12 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, April 17, 1996
NATION/WORLD
lleum may x
govement's computers
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - Call it the mil-
lennium mess.
Unless they receive the appropriate
technical fix, many ofthe government's
computer systems may mix up the year
2000 with the year 1900 and go back-
ward in time instead of forward when
the new century begins. The problem
results from a cost-saving decision made
by software designers years ago: Many
software codes use two-digit numbers
for dates, so that 96 stands for 1996.
That means when the date hits 00,
many software programs could go hay-
wire. Older computers especially - and
the government has more than its share-
will think the year is 1900, spew out bad
information, miscalculating ages, benefit
payments, inventory figures and other
records dependent on dates.
While switching from two to four
digits for dates poses no special techni-
cal challenge, it is time consuming.
Computer industry officials and some
members of Congress are concerned
that federal agencies are not moving
fast enough to avert widespread com-
puter malfunctions on Jan. 1, 2000.
The fixes also will cost money, perhaps
as much as $30 billion for federal agen-
cies, said Rep. Steve Horn (R-Calif.),
chairman of the House Government Re-
form subcommittee on government man-
agement, information and technology.
A computer breakdown at the dawn
of2000 "could result in the erasing of
database systems and the elimination
of money transfers, including those
which send checks to Social Security
benefit recipients. Not immune from
this is the Department of Defense,
since these systems have the potential
to adversely impact critical military
missions," Horn said when he an-
nounced the hearing.
An aide to Horn also noted that a
number of agency computers ex-
change information with computers
operated by other agencies. In those
cases, agencies will have to coordinate
their year 2000 work to ensure the sys-
tems will be able to talk to each other.
Because of the tight budget times,
Clinton administration officials doubt
additional money will be available to
agencies to address the problem, forc-
ing them to divert money from pro-
grams or stop previously planned com-
puter improvements.
"There is no
cost estimate The
yet," said one aEN
administration
official obwho S w fl
agreed to be in- potentiael
terviewed on
condition thathis adversey
name not be"
used. "Industry criticali
estimates are
pretty widely missions.
variable. One
thing to find out - RE
this summer is
what the cost
impact will be."
Some states already have grappled
with the issue. Nebraska, for example,
has 12,000 computer programs with 12
million lines of code. Last week, the
state legislature and governor agreed to
divert part of the state's cigarette tax to
provide $11.5 million to pay for the
conversion there.
Rod Armstrong, the state information
technology coordinator, said the state's
biggest worry is its revenue and account-
ing systems. In one program, for ex-
ample, "when it hits a double zero, it
interprets that as an error message and
shuts down the system," he said.
As with state governments, some fed-
eral agencies are moving faster on the
t
ri
conversion than others. Industry offi-
cials said the Social Security Adminis-
tration, the Internal Revenue Service
and the Defense Department are mov-
ing quickly to change their software
before the next century arrives.
Social Security Commissioner
Shirley Chater-said her agency started
work on the problem in 1989 and plans
to be ready to use four-digit dates by the
end of 1998. Social Security, she said,
relies on 20,000 software programs,
amounting to about 30 million lines of
code.
"One can't just
get a software pro-
Y e the gram that would
automate how we
F® do this in one fell
swoop. Each has to
impact be changed one at a
time, separately,"
Chater said. The
agency expects the
r effort will cost $30
million.
>. Steve Horn Because of its
(R-Calif.) year2000 expertise,
the administration
asked Social Security to head up an inter-
agency committee to tackle the problem.
The committee plans to hold aconference
May 2 to discuss private sector and gov-
ernment solutions.
Kathleen Adams, the Social Security
official who heads the interagency ef-
fort, said the government faces a spe-
cial challenge because some agencies
are missing the original version of a
program or have lost longtime com-
puter specialists through retirements and
resignations. Programs that search
through the code "look for year, month
or date," Adams said, "but ifsomething
is named rather oddly and that pro-
grammer took the buyout, you're going
to have difficulty finding it."
AP F
Korean President Kim Young-sam shows President Clinton a field of mustard seed as they walk to a meeting at the Shilla
Hotel on the Island of Cheju just off the coast of Korea yesterday.
Clinton, Hashimoto reafn
U.S.-aa m iry aiance
Clinton: U.S. troops
will remain in Asia
TOKYO (AP) - Seeking to calm
security jitters, President Clinton and
Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro
Hashimoto signed a joint declaration
today establishing new U.S.-Japan ties
for a "stable and prosperous" Asia.
In a swift follow-up to sponsoring a
peace initiative for the Korean Penin-
sula, the two leaders said the alliance is
the cornerstone "for maintaining a stable
and prosperous environment for the
Asia-Pacific region as we enterthe 21st
century." They pledged close coopera-
tion on defense matters, including joint
production of a jet fighter, the F-2.
Clintonpledgedto keep 100,000 Ameri-
can troops in the Asia-Pacific region to
preservepeace and stability. Japan strongly
welcomed Clinton's commitment.
The security accord was the highlight
of Clinton's three-day state visit to Ja-
pan. Meanwhile, the president and his
senior advisers were working from To-
kyo to stop the fighting between Israel
and Hezbollah-allied guerrillas. Secre-
tary of State Warren Christopher talked
by telephone with the foreign ministers
of Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Emperor Akihito and Empress
Michiko welcomed Clinton and first lady
Hillary Rodham Clinton at the elaborate
government guest house at Akasaka Pal-
ace in the heart of Tokyo. In an ornate,
gold-paneled reception room, the
Clintons and the imperial couple shook
hands and chatted briefly, then moved
out into the brilliant sunshine.
