In the News-Rube Goldberg Competition at Purdue

Purdue Teams Win the 30th Annual Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest

In the category of better-late-than-never news, the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers won the 30th annual regional Rube Goldberg competition at Purdue University on Saturday, February 25, 2012. The task this year: to inflate and pop a balloon. The winning team broke a world record for most steps for a Rube Goldberg device to complete its task. This year's winning machine took 300 steps and not only inflated and popped a balloon, but also completed tasks from twenty-four previous competitions. Anderson High School won the competition for high schools. Both winning teams went on to national competitions. You can read the full story at the website of the Purdue University News Service, here.

Purdue Teams Earn Second Place in the Rube Goldberg National Competition

The 25th annual national Rube Goldberg Machine Contest was held at Purdue University on Saturday, March 31, 2012. A team from Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, won the event. The Purdue teams finished second in a competition that "rewards machines that most effectively combine creativity with inefficiency and complexity." The winning machine had an end-of-the-world theme, fitting for the last year of the Mayan calendar. The website of the Purdue University News Service has the full story here. Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) by the way was a cartoonist famous for his overly complex machines used for completing simple tasks. He is also the originator of the Siberian cheesehound.

Text copyright 2012, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Dave Coverly

Speed Bump Cartoonist Reflects on College, Art, and Life

Dave Coverly, author of the syndicated comic panel Speed Bump, will speak at the commencement of his alma mater, Eastern Michigan University, this weekend, Sunday, April 29, 2012. In an online article published today on the website of The Eastern Echo, Mr. Coverly offered a preview of his comments for the graduation ceremony to take place on the Ypsilanti campus. You can read the article by following this link. In case you're wondering what this could possibly have to do with Indiana: after graduating from Eastern Michigan, Dave Coverly went on to receive his master's degree from Indiana University and to work as a cartoonist for the Bloomington Herald-Times.

Copyright 2012, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Abby Gross

University of Indianapolis Editorial Cartoonist Wins Award

Abby Gross, a cartoonist with the University of Indianapolis student newspaper The Reflector, has been awarded first place for her editorial cartooning in a recent competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards. The awards were for the society's Region 5, which includes colleges and universities in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky. The Reflector staff came away with ten individual and group awards all together. You can read more at the website of the University of Indianapolis News, or UIndy News, here. For a look at Ms. Gross' cartoons, see the opinion section of the online Reflector, here.

Copyright 2012, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Dave Coverly

Cartoonist Dave Coverly To Speak at Commencement Ceremonies

Indiana University alumnus and cartoonist Dave Coverly, best known for his nationally syndicated comic strip Speed Bump, will be the commencement speaker at the graduation ceremonies of the Eastern Michigan University College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Technology on the morning of April 29, 2012. Mr. Coverly earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and imaginative writing from Eastern Michigan University in 1987 before going on to complete his master’s degree in creative writing at Indiana University in Bloomington. Mr. Coverly worked as an editorial cartoonist for the Herald-Times in Bloomington while attending graduate school, and his early cartoons appeared in The Saturday Evening Post, The New York Times, Esquire, and USA Today. In 1994, Speed Bump was picked up by Creators Syndicate. The panel quickly gained popularity, running in nearly 100 papers by 1995, at which time Coverly left the Herald-Times to concentrate on his daily cartoon panel. Today the feature appears in more than 200 newspapers and in Parade Magazine, which reaches more than 73 million readers each week. Mr. Coverly’s other accomplishments include a line of greeting cards for American Greetings and a number of books, including Sue McDonald Had a Book, Speed Bump: Cartoons for Idea People, and Caution Speed Bump: A Collection of Cartoon Skidmarks.

In addition to giving the commencement speech at the morning ceremonies on April 29, Mr. Coverly will be awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from his alma mater. You can read more in the following article:

“Cartoonist Dave Coverly and Michigan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley to Speak at Eastern Michigan University Graduation Ceremonies” (February 22, 2012)

Written by Bridget Hanley, Proficient Pen.

