It took two years to heal Early Start, a thoroughbred horse back to health. Even more amazingly, the crew of Apollo 13 in 1970 used a variety of materials to repair carbon dioxide filters, saving the lives of three men. What material was used as the saving grace in both these stories? Duct Tape. This was the only material strong enough to hold a dressing on the horse’s leg until the dressing needed to be changed, and to hold the filters in place. Todd Morrison invented duct tape during World War II. Initially used as a watertight seal for the ammunition boxes, duct tape is a vinyl, fabric enforced, multipurpose adhesive tape with a soft, tacky, pressure-sensitive adhesive. From there, duct tape evolved to uses such as on NASA missions, gaining noriety as a strong flexible material for almost any application. With such amazing stories, duct tape broke into popular culture. It has since moved from its very impressive uses to more everyday items such as wallets, bags, belts, roses, even tuxedos and dresses for prom. Ductapers of Ames High have made such items as dresses, tuxedos, roses, wallets, pocketbooks, and side bags. And all this is done while using duct tape to fix every little thing you could imagine. “No words can describe the brilliance of duct tape,” senior Alexa Squire said. Her first use of duct tape was for her ‘how to’ speech, making a rose and earning a cool A. “I’ve made roses and a dress. The dress was definitely the most intense, my highest feat,” Squire said. The dress was part of this years’ fashion show and definitely caught some attention. “Our line for the fashion show was sort of crappy, we needed something legit,” Squire said, “it was a two-piece dress, tape over some cloth. My tip for future duct tapers is duct tape sticks best to itself.” “If I could duct tape anyone to the wall, I would tape the world’s fattest man to test the true strength of duct tape,” said senior enthusiast Austin Sandler. The Red Green Show introduced duct tape to Austin, and from here he literally “got stuck on duct tape.” Sandler’s a man of the original gray color duct tape; this was seen in his tuxedo. “I went at it like a seamstress, making big strips, cutting them out, and then putting them together,” Sandler said. The tuxedo was a middle school art project for Mr. Heinen, another cool A. “I hope one day to go to the international duct tape competition and enter one of my pieces,” Sandler said. He looks to have a bright future in the hobby of duct tape. Duct tape’s future looks like a bright one; with all these amazing uses, the only place to go is up. As a user of duct tape, I encourage all of you readers to get out there, get some duct tape, and tape it up. Maybe you’ll earn an A, save lives, nurse a horse back to health, play a priceless prank on one of your friends, or just simply make a wallet or a rose. But we all must remember that duct tape is a gift of the gods. One God, specifically: Todd Morrison. So don’t abuse duct tape, enjoy it while the roll lasts.