you might want to consider the following bit from the Salt Lake City Tribune:

---------------------------------------- The amount of money Utah's public colleges can expect to protect their computer systems against the millennium bug continues to tumble, and that might mean trouble for students returning from the holiday break a year from now. College presidents initially requested $45 million to upgrade and protect the computer systems and computer-dependent facilities at the state's nine public colleges and universities. Too high, replied the state Board of Regents. The presidents countered with a $20 million, bare-bones plan. The regents then asked a state computer expert to assess the problem. He came back with a $12 million figure. Then Friday, Gov. Mike Leavitt unveiled a higher education budget proposal that requests $5 million to fix a problem that may cause entire campus computer systems to crash. ..... -----------------------------------------

complete article at:

http://www.sltrib.com/12171998/utah/67884.htm

oh well, maybe the folks in Utah actually *like* eating emergency food storage stuff?

*sigh* Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), December 17, 1998

Answers

For all of you folks who think that "programmers have created the Y2K problem", this story is a prime example of what really created it: people in positions of authority who think that they can allocate insufficient funding to a project without any adverse impact. Senior management in the majority of organizations has been well informed of the costs and risks of the Y2K problem for many years and has consistently under-funded the work. Now the chickens are coming home to roost.

Think about it: this "senior executive" actually believes that he can allocate ca. 10% of the requested amount and still get what is needed. You know what happens when you need a $1 and you only have a dime? You get bupkis, that's what. And the writer says that this "might might mean trouble for students returning from the holiday break a year from now." Laugh? I thought I'd cry.

Senator Bennett needs to have a little talk with Governor Leavitt...

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), December 17, 1998.

Mac .. well said.

From this retired Director of Computer Services for a college, I can hereby attest to the fact that we in the Dept of Information Technology were constantly expected to weave gold from straw.

I ended up posting a sign in my office that eventually became our department motto:

"Nothing is impossible for he who does not have to do it for himself."

Same goes for projects where the funding is controlled by those who have absolutely no knowledge of or contact with the situation. The almighty bottom line rules.

Dan

-- Dan (DanTCC@Yahoo.com), December 17, 1998.