Copyright 2012 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Nikko Elliott

Cartoon Controversy at Purdue University Calumet

A recent editorial cartoon by Nikko Elliott, appearing in the Purdue University Calumet Chronicle, has become part of a larger public discussion on the subjects of religious tolerance, racism, free speech, professor-student relations, and the point at which personal opinions, when expressed in a public forum, cross the line. If it sounds complicated, that’s because it is. To learn more about the issues inspiring the editorial cartoon and the larger controversy of which the cartoon has become a part, follow these links:

"PUC Professor Calls Cartoon Anti-Semitic" by Carmen McCollum, Northwest Indiana Times, March 8, 2012.

"Professor's Facebook Comments Draw Protests from Students" on NBC Chicago.

"PUC Students Protest Professor's Comments, Facebook Page” on Hammond Community.net.

Written by Bridget Hanley, Proficient Pen.

Copyright 2012, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Garry Trudeau at IU

Creator of Doonesbury to Speak at Indiana University

Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Garry Trudeau will speak at the Indiana Memorial Union Alumni Hall at Indiana University in Bloomington on Monday, November 14, 2011. The topic of his talk will be "Doonesbury in Time of War." Mr. Trudeau created his popular comic strip Doonesbury while he was a student at Yale University. In 1975, he became the first daily comic strip cartoonist to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning. Mr. Trudeau's character B.D., never without his football helmet, went to war in Vietnam during the early '70s. He returned to the fighting in the Iraq war, making Doonesbury one of few comic strips to deal directly with the war. Today, Doonesbury appears in 1,100 newspapers worldwide.

Garry Trudeau is of course a Hoosier by marriage. His wife, journalist Jane Pauley, originally from Indianapolis, graduated from Indiana University in 1972 and for many years was co-host of The Today Show. I should note that her birthday was this week. Happy Birthday, Jane Pauley!

An exhibition of Garry Trudeau's work will be on display at the Indiana University Lilly Library through November 14. His talk, scheduled for 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. You can read more at the website of the IU Newsroom.

Copyright 2011, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Rube Goldberg Competition

Purdue Hosts Annual Rube Goldberg Competition

The University of Wisconsin-Stout were repeat winners at the 24th Annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held March 26, 2011, at Purdue University. In a mere 135 steps, the Wisconsin team watered a plant in a model of creativity combined with "inefficiency and complexity" as required by the competition. In consolation for the home team, a Purdue University machine completed an unassisted run of 244 steps, surpassing Ferris State University's world record. You can read the full story and see a video of a machine re-staging the world's history in its goal of watering a plant, at the website of the Purdue University News Service.

The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is named for the American cartoonist, sculptor, and author, Rube Goldberg (1883-1970). Born in California, Goldberg graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a degree in engineering. Despite his education, Goldberg went into cartooning and became famous for devising ridiculously complicated machines that accomplish extremely simple tasks. For that, his name passed into common usage so that even today, we talk about "Rube Goldberg devices." Goldberg also won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorial cartooning. Perhaps more significantly, the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) hands out its annual Reuben Award to "The Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year" in his honor. Goldberg designed the award himself, but the original was sculpted by Hoosier cartoonist Bill Crawford (1913-1982). Today, four decades after his death, Rube Goldberg has an official website. It's only fitting that he should. After all, isn't a computer just one more Rube Goldberg device?

The Reuben Award, the highest award given to a cartoonist by the National Cartoonists Society (NCS), designed by Rube Goldberg and sculpted by Bill Crawford of Hammond, Indiana.

Text copyright 2011, 2024 Terence E. Hanley

In the News-Joel Bustamante

Wabash College Student Wins Editorial Award

The Indiana Collegiate Press Association awarded Wabash College student Joel Bustamante first place for an editorial cartoon in a small college newspaper at its annual convention, held April 1-2, 2011, in Bloomington, Indiana. The award was for a cartoon depicting President Barack Obama and an injured elephant representing the GOP.  "A classic cartoon treatment of a national topic," judges wrote. "Clear caricatures and few words make this the most powerful of the bunch." Mr. Bustamante's award was one of twenty-two awards, including ten first place awards, picked up by The Bachelor, the Wabash College weekly newspaper. Wabash College, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana, is the alma mater of several other Hoosier cartoonists, including Allen Saunders (Mary Worth), Dave Gerard (Citizen Smith), Frank Beaven, Bandel Linn, Tom Henderson, and Don Cole.

Copyright 2011, 2024 Terence Hanley