Experts prepare campus for Y2K bug

Jim Morris (left) will be one of the experts providing information at the April 5 Y2K seminar sponsored by the School of Engineering and Computer Science, headed by Dean Karl Longley (right).

by Tom Uribes

Will the campus be tragedy-free when Y2K takes center stage? That will be the question for campus computer users when midnight rolls around next Dec. 31. Will your computer be in compliance? Or will you be reminded of some sorrowful Shakespearean tragedy?

As far as Jim Morris, associate vice president for Information and Technology Services, is concerned, no one should be forced into soliloquies. He says Fresno State will be ready, for the most part, when the so-called Millennium Bug hits on Jan. 1, 2000.

The university is preparing both internally and externally for the little bug's arrival next New Year's Day.

Internally, Morris's ITS has been addressing the situation for the past five years with a plan that should have most of the campus updated by fall, he said. The most important component of the plan, however, is the student records system, SIMMS-R, which he said will be compliant by a March 29 quarterly report deadline.

Externally, two special informational seminars designed to help the public deal with the Y2K Millennium Bug will be presented on campus April 5 by the School of Engineering and Computer Science.

The seminars are a free service the university is providing the Valley community, said Dr. Karl Longley, dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science. Co-sponsors are Pacific Gas & Electric company and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

The Y2K (year 2000) bug refers to computer hardware and software not being able to recognize the new century's four digits because some computers - coded with only two digits to identify each year -- will assume that the two digits are still prefaced with 19.

Morris explains that some computers could interpret the first day of 2000 as Jan. 1, 1900, if they are not made year-2000 compliant before the turn of the century.

Morris said mission-critical areas such as alarms, sprinklers and elevators that are controlled by computers will also be addressed.

For more information about the seminars, contact Dana Lucka-Zupanovich at ext. 8-2500.