ink-pen

[Bethany K. Dumas]

The first time I heard someone say "ink pen" was here in Knoxville,
shortly after I came to UT (Fall 1974). The moment was memorable, for I
was in Glocker, which housed the computer center - back in the days when
if one wanted to use a computer one went to a computer center or a special
laboratory. I asked for something at the <service desk> and was told that
I would have to sign for it - then told that there was an "ink pen" I
could use.

Now that we have moved bayond that stage and are often signing on a screen
instead of a piece of paper, some campus offices - and the UT Federal
Credit Union - have signs asking that one using "the inkless pen." I
assume that that term - inkless pen - is standard everywhere, but I have
not yet seen it anywhere except on the UT campus.

Bethany