The Battalion
EtCetera
CIS deals with millennium glitch
By Suzanne Riggs
Staff writer
The clock is ticking as Texas A&M computing of
ficials strive to combat a universal computer glitch
known asY2K.
The glitch was created in the 70’s and 80’s when
programmers saved computer memory space by us
ing only two spaces to record the year, leaving off the
century. Years like ’76 and ‘95 are then correctly as
sumed to be 1976 and 1995. But, when a computer
sees the year ‘00, it may assume 1900, or it may shut
down.
“The problem is real and must be dealt with,” said
Tom Putnam, Director of Computing and Informa
tion Services (CIS).
As a result, die CIS Operations Council formed the
Year 2000 Team in 1996 to help iron out any of the prob
lems that A&M could encounter.
If their efforts fail, everything from the financial
aid, student accounting and payroll systems could
be affected.
However, Putnam said preparing for these antici
pated effects should not be difficult.
“In critical systems like these, we know where the
problems are and we know how to fix them,” he
said. “We expect to have them corrected by the end
of the year.”
The departments are another area that could be
affected, although Putnam said most of the problems
will be minor.
“The main problems here will be those of nuisance
such as spreadsheets not working correctly,” he said.
Putnam said the Year 2000 Team will be distribut
ing software to determine if the departmental PC’s are
century compliant.
All computers in the labs are now century compliant.
“We recently purchased new computers for the
labs, and the new computers have Y2K compliant
BIOS programs.”
Lance Coppinger, an assistant analyst at the Phys
ical Plant, said problems could arise from some of the
embedded systems.
“For example, during the weekend the air condi
tioning systems are programmed to automatically
raise the temperature,” he explained. “And if the date
is wrong we could run into problems.”
Coppinger said these types of issues will be looked
at more closely beginning this summer.
Despite all the efforts to prepare forY2K, Put
nam said A&M is already experiencing some of its
side effects.
“One of the first places it was noticed was over a
year ago when calculations were made for some kind
of insurance benefits,” he said. “The calculations went
over the year 2000 and the program stopped.”
Putnam said even if A&M is completely cleared of
the glitch there still could be problems.
“Some suppliers that give the University items such
as food may have accounting systems that fail and then
we’ll be forced to find other sources,” he said.
He said A&M students should not ignore the problem.
“Students with non-compliant PCs can’t contam
inate the A&M system,” he said. “However, their com
puters may put incorrect dates on files, making them
hard to find, or they may create e-mail with incorrect
dates. Some people sort their incoming mail using
that date header, and they might not notice old e-mail
messages with dates of‘1900.’ That unnoticed mes
sage may be important to someone.”
Those with questions may visit the Year 2000 Team
web site at http://www.tamu.edu/cis/teams/yr2k/.
“The web page includes an inventory of many dif
ferent computer hardware and software products,
telling which versions are Y2K compliant,” he said.
Jennifer Jahedkar, CIS Communications Special
ist, said other informative Web sites include:
http://www.year2000.com/
http://www.itaa.org/year2000.htm
http://www.dir.state.tx.us/y2k/.
Alpha Phi Omega: Meet to go visit
Crestview Retirement Home at 6:30
p.m. at Crestview.
Study Abroad Programs Office:
There will be a meeting from 2 to
2:30 p.m. in 154, 161 Bizzell Hall
West. The meeting will promote the
Italy Spring ‘99 program.
Episcopal Student Center: There
will be a celebration of holy eu-
charist followed by free dinner at
6:15 p.m. on Sunday at 902 George
Bush. Call Father Mark at 696-0774
for more details.
ATM Roadrunners: Meet at 4:15
p.m. in front of G. Rollie White
Coliseum. We will run three to
four miles. All students and skill
levels are welcome. Call Steve at
847-7905 for details.
Mexican Students Association:
There will be a bilingual poetry read
ing by Mr. Raul Renan at 3 p.m. in
301 Rudder. Refreshments will be
provided. Call Paco Rangel at 693-
0140 for details.
Management 481: A guest lecture
by Michael Williams will be held at
10:20 a.m. in 144 Koldus. He is a
vice president for the Central South
West Corporation.
Saturday
Texas A&M Jazz Society: A free con
cert will be held in front of the MSC
at 11 a.m. Central Baptist Jazz and
Texas A&M Jazz Society will perform.
Residence Hail Association: The
Princeton Review will give free prac
tice tests for the GRE, GMAT and
LSAT from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in
the Multipurpose room of the Com-
DALLAS
TeleCollege
College Classes
Online or on TV
Some of our best
students wear
pajamas to class
FREE Info: 1-888-468-4268 or
972-669-6400
FREE Virtual Open House:
Mon., Apr. 20, 2 pm
http://dallas.dcccd.edu
Dallas County Community Colleges
Educational opportunities are offered by
the DCCCD without regard to race, color,
age, national origin, religion, sex or
handicap.
What's Up
mons lobby and 101,102 Heep. On
campus residents only may call John
at 696-9099 to reserve a place.
Sunday
Texas A&M Paintball Club: 1st an
nual paintball with parents will be
held from 12 to 6 p.m. at the Brazos
Valley War Games. Members, non
members and parents are invited to
join in the fun of paintball. Call David
for directions at 639-2584.
AMSA Pre-Med: A BBQ bash for all
pre-med students will be held from 1
to 4 p.m.at the Bryan Regional Ath-
ATM Womens Rugby: Come join! No
experience needed. Practices are from
4 to 6 p.m. at the pitch on the comer
of Texas and University Call Nikki at
6940084 for information.
More, More, More ...
English Classes & Sections this Summer
The College of Liberal Arts
and the Department of English
will offer these additional classes & sections:
• English 212 Shakespeare
• English 228 American Literature: Civil War to Present
• English 231 Survey of English Literature 1
• English 301 Technical Writing
• English 334 Science Fiction Present and Past
Don’t Get the Summertime Blues!
Earn Literature and Writing credits.
Meet residency requirements for graduation
Complete core Humanities requirements
Hopes Creek Music
Phi Beta Lambda & KORA
present
Friday,
April 17th
w/special guest
Texas Woodies
Doors Open at 8
*Drink Specials*
Show Starts 9 pm Sharp
18 & Up
$ 8 advance tickets available at
Marooned (8464)017),
DoubleQuick (691 -2639),
Dixie Chicken (846-2332), Rothers (764-3969), and Shadow Canyon
Taking the
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Helen Clancy, Copy Chief
Brad Graeber, Visual Arts Editor
Robert Smith, City Editor
Jeremy Furtick, Sports Editor
Jeff Webb, Sports Editor
James Francis, Aggie life Editor
Mandy Cater, Opinion Editor
Ryan Rogers, Photo Editor
Chris Huffines, Radio Producer
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Staff Members
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Science - Jill Reed.
Sports - Assistant Editor: Jeff Schmidt; Michael
Ferguson, Chris Ferrell, Travis Harsch, Robert
Hollier, Al Lazarus, Colby Martin, Aaron Meier,
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Aggielife - Marium Mohiuddin, Rhonda Reinhart,
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Towery, Travis Irby & Stephen Wells.
Opinion - Len Calloway, Adam Collett, John
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Night News - Joyce Bauer, Jaclynn Barker,Ald :
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Photo - Assistant Editor: Brandon Bollom;ft*
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Graphics - James Palmer, Chad Malian,Jai^
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Cartoonists - Ed Goodwin, John Lemons, Dais
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Copy Editors - Leslie Stebbins, Jennifer J088
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Radio - Andrew Baley, Jody Rae Sartin, Lama
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