Although hacking can be extremely strenuous to a novice, Lerdow says, "It doesn't really affect you too much physically. I wouldn't recommend it as a form of aerobics or anything."

"When you start out,"adds Zender "a lot of the exercise comes from spelunking down the sewers" after badly placed shots.

Hacking, say players, has a long and illustrious--if somewhat apocryphal--history. "In China they do it with a harder ball, in Thailand, with bamboo pieces; in Cambodia, they use nuts hackers report. "But you can play with just about anything...anything circular that is," says Zender.

"There are many myths of Genesis floating around," he adds. "Just about the only thing you can be sure about is that it's here."

The official Whammo Hacky Sack is made of plastic beads coated with animal hide. "If you don't eat meat, it's hard to justify playing Hacky Sack says Lerdow. "That's the only trouble--thinking about all the dead animals the went into it."

Hackers say they often take then sacks on the road with them. "You play anywhere, everywhere you can," says Greg D.S. Anderson '89.

Zender says, "The weirdest place I've ever hacked are on the slopes of Mt. Olympus in Greece and on a raft in the Mississippi." Adds Lerdow, "On the steps of the Capitol."

At Harvard, prime playing spots include in front of Lamont or Widenet although the Yard is off-limits for about three months before Commencement "when they try to keep the grass looking nice," according to Zender. Also, hacking has been permanently banned in the Quincy House courtyard because of the danger it poses to windows.