U. works to exterminate 'year 2000' bug

For many people at Penn, the arrival of the year 2000 is a greatly anticipated event. But for the officials in charge of computing, the turn of the century poses a major threat, as the new millennium could wreak havoc on the University's systems. The change from "19-" to "20-" may be fatal to computers that use only two digits to refer to years -- because they will have no way to know that 1997 comes before 2001. In an effort to prevent this potentially destructive event, Information Systems and Computing has been working since the early 1990s to make all core-administrative systems and core-infrastructure "year 2000 compatible" -- or in simpler terms "Y2K." "We completed work on the student registration system in 1994, and have since launched or completed work on gifts, payroll, Student Financial Services and Financial Management Information Systems," Senior Project Leader for ISC Stephen Stines said. The project is not nearly complete, however, as the "Y2K" problem affects such computing devices as hardware, security services, banking systems, spreadsheets and phone systems, Stines added. The problem that Stines' team is working to solve began years ago, when it was good business practice --due to the high cost of memory and hardware -- to use a two-digit number to represent the year. Due to this programming convention, in the year 2000, a student born in the year 1978 would be recorded as negative-78 years old -- the computer would subtract 78 from 00. An additional problem comes from hardcoded values in software routines. "It is commonplace for programmers to use 99 when indicating that an account will never expire," Stines said. "Come the year 2000, that convention would fail, thus polluting potential output values." According to Stines, the problem has implications for students as well, as most personal computers built prior to early 1996 are not year 2000 compliant. If left unattended, these computers may not function properly, as any program using internal clocks may be affected. "There are tests students can run to determine if their computers will have a problem," Stines said. "Upgrades are usually available through the Internet." Stines also encouraged students to check with the manufacturers of all non-University owned systems containing microprocessors -- most manufacturers have published year 2000 compliance statements. The ISC team is conducting a University-wide assessment to determine the magnitude of the problem. "We have to look everywhere, not just administratively," Stines said. According to ISC Associate Vice President Robin Beck, the target date for project completion is January 1999 so that "systems and computing devices will be operational for a significant period of time before the century date change." But she added that project completion will extend past Jan. 1, 2000 -- ending officially when all software goes through one cycle. "I can say that I am anxious due to the enormous range and diversity of computing across Penn," Beck said. "At the same time, I take comfort in the achievements of those who have been working on the issue for some time." Stines encourages students and faculty to refer to the year 2000 Web site -- http://www.y2k.com -- for more information -- including year 2000 compliance tests for PCs.