Purdue News
Purdue News
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January 29, 2004 Rube Goldberg Machine Contest gives lighter look at electionWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – While new technology and reforms attempt to make voting easier, a pair of competitions at Purdue University will feature students trying to make the process as complicated as possible. Purdue will host its annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest at 11 a.m. Feb. 28 and the national competition on April 3. Sponsored by Theta Tau national fraternity, this year's contest calls for teams nationwide to construct a machine that will vote and cast a ballot in at least 20 steps using principles of engineering and physics. With the upcoming presidential election in the news, the contest provides an opportunity for an unusual approach to the election, said Greg Wilson, Theta Tau's Purdue contest chairman and a senior in Purdue's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. "You can have fun with serious, important topics, and when we picked the theme this year, that is what we wanted to do with the presidential election," Wilson said. "The contest will take a more fun and quirky approach to the election and voting, as well as voting reform measures. You can bet their will be hanging chads left by most of the machines." Journalists can cover both contests. Purdue will provide video and photo pool coverage of the event. Video will be available via satellite uplink after each contest. An ISDN line is available for radio interviews. Video b-roll, photos, audio clips and a news release will be available the afternoon of the contest. If you have questions, contact Matt Holsapple at the Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2073, mholsapple@purdue.edu. Questions about video or requests for video of previous years' contests can be directed to Jesica Webb at (765) 494-2079, jwebb@purdue.edu. Writer: Matt Holsapple, (765) 494-2073, mholsapple@purdue.edu Sources: Greg Wilson, Purdue Rube Goldberg chairman, (765) 743-2461, purduerube@hotmail.com Josh Sandler, National Rube Goldberg chairman, (765) 743-2461, purduerube@hotmail.com Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu Related Web site:
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