Slope Media Group

CampusBasement.com/CORNELL

Sassy, sarcastic, and sharp, Cornell’s CampusBasement.com is an emerging gem you’re sure to see on your neighbor’s laptop in Mann sometime soon. That is, if you have not stumbled across the site yourself. A cousin of Collegehumor mixed with The Onion, CampusBasement hosts student-authored mock news stories under web pages for varying campuses involved. While every post is very enjoyable, only a Cornellian could understand all the jokes, guaranteeing laughs.

“Regional Manager or Michael Scott of Cornell’s CampusBasement” Alexandra Post (12), has been working for the site since her friend, who worked for CuseMyCampus.com, expressed their wish to expand. CuseMyCampus was the site’s birth at Syracuse and was essentially what the Syracuse page of CampusBasement is today. Thus, BigRedMyCampus was formed, before other schools including Penn State and BU joined, creating the CampusBasement site. Students from the corresponding schools write and edit their articles.

“We are Cornell Basement after all… we can rock a grammatically correct piece,” according to writer Jennifer Nauheim (12). Anyone can write for the site, “even if you are not funny” said fellow writer Daniel Greener (14), so long as you can manage to find the “contribute” button.

Though it is common to write about once a week, the Cornell Basement contributors write as they see inspiration across campus. Greener feels “you need a sort of snarky, satirical type of humor…we try to take typical Cornell situations and flip them on their head.” However, the site hosts a variety of writers who have a fittingly diverse range of comedic styles.

Experience with comedy is not needed to succeed on Cornell Basement. Greener had experience with the Skits-o-Phrenics, and as Post describes, “my journey began long ago when I first climbed the hill with Jack and Jill. When Jack fell down and broke his crown I ran all the way home laughing. I decided this was my calling.” Yet for plenty of writers, Cornell Basement is their first experience at writing humor.

As a writer, Post feels that Cornell Basement has made her “more confident in her comedy” and brings “joy and cookies” to Cornell students. Though you might be the only person laughing out loud in the A.D. White Library, don’t regret the minute you take out of your day to visit CampusBasement. We could all use a little break.