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Email: editor@dailyemerald.com
Online Edition:
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Friday, April 18,2003
-Oregon Daily Emerald
Commentary
Editor in Chief:
Michael J. Kleckner
Managing Editor
Jessica Richelderfer
Editorial Page Assistant:
Salena De La Cruz
What time is it? It's 4:20!
OK, so I’ve been thinking
some doing.
No, wait — doing some thinking.
Whatever.
But dude, Sunday is 4/20, and of
course, every self-respecting stoner
around the world is going to get total
ly blazed — completely friggin’
ripped, insanely high, toked to the
max... uh,_
what? Some
times I get side- SlTIOkey
Oh, right — 420. So do any of us
really know why we’re celebrating? I
high-ly doubt it. I mean, it’s sure as
hell not because it’s Adolf Hitler’s
birthday and the anniversary of the
Columbine shooting. So why?
I, Smokey D. Bud, humble inves
tigative stoner, have taken it upon
myself to plant my ass on the couch,
pack a fat bowl and figure out where
420 came from.
The best place to start would be my
good ol’ stoner friends. Now get this —
this is so sick: Last year on 4/20, my
roommate stuck a 6-inch nug in his
afro and walked from house to house,
breaking off a little piece at each stop,
like some extra-cuddly Pot Fairy.
My buds are chillin’ in the base
ment, so after peeling myself from the
couch, I mosey down to cop a squat,
and on the stairs I hear, “I love being
stoned, ’cause it’s the only time I look
for my glasses when they’re on my
head! ” Hysterical laughing ensues.
These guys are perfect, bro. They
have to know. So I ask them: Where
did “420” come from?
“Isn’t it the number of chemical
compounds in THC?”
“No, no, I heard it’s because the
Grateful Dead did a song called ‘420
Highways’ or something like that. ”
“Dude, it’s the police code for a
weed bust in some county in Califor
nia. I know it is, ‘cause some guy got
busted there once. It was fully raw.”
“It’s the police code in Eugene, too.
I heard them use it.”
tracked by the
sounds of the
words, you
know?
Investigative
stoner
D. Bud
Letters to the editor
Gabe brings RHA,
ASUO experience
to Senate Seat 4
In looking at the two candidates
for Senate Seat 4, which is also an
EMU Board seat, I encourage voters
to look at candidate Gabe V. Kjos. I
personally have known and have
had the privilege of working with
him for the past two years as a mem
ber of the Residence Hall Associa
tion. Kjos has proven himself an ef
fective leader who listens to all views
before making decisions.
RHA is very similar to the ASUO
Student Senate, but on a smaller
scale. The association deals with
budgeting, working with campus
groups and issues like viewpoint
neutrality and creating sound policy.
Gabe’s experience as the vice presi
dent of RHA and as National Com
munications Coordinator, a position
that serves our school on a national
level to other residence halls, will be
very applicable to the EMU Board.
Gabe also has been working as an
ASUO intern for the past year, so he
not only has the outside perspec
tive, giving him the ability to think
It’s my old roommate, the one with
the afro.
“The cops were kicking us out of a
party,” he says, “and they smelled
the weed and shit, and the guy’s all,
‘Possible 420 at the scene,’ with this
punk-ass deep voice, into his radio.”
Maybe they’re onto something. So
I call the Eugene Police Department.
There is some confusion as I try to
explain what I’m asking (dude, when
isn’t there some confusion?), but
then they say it seems unlikely.
“An officer would normally say,
‘I’m observing marijuana smoking in
progress,”’ EPD spokeswoman Kerry
Delf says. “If it was actually used, it
was an anomaly — or it could have
been misheard. It’s not a radio code
in California or New York, as far as I
know, and it’s not a radio code here.”
Damn. OK, now what? After hit
tin’ the glass again, I decide to sit in
front of the computer. You can find
anything on the ‘Net. Have you no
ticed that your eyes get really glazed
over when you, uh, stare at a com
puter for a while? Yeah, me too.
There are some incredible weed
sites on the Web, bro. There’s a clock
that tells you where in the world it’s
4:20 right now (www.420some
where.com), and there’s sites with all
kind of cool shit to buy, and... wait.
What was I doing?
Right, 420! Then, all of a sudden, I
find it: An article in The Los Angeles
Times last year that claims to have
discovered the truth. Steve, a 47
year-old owner of a multimillion dol
lar business in San Francisco, is ap
parently one of the infamous
“slackers” from San Rafael High
School in Marin County, California.
He told the Times that he and his
friends started the “420” phenome
non by accident in 1971 when they
were told about a marijuana patch
growing near the Point Reyes Penin
sula. From then on, at 4:20 p.m., kids
would meet near the campus statue
of Louis Pasteur to embark on a daily
search for the crop.
So it’s not a police code. It’s not about
the Grateful Dead and what hotel room
“outside the box,” but he also has
the ASUO “insider” knowledge
about the structure of the system.
