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 t44 4 V; The change from college to work doesn't have to be an uncomfortable one Just like changing your beat-up college gear for a stylish and comfortable pair of dress shoes, a career with Danka Business Systems can be lust what you need to get you off to the right start in the right career. 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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. *. F EAST SERVICE " QUALIlTY XEROX COPIES * CANON COLOR COPIES * PREMIUM PAPER STOCK " 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. ---MAP SPECIA LS|- - " 4 OR L 24TH AD 257H *lURNAROUND TIME* o15%OFFALLMAPP ECIS . ..t " __, a _ _" n c _ _._ _. __ _:_ .._.. _ _:_ i .,. I I L _l. , %...A.. L.. .V A U A ... flflL , M-W