The Anniston Star from Anniston, Alabama • Page 5

1 The Anniston Star Tuesday, June 4, 2002 Page 5A Investigators: Social Security numbers should be preserved Old-time movie mogul Lew Wasserman dies By Gary Gentile Associated Press BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. Lew Wasserman, one of the last old-time movie moguls who helped build an entertainment empire while keeping company with presidents and the most glittering of Hollywood stars, died Monday. He was 89. Wasserman died at home from complications of a stroke, said Fleishman, spokes woman for Universal Pictures. As chairman and chief execu- Wasserman ti Wasserman By D.

Ian Hopper Associated Press WASHINGTON Federal agencies should take better care of Social Security numbers in order to protect people's privacy, congressional investigators said Monday. Researchers said the unique identification numbers which are key to protecting against identity theft can be found on public documents at all levels of government. Investigators said the numbers are even more common on public Wasserman was the undisputed ruler of MCA the parent of Universal Studios. He owned 6.9 percent of the company's stock and, through a variety of trusts, controlled more than 15 percent. When MCA was sold in 1990 to Japanese electronics giant Matsushita for $6.6 billion, Wasserman's take was put at $350 million, and he was retained Abercrombie RANBURNE Services for Rosella Abercrombie, 92, of Ranburne will be today at 11 a.m.

at Macedonia Baptist Church with Rev. Mark Merritt officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends 8-10 10 a.m. today at Ranburne Funeral Home.

The body will be at the church an hour prior to services. Mrs. Abercrombie died Sunday at her home. Survivors include a daughter, Peggy Kamigaki of Ranburne; a son and his wife, Gerald and Nellie Abercrombie of Ranburne; a sister, Mazell Forster; three grandchildren, Rhonda Bradberry, Juone McKinney and Rekel Kamigaki; five great-grandchildren and two great-greatgrandchildren. Pallbearers will be family and friends.

Mrs. Abercrombie was a lifelong resident of Cleburne County. She was a housewife and a member of Macedonia Baptist Church. She was preceded in death by her husband, Hubert Abercrombie. Couch HAMILTON, Ga.

Graveside services for Kathy Watkins Couch, 47, of Hamilton will be today at 2 p.m. at Forestlawn Gardens with Rev. Ed Wadsworth officiating. The family will receive friends p.m. today at Brown and Kughn Memory Chapel.

Memorial services will be Thursday at 2 p.m. (EDT) at Bremen First United Methodist Church in Bremen, Ga. Mrs. Couch died Sunday in Hamilton. Survivors include her husband, Roger Couch of Hamilton; two daughters, Claire Couch and Laura records in state and local governments, such as professional licenses and property titles.

"Officials who maintain these records told us their primary responsibility is to preserve the integrity of the record rather 1 than protect the privacy of the individual SSN holder," said researchers at the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress. Social Security numbers, designed only to help the government keep track of earnings and benefit information, are now used as a manager. When Seagram Co. took over the company five years later, Wasserman retired from management with the honorary title of chairman emeritus. But he remained on the company's board of directors until 1998.

During his more than halfcentury with MCA, he and its late founder, Jules Stein, built it into an entertainment giant involved in movies, television programming, home video, records, consumer products and broadcast station ownership, as well as running its successful back-lot tour of Universal Studios. Wasserman, whose thick black-frame glasses dominated his tall, thin frame, marked his 50-year anniversary with MCA in December 1986 in a celebration at its Universal City studios. During the 1980s, Universal's film and television studios produced some of the public's favorite hits, including Back to the Future, the mega-hit of 1985 starring Michael J. Fox, and the Miami Vice television show. Though he was considered one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, the public knew little of Wasserman aside from his philanthropic and business dealings that often found him on soci- OBITUARIES Couch, both of Hamilton; two sisters, Linda Watkins and Debbie Watkins, both of Pine Bluff, and her father and mother-in-law, Elton and Evelyn Couch of Anniston.

Mrs. Couch was a native of Arkansas, where she was a graduate of Arkansas State with a bachelor's degree in education. She graduated from the University of Mississippi with a master's degree in special education and the University of Georgia with a Ph.D. in school psychology. She was a member of Bremen First United Methodist Church and was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Ethel Watkins.

Memorials can be made to Lekotek, 1955 Cliff Valley Way, Suite 102, Atlanta, GA 30329. Fundaburk Services for Alice Evelyn Fundaburk, 85, of Anniston will be Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Gray Brown-Service Mortuary and Crematory with Rev. Ed Heptinstall officiating. Burial will be in Forestlawn Gardens.

The family will receive friends 5-7 tonight and noon until service time Wednesday at the funeral home. Mrs. Fundaburk died Sunday at her home. Survivors include a son, Robert Lyle Fundaburk of Anniston; and two grandchildren, David L. Fundaburk and Lyla S.

Argo. Pallbearers will be deacons of First Baptist Church of Anniston. Mrs. Fundaburk was a native and lifelong resident of Calhoun County. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Anniston, where she was a member of the church choir.

She was a charter member of the Anniston Professional Business Women's Club and had been a for almost every government transaction and on many private documents. Because of their ubiquity, the numbers are often used in identity theft, in which a perpetrator opens fraudulent credit card, bank loan and other accounts in a victim's name. With a Social Security number, a person can apply for additional false documents, like a driver's license. The Social Security Administration said Social Security number misuse increased from about 11,000 dur- ety and business pages. The one-time publicity director for MCA preferred to work behind the scenes he once claimed "I'm just a paper-pusher" and shied away from personal publicity.

