Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 25, 1993                   TAG: 9305250077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Albany Times Union
DATELINE: COLONIE, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Short

LEFT-HANDED WRITERS COME CLEAN WITH GLOVE

The 9-year-old from Albany and her teacher, Barbara Stein, are co-applicants for a patent on a glove that keeps ink from getting on the hands of left-handed writers.

Jessica, a left-handed student at the Hebrew Academy of the Capital District, came up with the idea of a custom-made left-handed glove because, like many left-handed people, she would get ink smudges on her hand while writing.

Right-handers move their hand ahead of the words being written, giving ink time to dry, but left-handers move their hand over words immediately after they are written. The still-wet ink smudged Jessica's hand, smeared her desk and stained her clothing.

One day, Jessica came to school with Band-Aids on the side of her hand to protect it from ink. Stein took off the Band-Aids to help Jessica's circulation.

Instead, Stein gave Jessica a latex glove with all fingers cut out except the pinky. Jessica added a rubber band around her wrist to keep the adult-sized glove on her hand.

"It works," Jessica said. After a school day, her glove now looks as bad as her hand used to.