BETWEEN THE LINES: YEAR 2000 GLITCH LEAVES COMPUTER USERS IN THE DARK

Why hasn't anyone discovered a cure to the millennium bug? What exactly has the scientific world been doing with its time?

The stories about the Year 2000 computer glitch are getting worse as the calendar deadline looms. After all, we are halfway through 1998 and that only leaves 18 more months until the New Millennium.

The Year 2000 glitch exists because most computers with programming dates only recognize the last two digits of the year. So when we reach 2000, these programs will only see "00." The solution sounds rather simple to me: create a program that reads all four digits in a year instead of only the last two.

There are some computers that are now Year 2000 compliant. Even the computer services department at my office has identified the few Y2K compliant machines in the newsroom.

For those machines that aren't compliant, programmers around the world, but particularly at Microsoft headquarters, are hard at work rewriting scripts and codes.

On Monday, several Wall Street companies tested a program to determine how serious the problem really is for stock market traders and other industry clients.

One company official compared the testing to a theater dress rehearsal. By performing the test now, the companies have enough time to rewrite or revise the programs, he said.

It's amazing to realize that even though millions of people around the world will be affected by this "millennium bug," no one has come up with a "cure" yet.

What exactly has the scientific world been doing with its time?

Although we live in a world where scientists can clone sheep, create wonder drugs and send astronauts to live for months at a time on a space station, no one seems to have a solution to the Y2K problem.

You would think that computer programmers, as intelligent as they are, would have considered the possibility of this problem years ago when they built the first machines.

Surely someone thought our society would exist well into the Year 2000. Or maybe not, because if they had, then we wouldn't be facing this problem now.

Personally, I think that it's a conspiracy among computer programmers. After all, they know we rely on them to find the solution -- even if it means we have to buy all new software and hardware. And we are at the mercy of the computer industry because most of us don't even have the skills necessary to set the VCR clock.

According to some predictions, everything from farming irrigation systems to traffic lights could be in turmoil when Jan. 1, 2000, arrives.

Some forecasters even go so far as to put a price tag on fixing the bug. It could cost nearly $1.1 trillion, they say.

Who pays for that bill? My guess is the unsuspecting consumer, so expect computer prices to increase sometime between now and the Year 2000.

~Laura Johnston is a copy editor for the Southeast Missourian.