For these reasons and more, I
proudly endorse Kjos as our next
senator for Seat 4.
Jordan Marx
junior
political science
Support Jordan for
social science seat
I am writing to express my sup
port for Jordan Marx as your next so
cial science senator. Jordan has been
involved in numerous different cam
pus organizations that contribute to
his qualifications to hold this posi
tion. He has been very active in the
Residence Hall Association Housing
Government, which has a very simi
lar structure to the ASUO but works
on a more intimate scale. As a part
of RHA, Jordan helped to deal with
issues concerning viewpoint neutral
ity, budgeting, interacting with cam
pus groups and creating sound hous
ing policy. He was rewarded for his
work in the RHA by being voted
their 2001-02 Member of the Year.
Jordan has also worked for Uni
versity Housing as a resident assis
tant for the past year. During his
time as an RA, Jordan has had the
Peter Utsey Emerald
they stayed in (damn, I liked that one).
According to snopes.com, an online
site dedicated to urban legends, none
of these rumors are true. There are ac
tually 315 chemicals in THG, as report
ed by High Times magazine.
It was just a bunch of stoner kids,
like me, having fun. And look where
it’s led: There’s a 4:20 record label in
California, and a band called 4:20.
New York’s 420 Tours sells cheap
travel packages to the Netherlands
(hell, yeah!) and Jamaica. Highway
420 Radio offers “music for the
opportunity to face many different
situations, ranging from alcohol poi
soning and suicide to diversity and
academic issues.
Jordan’s commitment and work
ethic, combined with his platform
for diversity, campus safety, greater
access to government and financial
responsibility make him the practi
cal student senate choice. So re
member to vote Jordan Marx for Stu
dent Senate Seat 15, Social Science!
Celia Cheung
junior
computer science
Christa and Greg
will improve
residence hall life
When looking at ASUO Executive
candidates, there is only one ticket
that is clearly ready to help better
residence hall life for all students.
Based on their experience in various
aspects of student government and
campus life, these reasons should
give students more than enough rea
son to elect Christa Shively and Greg
Bae to represent them.
Christa has proved her leader
ship ability in her tenure as EMU
Board chair and has helped the
communication between the EMU
chemically enhanced.” And there’s
so much more — if you have time to
go off on a tangent looking for it.
The 420 culture is everywhere
now. At my Eastern Oregon high
school, 4:20 p.m. was when the de
tention bell rang to let all the bad kids
go for the day. We’d run to our cars,
screaming “four-twenty” as loud as
our raspy lungs could muster.
Given where it came from, it’s no
surprise University students have
their own 420 rituals. Rumor has it
that kids in the residence halls used
and the senate greatly improve. As
ASUO president and vice presi
dent, they will both fight to keep
tuition low and not limit access to
higher education by fighting to
keep state aid.
One of their most important plat
form issues is to get a universal food
point system between the EMU and
University Housing, which is a very
reasonable goal, and one that many
students support, as well as reinsti
tuting a housing contract. When
looking at an executive ticket, stu
dents must be able to elect a ticket
that has a variety of experiences in
campus life — and Christa and Greg
exemplify this. Please join me in
electing Christa Shively and Greg
Bae as ASUO president and vice
president on April 21-23.
Gabe V. Kjos
vice president
Residence Hall Association
Maddy and Eddy will
be effective leaders
I am writing to offer my over
whelming endorsement of Maddy
Melton and Eddy Morales for the
ASUO Executive. Understanding
the complexities of the position,
from a local, as well as state and
federal level, I can say without
to wake up at 4:15 a.m. to gather on
the Humpy Lumpy Lawn for a
smokeout. Now that’s dedication.
Just thinking about it makes me
tired. I need another bong rip.
Smokey D. Bud cannot be contacted,
as he is a fictional character created
by editorial writers. The characters
and situations in this column are
fictionalized for humor, while the details
about the origins and use of "420" are
true. The views expressed in this column
do not necessarily represent those
of the Emerald.
reservation, that this ticket will
work to represent all students.
Whoever is elected to the ASUO
Presidency will also serve as the in
terim board chair of the Oregon Stu
dent Association during the final half
of the legislative session. Having
worked as an intern with the organi
zation, and having lobbied exten
sively on the state and federal level,
Maddy Melton would be well suited
for this role.
Additionally, this ticket offers an
established relationship with the
United States Student Association
(Maddy serves on the Advisory Com
mittee) and, as a result, comes with
a network of colleagues and student
leaders who will collaborate to pro
vide examples of what has worked
elsewhere, as well as to organize
around national issues concerning
higher education.
In short, Maddy and Eddy are the
only candidates who will prove ef
fective next year in all arenas, from
finances to diversity to legislative
policy. They are true to their values
and they will organize and fight to
represent students at the Universi
ty of Oregon.
Rachel PiHiod
junior
political science