Staff of the Muir Quarterly mocked the Koala’s previous issues by creating and distributing a look-alike issue called the Koalla on Nov. 13.
Guardian
The Koalla featured fare typical of the real publication, including top-five lists and personals, but criticized the Koala and its staff as hateful and “”dumb.””
The Koala is an A.S.-funded publication that has been under fire recently for printing what some consider to be racist and sexist material. In the last month, both the Thurgood Marshall College Student Council and the Revelle College Council passed resolutions condemning the Koala.
The Koala’s editor in chief, George Liddle, had only a few comments on the spoof publication,
“”Anybody who has money can print a newspaper. It’s nice to see the MQ is finally coming to terms with ripping off our material.””
The Koalla was created by a group of MQ editors who are involved in student government and student organizations. According to MQ editor in chief Colin Parent, the students decided to take action after the most recent Koala was distributed.
“”As a satire paper, the MQ felt that a spoof Koala was really a natural thing for us to do,”” Parent said. “”A lot of people at UCSD, including members of the MQ editorial board, were upset at the kind of content that the Koala published in their [its] previous issue. We felt that it deserved an appropriate response.””
Other members of the MQ editorial board agreed with Parent.
“”As a Jew, I was offended by the last issue of the Koala,”” said MQ Managing Editor Elijah Zarlin. “”As a comedian, I was even more offended by the last issue of the Koala.””
Not everyone who read the Koala was personally offended by its content.
“”I read the Koala; I enjoy parts of it and I don’t particularly care for other parts of it,”” said Marshall junior Steve Linghu. “”It is here for laughs. Whatever is written in it should be taken with a grain of salt.””
Publication of the Koalla was funded by the MQ’s yearly budget, which is provided by the Muir College Council. The 4,000-copy issue cost $350.45.
“”We decided it was worth committing some of our discretionary budget on this issue,”” said MQ Business Manager Mike Zank. “”UCSD was calling for something to be done, and we were in a position to do something.””
