Is
Your
School
Y2K
OK?
Making
Your
Computers
Millennium
Ready
hat
will
happen
when
the
year
2000
rolls
around?
Some
experts
think
the
situation
is
not
that
serious.
“Chances
are,
few
school
districts
will
experience
a
com-
puter
meltdown.
.
.
when
classes
resume
on
Monday,
January
3,
2000.”"
Others
predict
doomsday
scenarios
such
as
the
following
for
K-12
schools:
“
Administrative
computer
systems
scramble
student
records.
Heating
and
ventilation
systems
shut
down.
District-
wide
computer
networks
grind
to
a
halt.
Security
doors
won’t
open.
Voice
mail
sys-
tems
fall
silent.
Payroll
and
accounting
systems
print
nonsense
numbers—and
the
staff
doesn’t
get
paid.”
Some
computer
programmers
have
become
survivalists
and
are
stockpiling
food
and
other
sup-
plies.
Marketers
are
taking
advantage
of
the
millennium
madness
and
selling
sur-
vival
kits,
generators,
blankets,
oil-burn-
ing
lanterns,
and
more.’
How
did
this
problem
start?
“When
the
first
computer
programmers
went
to
work
in
the
1950s
and
*60s,
they
took
a
shortcut.
Instead
of
entering
all
four
num-
bers
in
a
year,
such
as
1999,
they
used
only
the
last
two
digits:
99.
That
way,
they
could
save
valuable
space
in
the
computer’s
memory.
Besides,
in
the
1950s,
the
year
2000
seemed
a
long
way
off!
Computer
experts
figured
that
all
the
pro-
grams
would
be
different
by
now.
They
were
wrong.
Many
of
the
original
com-
puter
programs
from
the
1950s
and
60s
are,
in
fact,
still
in
use
today.
In
addition,
many
newer
programs
simply
followed
the
two-digit
model
for
tracking
years.”*
Why
are
the
two
digits
a
problem?
When
2000
rolls
around,
some
computers
will
think
it
is
1900
instead
of
2000.
This
can
cause
many
errors
in
calculating
critical
information,
such
as
payrolls
and
leap
year
dates.’
The
year
2000
is
almost
upon
us.
Whether
or
not
it
brings
disaster,
by
now
you
should
already
know
about
the
year
2000
problem
(referred
to
as
Y2K)
and
have
contingency
plans
for
your
school.
If
not,
here
are
some
steps
you
should
take
at
once:*
*
Consult
with
your
superintendent,
school
board,
school
business
manager,
president,
and/or
executive
director.
Re-
member,
this
is
more
of
a
business
prob-
lem
than
a
technology
problem.
*
Do
an
inventory
of
your
applica-
tions
and
systems.
If
they
use
embedded
microchips,
have
someone
assess
the
im-
pact
of
the
Y2K
problem.
*
Inquire
whether
your
vendors’
and
service
providers’
equipment
is
Y2K
com-
pliant.”
*
Conduct
a
risk
analysis.
Determine
which
systems
and
applications
are
criti-
cal
to
your
school’s
services
and
deal
with
them
in
order
of
priority.
Decide
whether
to
fix
the
problem
or
purchase
new
appli-
cations.
In
many
cases,
it
will
actually
be
more
cost-effective
to
purchase
a
new
sys-
tem
instead
of
trying
to
patch
up
an
old
one.
*
Test
your
applications
to
validate
the
repairs.
Perhaps
most
important:
Develop
back-up
and
contingency
plans.
What
will
you
do
if
the
payroll
system
does
not
work
or
enrollment
reports
are
cor-
rupted?
*
Keep
your
school
community
in-
formed
about
the
steps
you
are
taking.
Address
the
topic
at
board
meetings,
in
newsletters,
and
on
your
Web
site.
De-
velop
a
compliance
statement,
reviewed
by
legal
counsel.?
Out
on
a
Lim
With
Educational
Technology
*
Be
sure
to
purchase
or
accept
as
do-
nations
only
Y2K-compliant
software,
hardware,
equipment,
and
services.
Con-
tract
only
with
those
companies
that
have
Y2K-compliant
systems.’
Besides
planning
for
emergencies
and
checking
and
updating
your
systems,
you
should
teach
a
unit
on
Y2K
to
students
at
all
levels.
TeacherZone,
a
Web
site
for
teachers,
has
lesson
plans,
projects
for
kids,
and
more
to
help
your
students
un-
derstand
computer
history
and
current
events.’
Classroom
Connect,
one
of
the
best
Internet
resources
for
education,
has
planned
a
unit
reviewing
the
past
1,000
years.
Information
on
this
resource
is
available
at
their
Web
site."
Use
the
mil-
lennium
fever
to
spark
enthusiasm
about
your
history
lessons!
Interest
in
the
millennium
is
high.
Now
is
an
excellent
time
for
Adventist
churches
and
schools
to
get
involved
with
their
communities.
A
group
of
Pennsylva-
nia
churches
is
offering
monthly
Y2K
prayer
services
that
provide
a
mix
of
secu-
lar
and
spiritual
advice.”
What
a
wonder-
ful
opportunity
to
help
your
community
prepare
for
the
worst,
to
teach
them
what
the
Bible
says
about
the
end
of
the
world,
to
pray
and
prepare
together.
Let
us
lead
the
way,
not
in
panic,
but
in
preparing
for
the
future
and
the
approaching
second
coming
of
Jesus.
&
Janine
Lim
is
the
Instructional
Technol-
ogy
Consultant
at
Berrien
County
Inter-
mediate
School
District
in
Berrien
Springs,
Michigan.
She
works
with
Ad-
ventist
schools
as
well
as
other
private
and
public
schools.
NOTES
AND
REFERENCES
Note:
Visit
the
author’s
Web
page
at
http:/
www.andrews.edu/~freedj/
to
find
a
list
of
these
links.
1.
Lars
Kongshem,
“RU
Y2K
OK?”
Electronic
School
186:3
(March
1999),
p.
Al4.
2.
Ibid.,
pp.
A14-A17.
For
a
more
in-depth
Continued
on
page
47
ADVENTIST
EDUCATION
+»
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER
1999
21