Monday, February 22, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 5
City encourages residents to prepare for year 2000
Public forum series emphasizes potential compatibility problems.
By Heather Woodward Kansan staff writer
In 1997, the city began investigating the year 2000 computer problem and the effect it might have on Lawrence residents.
Although utility companies and the city have been preparing, city officials are encouraging residents to anticipate some inconveniences.
Rod Bremby, assistant city manager, said that based on the city's assessment of the year 2000 computer problem, people should prepare as they would for a seven- to 10-day snowstorm.
"It is not anticipated that there will be any outages," Bremby said. "But in the event that there are, people should have flashlights and battery-powered radios. We just want to encourage people to take individual responsibility within their families and their neighborhoods to begin the process of evaluating items as Y2K compatible or not."
Part of the city's plan includes having a series of public forums, the second of which was last Monday.
Gayle Martin, communication coordinator for the city, said about 75 people went to the forum, which stressed taking personal responsibility to be prepared.
"We didn't find any hysteria," Martin said. "The information presented to them was practical, and we heard educated questions."
The problem is that many computer programs were designed to interpret years as a two-digit number, which will make the year 2000 show up as 1900.
"I don't think it's a serious problem, but it causes public concern like people all running to the bank and taking their money out," said Carl Arnold, Omaha, Neb., senior.
"It's people's interpretation of Y2K that makes it a problem."
The city and the utility companies are working together to troubleshoot. Utility companies already are running tests to ensure that residents will not experience power outages.
Bremby said that one concern was that utilities relied on electricity, but that the city had learned the lack of electrical power may not be a big threat.
"There was an anticipation that we would need to start conserving electricity," Bremby said. "But winter time is one of the lowest times of the year in terms of electrical load. We found that there is a 30-day storage of auxiliary power for the gas company."
In a pamphlet distributed by Util-
iCorp United, the parent company of Kansas Public Service and Kansas Power and Light, the company estimated that it would be year 2000 compliant by June 30.
Bremby said Lawrence Memorial Hospital also was able to run on auxiliary power for up to 48 hours.
There will be another public forum in April dealing with transportation issues, including cars with an embedded computer chip that causes the year 2000 computer glitch, gasoline companies' strategies and contingency plans for traffic lights.
"We're not taking an alarmist approach," Martin said. "There are some basic things you can do that don't cost a lot of money, but may take some time. People need to be talking about continger cy plans."
Martin said people could learn more about what the city is doing by looking at the Lawrence's year 2000 Web site at http://www.ci.lawrence.ks.us/y2k/index.html
--- Copyedited by Steph Brewer
Preparations for the possible Year 2000 crash
- Avoid an identity crisis. Secure copies of official documents and store them in a safe place on your property.
Store at least one gallon of water per person per day for at least 10 days.
Plan ahead. Store food, personal hygiene products, paper and plastic supplies you know will need.
- Keep a non-electric can opener, flashlight, candles, first aid kit and portable battery operated AM/FM radio in a convenient location.
- Have warm, comfortable and clean clothes available.
- Take an inventory of you financial assets. Determine the amount of working cash you need to maintain your household for two weeks.
Request a hard copy of all you financial assets.
- Review all your millennium bug resources by reading, listening, watching and asking questions.
- Use the internet.
- ```html
* http://www.y2k.gov/java/x2kinformation.html
* http://gartner11.gartnerweb.com/public/static/home/00073955.html
- Call the free year 2000 Information line at 1-888-USA-4-Y2K
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