NEWS

U.S. Senator Jon Kyl to Hold Public Y2K Forum in Phoenix

Governor Hull, Senate Y2K Committee Chairman Bennett and Private Industry Representatives will Answer Questions on Y2K Concerns (representatives from the utilities, telecommunication, health care, food, financial services, and computer industries, and the media will be on hand to discuss how each of their sectors has prepared for the Y2K problem.)

Campus of ASU West at La Sala A and B
4701 West Thunderbird Road
Friday, April 9th 10:00AM to 12:00PM

This is good and I appreciate anything that helps get our community ready.....but can everything be covered in just 2 hours?

-- ronbanks (phxbanks@webtv.net), April 01, 1999

Answers

Thanks for the note, Ron. I have one complaint about the conference...why did they pick April 9, a date when all power companies will be busy performing Y2K drills?

Dan.

-- Dan (dgman19938@aol.com), April 01, 1999.

Dan,

Maybe it's because the April 9 power company drill will be simply an exercise in communications, requiring very little out-of-the-ordinary resources, with a foregone outcome of success, rather than some rigorous Y2k test.

-- No Spam Please (No_Spam_Please@anon_ymous.com), April 01, 1999.

ronbanks:

Here's a friendly tip: Just try to keep 'em honest.

A similar thing happened in my city of 175,000 a short time ago. 23 smiley-faced talking heads from government, banks, utilities et cetera showed up to insure about 700 concerned citizens that everything's just peachy. The problem here was rather than allowing audience members to query pannelists directly, they instead required that all questions be submitted on index cards obviously for screening (read censoring) purposes. When not a single question from any GI in the house got answered, I knew the fix was in.

Your solution? Insist on open microphones in the audience for direct, but still orderly, community participation.

Good Luck. And please tell us what happens.

-- Johnny B. (nope@noway.com), April 02, 1999.

No spam, I wasn't very clear. Since I'm going to be busy running a drill, I wouldn't be able to make the meeting, even if I lived near its location.

dan.

-- Dan (dgman19938@aol.com), April 04, 1999.

Ron~ I would like to attend the meeting but most likely will not. I have to work. But if you go, please let us know what they all had to say. In the end though, it'll probably be just like the post said above, that they'll tell everyone that everything will be just fine. Personally, I like to hear the truth, even if it hurts. But I guess they say that because they don't want people to panic and also because they really don't know how it's going to turn out.

-- Julie - AZ (Wonder@Woman.wow), April 04, 1999.

Dan,

Okay. I have questions, but I'll wait.

-- No Spam Please (No_Spam_Please@anon_ymous.com), April 04, 1999.

Guess what...everything could not be covered in 2 hours. I will try to high point what was said from my scribbled notes.

Senator Kyl--thinks most who say they are x % prepared are overstating. Todays conference-hearing-briefing-overview-macroview would not be discussing % of preparation.Many speakers did use % figures

Senator Bennett--Fixes taking longer than original estimates...fixes are often in a series and sequence...some are missing their fix dates...IRS was an example. Embedded chips are expected to have a 2 to 3% failure rate but that does not necessarily mean something bad is going to happen...that would be a small fraction of the 2%..maybe .02%.....No satellite problems expected...National power grid should have less than 10% problems and not crippling. Somewhere there will probably be some blackouts and brownouts. Do not draw all of your $ out of the bank. Take charge of your own Y2k future. Check on everything and prepare accordingly. Check your pharmacy for assurance they will have your meds. If you are not happy with your bank or pharmacy switch to another. Good idea to store some extra food...enough for a week or two. Do not depend on national assistance on y2k. Ok to fly in US but think about overseas travel. Be concerned about health care.....they are behind....check your hospital..make your own contingency plans! It could be bad for a few days or MORE. MediCare must process one billion claims next year...they have 78 contractors processing claims...they hope to be y2k ready by 12/1.....they need contingency plans in place. Senator Bennett said he visited on hospital that had a number of machines that could not be repaired (example 2 two year old dialysis machines that would be scrapped & replaced....there were no compliant machines when they were purchased...and by scrapped they meant distroyed...the Senator said please don't sell at a discount to my hospital in Utah.

A dozen people representing govt and business/utilities for the state of Arizona each spoke for one to five minutes. Some of their remarks:

The state of Arizona is tracking all mission critical systems....and doing contingency planning. The various municipalities in the state are 60% compliant and are into risk management....the meaning of 100% compliant changes daily. Concern about compatibility problems between computers. Geek turnover problems..they are finding problems in 911 systems.

Arizona Public Service (Electric power) is JIT as they cannot store power....will be complete by mid-year...30 full time and 150 part time y2k people. Palo Verde Nuclear plant is on analog system (this is good). The drill today was communications and will do simulation later. Our winter needs in Arizona are one half our summer needs. Will reduce amount of power needed just before and thru turnover. Will have teams around world watching other power company plants. We will have extra generators on line and on stand by. Will have standby people at all plants and sub stations.

Salt River Project (electric) says they have found no "show stoppers" as yet in their testing. Citizens Utilities ..goal is no service disruptions. US West says on 1/1/2000 the sun will shine and the phones will ring....now billing is another matter. FDIC says your $$ is safe and you will have access. INTEL says testing takes the most time and expense....the window to fix y2k was 18 to 36 months. Food rep said 90% ready and problems UNLIKELY. Health rep said few problems with equipment...have checked 90%. Pharmacy rep worried about hording. Senator Kyl made big point to not horde. Senator Bennett used rivets in Golden Gate bridge as example of finding bad embedded chips. We must not fix on falure. Most of the world will be behind on y2k. Y2k was like peeling an onion..many layers.

The room was set up for questions but the time was up and only 3 were asked, the last being ....will y2k slow down the economy and cause a recession or depression. Kyl passed to Bennett who said most economists he had contacted felt we would see a recession in 2000. Bennett said he could see a good 3rd and 4th quarter (stockpiling of goods) and an inventory recession first half of 2000. He said shortages cause inflation....probable increase in foreign investment in US...flight to quality..He finds the subject frustrating and told the story of Pres Truman saying he wanted only one-handed economists because he was tired of hearing "but on the other hand".

Over all a good 2 hours...not much media attention....about 400 people in attendance. After the close the speakers moved to small tables around the room to answer individual questions. I had wanted to see and hear Senator Bennett in person and his credibility is ok with me. On my way out of the building I visited with 2 ladies with Southwest Gas....they said their company was doing everything possible to be ready....they did not want to visit thousands of homes to relight the pilot lights. They would drop any of their suppliers not y2k compliant. On my way home I stopped at Sam's Club and purchased 3 Corona Grain Mills @ $17.95 each......rb

-- ronbanks (phxbanks@webtv.net), April 09, 1999.

phx y2k

It was a good two hours but a pi**poor turnout on the part of my fellow phoenicians who number 2.3 million here in the valley of the sun.

I put up a sign at my swap meet table (I'm a vendor) stating y2k spoken here. One couple out of 3 to 400 who read it stopped to rap on the subject (they have stocked for 3 months needs). A few told me "no big deal". No one called me a name...it helps to be 6 ft 2 in and 270 lbs.

-- John Smith (phxbanks@webtv.net), April 16, 1999.