Y2K bug pesters programmers
Campus Times
March 5, 1999
by Nune Gazdhyan
Assistant Features Editor
Planes will fall from the sky, automatic doors will refuse to open,
there will be no electricity nor water, riots will break and governments
will panic. These are some of the predictions for the year 2000, due to
potential threats posed by the Y2K or millennium bug.
It is common to have dark and morbid prophecies greeting the end of
a century, but in the case of the Y2K, there is the added flavor of blaming
man-made machinery for placing too much trust in technology.
In reality, the problems affiliated with Y2K are less dramatic than
portrayed, and it is unknown exactly what will happen as the clock strikes
12 on December 31.
However, there is a problem, and it cannot be fixed right away. Problems
affiliated with Y2K will start to go wrong long before the year 2000.
Y2K is a result of certain computer programming, Common Business-Oriented
Language (CBOL), practices which use six digits to input dates in the computer.
CBOL only provided space to input the last two digits of the year.
Using six digits rather than eight to inscribe all four numbers in a
year was a way to save space in computer memory. This becomes a problem
as the year 2000 draws near, because when two zeroes are entered into the
computer, it will not recognize to what year the zeroes are referring 1900
or 2000?
The year 2000 seemed so far away that many people did not think about
the problems a 6-digit date input might create until recently. Once the
problem was discovered, most companies attempted to correct it. Most current
computers and computer software are Y2K compliant.
While most companies are taking steps to fix this problem, there will
still be isolated instances where Y2K will cause problems. Even if the problem
does not affect a major corporation in America, it will affect some of the
developing countries that do not have the manpower or the budget to fix
their computers. It will also affect personal computers.
There are several ways to upgrade and prevent Y2K from striking and
destroying important data. Software can be purchased to upgrade computer
programs and help fix the problem for small businesses and personal computers.
But major companies that have multiple-task computers-such as the electricity
company-must rely on computer programmers to identify, isolate and fix the
problems that may arise from Y2K.
The Y2K bug will most likely affect everyone to some extent or another,
but the University of La Verne has a head start on attempting to ensure
that all data is protected.
"We've been looking for the last 12 to 18 months on making all
the administrative and academic systems Y2K compliant. We're probably about
80 to 90 percent there, and by June or July we hope to be pretty much Y2K
compliant," said Clive Houston-Brown, director of Management Information
Systems (MIS).
ULV students and faculty can be sure that their records will be here
when they return to campus in January 2000.
However, MIS will only protect ULV. It is recommended that everyone
has a few days' supply of food, drinks and warm clothing in case electricity
goes out at certain neighborhoods. A preparation similar to an earthquake
kit should be handy just in case.
