You’re reading a story from Sidelines 100, a project showcasing a century of student storytelling at Middle Tennessee State University. Sidelines 100 plans to highlight 100 stories from the newspaper archives this fall and spring.

This story originally ran in the Dec 9, 1999, edition of Sidelines. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of all things Sidelines 100.

Students and faculty have nothing to worry about regarding the threat of Y2K, MTSU officials said.

When the clock strikes twelve on Jan. 1 of next year, “MTSU’s well-trained staff will be ready and willing to help anyone with any computer problems or questions,” said John Schmidt, operations manager and Y2K team leader for the Office of Information Technology.

“We’ve covered all of our bases and prepared for several years,” Schmidt said about the implementation of a program designed to bring MTSU’s Intel-based microcomputers into compliance with the year 2000 criteria. “We are as close to 100 percent ready as any organization can be.”

Schmidt said that in the fall of 1998, he and the«Y2K teams at MTSU started the process of actively searching for non-compliant computers. identifying the remedy and labeling the computers that needed to be fixed.

According to the Y2K Microcomputer Compliance Report, the software used will also “successfully negotiate the leap year on Feb. 29, 2000.”

This process was completed in February of this year.

“The microcomputers were checked out, and we have follow?d all the specifications,” said Schmidi. “They’re as ready as they can be.”

Approximately 2,060 Intel-based microcomputers are compliant without any additional modification to the computers’ clocks.

However, there are some computers that will be left behind once the new year rings in. According to the Y2K report, approximately 740 computers still on inventory were not tested by the Office of Information Technology.

“The majority of these untested computers are older systems that have been relegated to storage by the department for various reasons such as malfunctions, cannibalization of parts and replaced by better models.”

Approximately 176 computers’ clocks could not be made compliant by the Y2K patch software.

“The software that the state of Tennessee provided would not fix the microcomputers,” said Schmidt.

“The computers locked up when the software was installed and we were left with no other solution but to have them replaced.”

According to Schmidt, it takes five minutes to load drivers and to make sure the system is configured.

Various patches were placed on the computers to make them compliant. Schmidt emphasized that the impact of computers not compliant was minimized by the Y2K team.

“For the next decade, MTSU’s computer inventory is ready,” he said.

However, Schmidt anticipates minor problems on Monday, Jan. 3, as more people go to work.

“I’m planning on having a very, very smooth New Year’s,” said Schmidt. “MTSU on average is very well-prepared.”