He rarely granted interviews. But the depth of his influence was apparent at a 50th wedding anniversary celebration for Wasserman and his wife, Edie, in 1986. Among the 700 friends attending the bash at Universal Studios were Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Johnny Carson, Charlton Heston, Carol Burnett, Audrey Hepburn, Lady Bird Johnson and her two daughters, a number of former U.S. ambassadors and the state's two senators. During one of his rare interviews, Wasserman was asked about his reputation as a tough, ruthless bargainer.

"If negotiating in an attempt to arrive at a favorable deal comes under the heading of being hard, I would stipulate that I'm hard," he replied. "Actually, I don't think the word "ruthless' fits our time," he added. "It is outmoded. It's a carryover from robber baron days." Active in many charities, he volunteer at Stringfellow Memorial Hospital fo more than 17 years. She was the of Leon's Trading Post and was preceded in death by her husband, Leon Fundaburk.

Memorials can be made to the First Baptist Church of Anniston Building Fund, P.O. Box 2052, Anniston, AL 36202. Jernigan HENAGAR Services for J.T. Jernigan, 80, of Henagar were Monday at Corner Stone Funeral Home Chapel and Chris Guinn officiated. Burial was in Biddle Cemetery.

Mr. Jernigan died Friday at DeKalb Baptist Medical Center. Survivors include his wife, Emma Lee Jernigan; four daughters and sons-in-law, Chris and Don Smith of Henagar, Martha and John Parker of Scottsboro, Carolyn and Mike Langley of Jacksonville, and Kathy and Bruce Pelly of West Palm Beach, three sons and two daughters-in-law, James and Deborah Jernigan of Henagar, Mike and Carolyn Jernigan of Dothan and Gerald Jernigan of Fort Worth, Texas; a brother, James Jernigan of Calhoun, a sister, Rosie Brewer of Ider; and eight grandchildren. For the record Bell The obituary for Sarah Joyce Bell published in Monday's Anniston Star incorrectly stated the service time. Services will be Saturday at 11 a.m.

at Wehadkee Missionary Baptist Church in Roanoke. In addition, her grandchildren were incorrectly identified. She is also survived by nine grandchildren. KAY For EXPERIENCE Count on! You TODAY VOTE A State Treasurer ing the 1998 fiscal year, which ended Oct. 31, to 65,200 incidents in 2001.

Officials blame the Internet and electronic record-keeping for the explosion in crimes. "Although few entities report making SSNs available on the Internet, several officials told us they are considering expanding the volume and type of public records available on their Web site," the report said. The report notes the ways governments are trying to protect privacy, such as editing the num- was presented in 1974 with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. He also was a major donor to the Democratic Party and was listed in 1996 as one of 75 big donors to had spent a night in the Clinton White House, which a watchdog group likened to a "fat cat hotel." Wasserman was born in Cleveland on March 15, 1913, and went to work at age 12 hawking candy in a burlesque house. During high school he was an usher in a movie theater, then managed a theater-nightclub, when he was introduced to Edith Beckerman, a clothing store clerk.

They were married in 1936, and three months later Wasserman landed a job as national advertising manager of Music Corporation of America, a talent-booking agency founded by Stein. In 1946, Wasserman was named president of the company. Together, he and Stein built MCA into an entertainment empire, entering the growing field of television and forming MCA's own production company. and will honor you ct $79 ct $149 $249 JEWELERS Anniston 237-4678 Oxford 831-4628 Gadsden 543-0220 102357 ber out on public copies of documents, but protection is haphazard. Government agencies are not always telling the public how their Social Security numbers may be used.

That warning, mandated by law, "is the first line of defense against improper disclosure because it allows SSN holders to make informed decisions," the report said. Congressional investigators said the White House's Office of Management and Budget, which advises government agencies on how to handle privacy issues, should tell the agencies to review how they deal with Social Security numbers and clarify that federal privacy law applies to local governments as well. According to the report, White House officials said they "are unsure of the need for additional OMB guidance in this area." The GAO said Congress should create a commission to develop a unified approach to safeguarding Social Security numbers. MEMORY MAKERS SWEET DE BAKERY Go Celebrating our 1st Anniversary Week of June 3, 2002 Savings throughout the shop 909 Ross Street 463-5050 8-5 101477 00 Heflin, AL 00 DON'T TAKE CHANCES Vote Brandon Francis CORONER FIRE RESCUE 23 Years of Public Service Endorsed by Fraternal Order of Police, Anniston Lodge and Anniston Firefighters Association. 809101 Paid Political Advertisement by Brandon Francis for Coroner.

P.O, Box 239, Alexandria. AL 36250 Has your claim for Social Security Disability or SSI Benefits been denied? If you need help with your claim or administrative hearing maybe I can help. Call: Rochelle Hunt Attorney at Law 235-2240 Offices located at 094892 1304 Quintard Avenue Anniston, AL 36201 "No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of the legal services performed by other lawyers." The Coroner's Office has over 25 years of combined medical experience and over 30 years of combined crime scene and investigative experience. "PROVEN CAPABLE LEADERSHIP" LET'S KEEP PARTRIDGE CORONER pd. pol.

adv. by Partridge for Coroner 22 Latara Lane: Oxford. AL. 36203 094534 DONNIE CALHOUN the A Best Choice for House District 36 ALABAMA IS ON THE VERGE OF LOSING CRITICAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES FOR SENIORS, WOMEN AND CHILDREN Something must be done. "As a pharmacist and health care provider for more than 15 years I am the only candidate that knows and understands the health care issues facing Alabama.

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