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

DATE: FRIDAY, August 27, 1993                   TAG: 9309240355
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Jeff DeBell
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NEW AND IMPROVED SPIT WADS

Ted Skup is a throwback to the days before handguns became the weapon of choice in American schools.

The guy has invented a synthetic spitball.

His "Spit Wads" are packaged in blocks of 1/4-oz. squares that you simply pinch off, knead a bit and toss. No need to chew them or sweeten them with saliva.

Skup says the projectiles will stick to any smooth surface. And they're ecologically correct: You can peel them off the blackboard - or a classmate's forehead - and use 'em again.

An Indianan who was voted class clown in high school, Skup spent $8,000 of his own money and tested hundreds of compounds in his quest for a "polymeric improvement" on the soggy classroom missile of yore.

Spit Wads are being marketed by IQCQ Inc. of Merrillville, Ind. It hopes they will take their place in novelty-item history alongside such giants as Silly Putty and the immortal Pet Rock.

IQCQ spokesman Scott Hicko says Spit Wads are surprisingly popular among "upscale adult male executives and professionals," who apparently use them as stress-relievers. But students are the intended buyers, and a national pre-school sales push is planned.

There was a time when teachers would have shuddered at the prospect of new and improved spitballs. But in an era when the student arsenal has become considerably more lethal, Spit Wads would seem a relief.

by CNB