By Alvin Powell

Special to the Gazette

It's Jan. 3, 2000, the first day back to work after the New YearÕs holiday.

You head to your office, but the elevator doesn't work. Its computer shut it down because the computer thinks it's the year 1900. As far as it can tell, the elevator has never had any maintenance.

So you take the stairs.

Once in the office, you get a memo from the building manager. She says to bring a sweater tomorrow because the heating system, which is programmed to lower the heat on weekends, also thinks it's Jan. 3, 1900. And Jan. 4, 1900, was a Saturday.

You look at the top of the memo. It's dated Jan. 3, 1900.

The year 2000 is coming. And it's bringing with it the year 2000 computer bug, a glitch in computer programs at Harvard University and around the world caused by programmers noting the year with just two digits in an effort to save space.

If untreated, on Jan. 1, 2000, the bug will cause some computers to believe it is Jan. 1, 1900. At Harvard, that could affect everything from employees' paychecks to professorial appointments to critical building fire and security systems.

"Decisions programmed to be made in software could get made wrong because they'd be based on the wrong numbers," said Chayim Herzig-Marx, Harvard's director of information resources and services.

But could is the operative word, Harvard officials said.

With more than two years before that critical New Year's Eve, there's plenty of time to take care of the problem.

"There's low risk that the University's operations would come to a screeching halt,'' said Gene Madden, managing auditor for information systems in Harvard's Office of Internal Audits. "The major systems have either been made [year 2000]-compliant or plans are in place to fix them."

What's the Problem?

A University committee is monitoring efforts to make sure its computers won't run out of steam along with the 1900s. The committee includes the assistant provost for information technology, the Vice President for Finance, a representative of the Vice President for Administration, and representatives from Internal Audit and Information Resources and Services. Back in March, Madden surveyed Harvard's major computer systems, trying to gauge both their importance to the University and what needs to be done to make them recognize the date 2000.

Of the more than 100 critical systems, handling everything from finance to student registration, nearly half already recognize the year 2000, Madden said. Of the remaining systems, many will be replaced and others will have needed changes made by outside vendors. That leaves about 20 major systems to be made year 2000-compliant within the next two years.

"That's a very manageable problem," Madden said.

But the problem extends beyond the University's major computer systems. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller systems that were not included in Madden's survey.

If one of those failed, it might not harm the University but it could inconvenience an office or a whole department. It could even create a small-scale calamity if a computer malfunctioned while monitoring an experiment or failed to automatically back up important files that were later lost.

To avoid a campus-wide epidemic of small system crashes and glitches, Madden is planning an education campaign, including a seminar for building managers.

Madden said that Òmost of our activity to date has focused on administrative computing. We are just beginning to approach the Faculties on the appropriate approach to assisting them with Year 2000 issues relative to equipment and software utilized in their research and academic programs.Ó

Embedded Chips, Embedded Problems

But the problem extends beyond computer systems themselves.

As our society has become increasingly computerized, computer chips have found their way into everything from videocassette recorders to fire alarm systems. So, in addition to actual computer systems, University officials also have to check a wide variety of equipment that have these so-called "embedded chips."

"The embedded chip problem has a lot more unknowns," said Paul Malagrifa, manager of computer-based systems for University Operations Services. "In the last 20 years, everything with any kind of a control system on it has an embedded chip."

A fire alarm system that malfunctioned because of a computer chip problem could still be detected, Malagrifa said. It would show up on system monitors and the University would post a fire watch, if necessary, while work was performed to correct the problem. That might not be a big deal in a single building, but if that happened in 300 buildings on campus, he said, it could be a problem.

Malagrifa is also starting to make people aware that there may be a problem. Equipment that has any kind of a date or time function probably should be tested to make sure there will be no problem when the date rolls over to 2000 Ñ the problem also extends to the internal clock on a desktop computer.

Equipment should also be checked to see if it has a manual override. Testing may be difficult for some pieces of equipment. For those, the only solution is to call the manufacturer to see if there's any potential for trouble.

"Certainly there needs to be a focus on it, but I think we have adequate time," Malagrifa said. "The key to this is awareness."

Take it Back, Do it Again

Another key is vigilance.

While Harvard officials are handling existing software and equipment, they also have to make sure they don't purchase new problems. Some software vendors are still peddling programs that aren't year 2000-compliant, officials said. At least one vendor was told to revise software before the University would buy it.

Even though there's plenty of time until 2000, programmers are already at work fixing the problem. Some are combing through lines of code to make sure programs recognize the date 2000. Others, particularly those looking at older, custom-written software, still aren't sure where to look.

"In the case of programs written a long time ago, if the people who wrote them aren't here, then nobody knows [the program]. In those cases the needle in a haystack analogy is accurate,'' Madden said.

Once changes are made so the software recognizes the date, the systems have to be tested to make sure the changes don't affect other functions.

But with enough of a jump, not only will the accounting and registration systems work come 2000, so will the ventilation systems, fire alarms, and elevators.

Still, some strange things may happen come the year 2000, said Herzig-Marx. And just to be sure, he said with a smile, he's taking the stairs.