The world can be a cold, humorless place. Sometimes life's hard lessons hit you like the urge to go to the bathroom after that late night Taco Bell binge. Consequently, the news about our little blue planet can also be depressing and leave you not laughing.

From the depths of Terry Hall sounds the answer to this dilemma in the form of a new Registered Student Organization. Titled "The Okra," this upstart satirical news source aims to provide UW students with a farcical peep at local events.

"We picked the name because [an] okra is a fairly common vegetable, like an onion," said Kyle Costaggini, who goes by the alias "Jesus." "It's convenient that they both start with an 'o' as well."

Headed by Costaggini, Tyler Cooper and Aaron Miller — all three of whom are computer science majors — the publication pays homage to the popular satirical news source The Onion with its format and style as well as its name.

"It's basically a tribute to The Onion," Miller said. "The thing that makes us unique is that we focus on local news, unlike The Onion."

The creators hope to produce a full-length edition once a week. The first is scheduled to come out sometime this coming week and should be available in the common areas of the HUB, Kane Hall and the dormitories for no charge.

There is no solid staff or payroll for this paper. Instead, The Okra gets its material from an unconventional, yet global and encompassing source.

"Our writers are the members of our open Facebook group," Cooper said. "We accept contributions from anybody who wants to write, then select the ones we want, edit and respond with suggestions."

Despite being created fairly recently (over Thanksgiving break), The Okra has a Web site bursting with articles which are refreshed regularly.

Headlines to date include "How to Spot a Communist," "Out-of-State Undergraduate Found Dwelling in Trashcan" and "Conservative Christianity Suffers Enormous defeat in War on Christmas.

Although most articles presented in The Okra involve considerable research, the news it presents will not necessarily be things that haven't already been covered by other news sources or that even occurred at all.

"We don't consider ourselves to be a competitor of papers like The Daily; more like a news partner," Costaggini said. "We'll take things that may have already been reported about and provide students with a fresh and entertaining outlook on them."

Although the number of contributors to the paper is low, it is growing. The creators encourage all students at the UW to get online and check out their Web site and Facebook group, as well as considering taking part in this endeavor.

"If you desire to help me write this excellent newspaper, assist in its publication, take photographs or whatnot, e-mail or message me at once," Costaggini said.

Reach columnist Camden Swita at camdenswita@thedaily.washington.edu.