As a band played the U.S. and Japa-
nese national anthems, Mrs. Clinton
stood at her husband's side; the em-
press stood several steps to the side and
behind the emperor.
The White House said the U.S. rela-
tionship with Japan has been defined by
economic disputes for too long. "We
want to put more focus on this trip on
the security relationship," national se-
curity adviser Anthony Lake said.
Asia has been rattled by menacing
military moves by North Korea and China
in recent weeks, as well as by unrest in
Okinawaaboutthe large-scale U.S. mili-
tary presence. In a goodwill gesture, the
United States will give back 20 percent
of the land it uses on Okinawa, including
a key Marine Corps air station.
Still, about 4,500 demonstrators
shouted slogans and waved effigies in a
Tokyo park yesterday to protest the U.S.
military presence in Japan. A cardboard
effigy of Clinton was printed with the
words, "Give me more land, more people,
more money!"
While expressing satisfaction aboutth
Okinawa agreement, Clinton anc(
Hashimoto said U.S. troops were "essen-
tial for preserving peace and stability in
the Asia-Pacific region." The United
States will maintain about 100,000 per-
sonnel in the region, including about the
current level in Japan-roughly 47,000,
Clinton said.
Japan pledged "appropriate contribu-
tions" to help defray the cost ofthe troops
Lake said Tokyo will contribute $25 bi
lion over five years. Under a new defense
strategy approved last November, Japan
also pledged to "play appropriate roles in
the security environment after the Cold
War."
On a new peace initiative for the tense
Korean Peninsula, there was no immedi-
ate response from North Korea - and
administration officials said they didn't
expect one. Clinton and Kim proposed
unconditional peace talks among Norn
and South Korea, the United States ancf
China. The aim is to draw up a permanent
peace treaty to replace the military armi-
stice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War.
i
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Virginia strain of EbolaXvirus
resurfaces min Texas monkeys
I
1
DOLLAR BILL IS READY TO HELP!
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON - The strain of
Ebola virus that infected two monkeys
brought recently from the Philippines
to a Texas primate center is virtually
identical to the one that killed more
than a dozen animals but caused no
human disease in an outbreak outside
Washington seven years ago.
Named "Ebola-Reston" after the Vir-
ginia suburb where the first cases were
found, the virus behaves quite differ-
ently from the African strain of Ebola,
which readily infects people and has a
mortality rate between 50 percent and
80 percent. Eight people at the remote
animal quarantine unit in Texas have
had contact with the two infected ani-
mals.
"We cannot say with absolute cer-
tainty that it is harmless to people. We
need to watch things closely and move
quickly if there is any sign of illness (in
the exposed employees)," said Bob
Howard, a spokesperson for the Cen-
ters for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), the federal agency that was
invited Monday to help the Texas De-
partment of Health investigate the out-
break.
Ebola virus infection was confirmed
last weekend, when scientists at the
CDC isolated and characterized the vi-
rus in blood and tissue samples from
two monkeys. Preliminary tests show
that the virus's genetic sequence is
"much more than 90 percent" identical
with the Reston strain, said Stephen
Ostroff, an epide-
miologist at the
CDC's National
Center for Infec-
tious Diseases.
One animal
died March 30,
seven days after it
arrived in the
United States. A
second animal be-
came ill last week
and was killed and
autopsied.
The two ani-
We cannot say
with absolute
certainty that it is
harmless to
people."
- Bob Howard
CDC spokesperson
on a farm road and surrounded by a
chain-link fence.
Four animal handlers tested positive
for infection with Ebola, but did not
become ill, during the 1989 outbreak at
a primate center in Reston. Researchers
have also found evidence of symptom-
less infection with
the Ebola-Resto
strain among Fil
pinos working
with the animals,
which are caught
or bred for ship-
ment to laborato-
ries around the
world.
The two veteri-
narians, five ani-
mal handlers a
one laboratory
technician who
had contact with
RELIAI)C''t.
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" THREE BINDING TYPES
mas were part of a shipment of 100
macaque monkeys sent to HRP Inc.,
which supplies animals for scientific
research to laboratories around the
United States. The company's primate
breeding facility, the Texas Primate
Center, is about 50 miles west of Cor-
pus Christi. The center is eight miles
outside the town ofAlice (pop. 19,788),
I
the infected Texas monkeys are work-
ing and returning home at night, said
Ben Barnett, an epidemiologist with
the Texas Health Department. Their
temperatures are being taken every day,
and they've been instructed to report
any symptoms of illness immediately.
The monkeys were supplied by
firm named Ferlite, which is one
threelarge primate exporters in Manila.
Ferlite also supplied the animals in the
1989 Reston outbreak, which was
chronicled in the best-selling book "The
Hot Zone," and in a small outbreak that
occurred several months later at the
Texas Primate Center.
Fer;ite reportedly exports about 1,500
animals a year. It could not be learned
yesterday whether the animals prim*
rily are bred in captivity or are caught in
the wild. The latter are believed to be at
greater risk of introducing Ebola virus
into laboratory animal populations.
HRP's parent company, Hazleton
Research Products Inc. of Denver, Pa.,
k owned by C'ornine Inc. of Corninig.
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