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8A the university daily kansan
news
tuesday, april 20, 2004
POT: Smokers delve into the meaning
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
He said having his birthday on 420 had nothing to do with his decision to smoke weed.
The origin of the 420 culture is as hazy as the smoky air that stirs up this conversation. The most popular theory is smokers thought 420 was the Los Angeles Police Department's code for smoking marijuana in public. But Los Angeles police codes fall under the six-digit California Health and Safety Code system. Any pot-related violation code falls in the 11300s. And the California Penal Code 420 refers to the misdemeanor of blocking entry to a public place. So this theory was quickly snuffed out.
Another explanation was that the Grateful Dead's address near the Haight and Ashbury streets in San Francisco was 420, but according to the San Francisco Bay City Guide, its address was 710 Ashbury St.
Probably the most accepted
premise of 420's origin, according to an ABC news interview with Steven Hagar, editor-in-chief of High Times magazine, is reminiscent of the movie Goonies.
Hagar said a group of six children at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, Calif., found a map telling them the whereabouts of an abandoned pot patch. The boys decided to meet at the school's Louis Pasteurstatus at 4:20 p.m. in 1971 to start their search for the abandoned field. But that get-together grew into a daily smoke session, and the term 420 spread throughout the school.
"It's a way for this persecuted culture to talk to each other and not be exposed to people like teachers or police, outside the culture," Hagar told ABC.
The phrase was able to grow out of the town just outside San Francisco. The 22-square-mile city was once home to the Grateful Dead headquarters and quickly spread to the band's underground. Many Grateful Dead followers were
reading High Times, so once the magazine discovered the term and started publicizing it, 420 went global, Hagar said in the interview with ABC.
Whatever the roots, people have gotten creative with the term 420,and have come up with less-concrete references.
One smoker referred to *The Simpson*'s episode that aired on April 20, 1999, in which Homer mentions to Flanders that Barney's birthday is April 20 and the jackpot sign later seen in the enpisode displays $420,000.
There are other clues potheads have managed to catch in modern television and cinema, such as the rumor that all the clocks in Pulp Fiction are set at 4:20.
Robert Baker from Housing and Credit Counseling Services, 2619 W. Sixth St., said that number is likely to increase.
Whether the writers were trying to proclaim their faith to the counterculture or just making a meaningless detail in their scripts, the red-eyed viewers have managed to see them.
— Edited by Louise Stauffer
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ID THEFT: Fraud hard to counter
A name and social security number is all a thief needs to assume someone else's identity.
"With just a social security number, you can apply for a credit card number, a loan and a checking account," said Jeff Sizemore, personal banker for USBk. 1807 W.23rd St.
Sizemore also said that he saw several instances of identity theft at his branch location alone.
"It's more than just credit cards. If they have any credit worthiness, you can open credit all over town. You can buy real estate," Hyrne said. "But when they don't make
Anna Hyne, associate at Pre-Paid Legal Services based out of Kansas City, said that identity theft had started to create more trouble than just credit cards and bank accounts.
payments, they trace the social security number back to you, and your credit is shot."
Hyrne, who specializes in identity theft claims, said criminals could use social security numbers to get hired for jobs under an assumed identity. People whose identities were stolen were then accountable for unpaid taxes by the Internal Revenue Service.
"The police aren't in a position to do anything," Hyrne said. "They'll take a report, and that's about it."
The key to protecting oneself against identity fraud is to be vigilant about incidents where sensitive information, like social security numbers and account numbers, is released.
Baker said the first thing students should do if they suspected they were victim to identity theft was to call the Federal Reserve Bank and place a fraud alert on their name and accounts.
Once a fraud alert is in place, the
Federal Reserve Bank will verify any further action taken on existing accounts and verify the identity of persons opening new accounts.
Sizemore said he recommended that students call a credit bureau to check up on their credit history to ensure no one else has made credit payments.
Baker said clearing one's name after being a victim of fraud was especially difficult.
"Once those accounts get open and balances get started, it works opposite of the American justice system; you have to prove you're not guilty," Baker said.
The process of clearing one's name involves writing to credit agencies to try to prove that someone else made transactions under another name, usually by comparing signatures on transaction slips.
"It's a process. It will cost you time and money." Baker said. "It's not cheap or easy."
Baker said the average time and cost for clearing identity fraud was six months and $100.
— Edited by Collin LaJoie
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Now.
Spring Concerts 2004
Thursday, April 22 & Friday, April 23 7:30 p.m. Lied Center
The University of Kansas School of Fine Arts Department of Music & Dance presents University Dance Company
Guest Choreographer William Whitener Artistic Director, Kansas City Ballet
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