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18 - The Canndhqn rlhamnr,- CA..411à ICIC0 Town may stage Y2K drill By IRENE GENTLE The Champion Just consider it one motherboard of a power outage. Computer glitches caused by the millennium bug - or Y2K - should be treated like every 9ther techno- logical hiccup, said the Town of Miîton's Y2K project coordinator, Henry Psenicka. "Don't get too sidetracked by tbis being extreme," hie advised Milton's admrinistration and planning comn- mittee recently. Mr. Psenicka was before tbe committee to give a status update on the Town's battle for supremacy with tihe millennium bug. Thse Y2K pmoblemn was create(l in tise 1960s when computer programinera used only two digits to signify thse year - for example, 66 instead of 1966. When 2000 rolis around, computera may interpoet tise 00 to mean 1900. "Isat means matenial tisat is sorted by date systems will, be incorrect," explained Mr. Psenicka. "It's impossible to reaily isolate ourselves from this." In order to prepare, the Town bas been sorting througb its own systema and communicating with sup- pliera and other businesses in hopes of making a peaceful transition into the next millennium. "The goal we're setting is tbat our organization be Y2K ready," said Mr. Psenicka. "We're going to be looking at whiat is critical to continue our normal busi- ness practices." When it comes to hardware, software and computer applications, the Town is in pretty good shape, he reported. To test readiness, the Town may stage a mock 2000 criais in tise summer. Tisat will give them a feel for the consequences if the worst comes to pass, said Mr. Psenicka. Even withou't staged dîsasters, organizations may get a small taste of computer mayisem in September of tiais year. Date-coded computera may stage a brief mutiny on September 9, wisen the date will read 9999. That's because in computer language, tisat number is often used to mark tise end of a file. "If iou're processing and come acroas tisat date, lise software may interpret tisat as the end and close the program, said Mr. Psenicka. Overaîl, tinancial institutes appear to be tise beat prepared for the millennium bug, while water, sewage, communications and utility companies are coming along, ise said. Still, only time wiil tell if enough work bas been done to avert potential sisutdowns. Study pushing for new action e from BANKS on page 12 and food bank dependency. Tbese include: *Increase employment opportunities and develop strategies to provide more jobs tisat psy adequate wages. * Increase minimum wage to reflect tise basic cost of living. - Study current labour market trends and evaluate tise effectiveness of current akilis training and educa- tion provisions. - Ensure tisat relevant akilis training and education programs are available to those who need them. - Make available life akilîs courses, including bouse- isoid budgeting, financiai management nutrition, basic food safety and food preparation, as part of tise requirement for a sig sachool diploma. * Increase social assistance so tisat it is adequate to cover montsiy expenses. - Set tise siselter aliowance of social assistance in line wits tise average regional market rentai values. Siselter and utility costa should be covered by allowance so that people do not have to use tise money allocated for food and otiser couts to pay for housing. ý VALU Bt-oôl Kônq