Bug Out!

The Y2K Bug afflicts computer systems worldwide. Despite enormous costs, total eradication remains elusive.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Contrary to what some may think, the world won’t end at midnight Dec. 31 when computer systems everywhere transition to 2000.

But uncertainty abounds as government agencies and organizations like AFSCME attempt to assess and fix computer systems afflicted by the so-called Y2K bug.

The Y2K, or year 2000, bug exists because many computer systems and their applications use a two-digit field to express a year; “99,” for example, is used to signify 1999. The worry is that come midnight New Year’s Eve when the world transitions to the new millennium, computers may read “00” as 1900 rather than 2000 and services may stop.

Computers have become an integral part of daily life. They control such vital services as air traffic monitoring and electricity supply in addition to operating home appliances and personal items such as microwave ovens and watches.

AFSCME members who work for government agencies that are automated may feel some side effects from the Y2K problem.

WHAT EXPERTS SAY. A consensus of Y2K experts say the largest challenges facing the government and its employees — particularly state and local offices — are emergency response systems and utilities.

Experts are warning government officials to get a handle on computer systems which control the flow of water, electricity and sewage, and those that monitor and mobilize 911 response teams.

AFSCME Council 66 member Len Tompkins, a 911 emergency dispatcher with the Bethlehem (N.Y.) Police Department, says the town’s administrators have called on suppliers of computer-aided dispatching systems to help with repairs. Administrators also are working with telephone companies to ensure that phone service isn’t disrupted.

If the computers that operate the town’s emergency dispatch system fail, Tompkins points out that the 911 dispatch force will simply rely on pre-existing contingency plans. “The way we run here, everything can be done without a computer,” he explains. “We have a back-up phone system that bypasses all the computers. As long as the phones work, I wouldn’t see any problem mobilizing police cars, fire trucks and [emergency medical service] vehicles.”

Bill Duell, AFSCME Local 1961, is an operator for the Albany, N.Y., water filtration plant. He says the Y2K bug “would have no effect whatsoever” on the filtration plant. “There would be no problem with the water supply Jan. 1.”

THEY’VE GOT THE POWER. Duell explains that the water filtration plant gets its electricity from nearby Niagara Mohawk power plant. If Niagara’s main system goes down, back-up generators will kick in. If that fails, he says the water filtration plant has its own back-up generator.

“We’re always looking for these problems even without the Y2K computer concerns,” Duell adds. Even if all power fails, “we could run [the filtration plant] manually,” mainly because parts of the plant have been computerized for only four or five years and it’s not fully automated.

Meanwhile, Duell says city engineers are working to make the plant’s computer systems Y2K compliant and are running tests. “I believe they did that once and nothing [adverse] happened,” he says.

Steve Kolodney, Washington state’s chief information officer, says the only certainty surrounding Y2K is that it’s difficult to predict what, if anything, will happen. “No one knows,” he says.

“It’s a very serious problem and people should pay attention to it,” explains Jack Gribben, spokesman for the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion. “[But], is the world going to come to an end? I don’t think so.”

THE AFSCME FIX. Within the last three years AFSCME has been tracking and repairing computers at its Washington headquarters and working with councils, locals and area and regional offices to ensure all computer systems are Y2K compliant and services aren’t disrupted.

The International has replaced its entire central computer network and it now meets Y2K standards. Managers expect that systems that store and process information on budgets, membership, organizing, political action and a host of other member services won’t be disrupted come 2000.

Additionally, AFSCME has taken a pro-active approach and has sent out general information to each council and local so that they can gauge the readiness of their systems.

A number of councils have started repairing computers that provide member services like processing checks, tracking dues and monitoring grievances, arbitrations, local contracts and term limits of local officers. Others still face major fixes and enormous costs to correct the problem before the year ends.

Brian Fuiten, a data processing specialist at AFSCME Council 31’s office in Springfield, Ill., says the council anticipates having all systems and programs fixed by June, which he says will allow sufficient time to troubleshoot and be prepared for 2000.

At AFSCME Council 13 in Harrisburg, Pa., Guy Partin, manager of information systems, says “everything about our organization is Y2K compliant.” He expects to start testing systems in April.

The council’s business office has fixed all programs that process checks and track dues. Partin says the grievance department has a “totally redesigned, state-of-the-art” system that was completed in November, the legislative department brought in a new database, and the education department’s system has been revamped.

The one fix left is Council 13’s accounting program, and “the programmer is rewriting the program as we speak,” adds Partin, who expects it to be completed soon so that testing can begin in May.

AFSCME Council 28 in Olympia, Wash., has developed a solution similar to headquarters’ to exterminate the Y2K bug from its computers. Douglas Wright, the council’s information and network systems specialist, says the entire central computer network has been replaced.

Y2K AND GOVERNMENT. Another major challenge the government faces is data exchange between federal and state agencies. There are federal-state programs such as Medicaid and unemployment compensation that pay billions of dollars in benefits to citizens.

Gribben says the federal government is working closely with the states, providing them with technical assistance and funding so that beneficiaries continue to receive payments in a timely manner.

Some states, however, are feeling the sting of the Y2K bug when it comes to paying unemployment benefits, which are paid out for a year in some instances. For example, if a claimant files for benefits that started Jan. 4, 1999, computer systems will have to calculate payments for those benefits through 2000.

To get around the glitch, Gribben says some states are coding different dates to “trick” the computers, while others have temporarily solved the problem by ending benefit years on Dec. 31, 1999.

Kolodney says most states have been working “with great diligence” on Y2K solutions for nearly four years. “By and large,” he adds, “all the states are going to be in pretty good shape.”

Beneficiaries can take solace in the fact that Social Security computer systems have been given the Y2K seal of approval, and will be operational Jan. 1, 2000.

EXPENSIVE FIX. Y2K repairs for the government come with an expensive sticker price. In January, the General Accounting Office released an estimate of $7.2 billion to fix federal government systems. That doesn’t include federal funding for states that support federal programs.

Counties are spending millions of dollars to come up with fixes for their systems. The National Association of Counties (NACO) estimates that one-third of counties have completed inventories of computers and have assessed which ones need repair, while an additional two-fifths of the counties report they are halfway through the task.

Winifred Lyday, director of NACO’s Department of Information and Technology, says, “NACO is urging counties to focus on those systems that may affect life, health and safety.”

Responding to reports accusing half the nation’s counties of having no Y2K strategy, Lyday says that even counties lacking formalized plans may be working to become Y2K compliant. Besides, Lyday adds, “we have counties out there that don’t even have computers. ... Some counties only have one stoplight.”

LITTLE BUGS. Most experts agree that all the bugs may not be worked out by Jan. 1, 2000; however, Kolodney says he would be surprised if any major calamities occurred.

“Governments handle disasters and emergencies all the time; each community has a disaster preparedness plan,” Lyday adds. The key to defeating Y2K effects on emergency services, she says, is for communities to remain vigilant in understanding how to “marshal” their resources.

To minimize Y2K disruptions, Kolodney says, “We need to respond as a community like we have in other emergencies.”

To quell the concerns of citizens across the nation, Gribben says the Federal Trade Commission has established a toll-free number that offers general information updating the government’s status on the Y2K issue. The number is 1-888-USA-4-Y2K (872-4925). Specialists take questions Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

By Jimmie Turner

Related Story:

• Consumer Alert