or psychic powers: <insert android, Guido strips> During AF's run, graffiti throughout Goessmann Hall, the Engineering buildings and the Lederle Graduate Research Center featured an illustration of the little known chemical compound "benbzene", a benzene analog: <insert drawings of benbzene, benzene>

• Knoot

• Guido Kratchmer

• the Glebes

• Sugar Magnolia

[edit] External Links

• Daily Collegian

[edit] Collegian Columnist Blogs

• The UMass Alpaca