At 5/17/99 02:57 PM , Simpkins, Terry wrote:
>In all this talk of cards, no one has mentioned the most fun result of cards.
>This little bits of card that get punched out.
>
>Cleaning out the punch machines every night and saving them in bags for use
>at the football game that weekend
>was required.
>
>Man those things made the BEST confetti!!!
>Talk about a pain the a?? to get out of your hair.

From the mid-seventies through the mid-eighties we had signs regarding chad
in the keypunch and teletype rooms at the state university (in Virginia) I
attended and later was employed by (student/staff/administrator).  The
simple printed cardboard signs said something to the effect that it was
illegal to use chad from teletypes and keypunches as confetti, citing
Virginia Code xxx.yy (it may have been County Code, but I think it was
Virginia Code).

I remember they took it seriously, and for those of us who as students
worked as "lab assistants", one of our duties was to make sure that
students didn't collect the chad or remove it from the room.

We were told that the reason chad could not be used as confetti was that
the very small pieces of paper tape and particularly punch card had sharp
edges and had been involved in a number of incidents, each with legal
consequences.  In one case a bag of chad and been accidentally ignited and
had burned very rapidly (something about paper dust being semi-explosive).
In other cases, the chad (particularly keypunch chad) had found its way
into people's eyes and the sharp edges combined with the concave shape had
caused eye injury.

Fact or fiction, I don't know, and whether there really is/was such a
Virginia Code section or not, I don't know, as none of us bothered to
check.  Heck, even when I was an administrator there I didn't bother to
check (you received the signs, you put them up, that was that).  I do know
that I don't ever remember seeing paper tape or keypunch chad used as
confetti at any high school or college sports events I attended in
Virginia, and that the signs were still posted as late as January 1984.

John

>
>*******************************
>Terry W. Simpkins
>Director ISIT
>Lucas Control Systems
>[log in to unmask]
>*******************************


--------------------------------------------------------------
John Korb                            email: [log in to unmask]
Innovative Software Solutions, Inc.

The thoughts, comments, and opinions expressed herein are mine
and do not reflect those of my employer(s), or anyone else.