U of C A-okay for Y2K

By Angela Nicol

With a Y2K-fearing world hiding in bomb shelters, University of Calgary students hope to head back to a fully functional campus in January.

Students wondering about the university’s potential Y2K problems need not worry, however, according to the University of Calgary’s Year 2000 Project Team. The team has been working since Aug. 1998 to ensure a smooth return to classes.

“All priority systems have been checked and tested–it’s all ready to go,” said Team Leader Vince Van Hyfte. “It’s live, it’s working. We don’t expect any problems.”

Even so, students are a little uneasy about the safety of their marks and timetables, which are stored in the university’s computer network.

“There’s always that element of uncertainty, but for the most part we have faith in the university’s ability to keep things under control,” said third year General Studies student Brandi Clarke.
Van Hyfte is excited for the coming of the new millennium, and is sure all computer systems will be up and running.

“The Infonet is fully protected and backed up, as well as student e-mail,” he said. “Absolutely no marks will be lost. The university’s computer network is entirely Y2K compliant.”

He added that the bank interfaces will be fine, and extra generators have been installed to ensure all buildings on campus will be lit and heated.

“The last year has been crucial to our project,” said Van Hyfte. “We don’t expect any problems and there’s really no cause for concern.”

Technicians will be on hand to handle any unexpected problems. Unlike some other Canadian universities, the U of C has not allotted any recovery time before students return to school for the winter session. Block week classes begin on Jan. 3, with regular winter session lectures beginning Jan. 10, 2000.