The Y2K Guardians: Who Will Be Here?

Geoffrey B. Mainland '00 of Newark, Ohio, is going home for the holidays--well, part of them, at least.

After spending a few days with his family, Mainland will head back to campus to brave the millennial transition while hanging out with friends in Boston and spending a peaceful couple of days working on his Computer Science 91r project.

"I'm not worried at all about Y2K," he says. "I think it's going to be

pretty quiet."

While University officials say they share Mainland's optimism, they have

had to prepare for the worst. Harvard's Year 2000 Project, under coordinators Liz Eagan and Scott Bradner, has been going full-throttle for two years to ensure that when the millennium rolls around, University systems will remain intact.

If Cambridge experiences widespread interruptions of services like electricity and water, the University has a number of contingency plans ready to keep computer systems on campus functioning.

Despite the slim chance of such an emergency situation, Dean of the

College Harry R. Lewis '68 says students who have can stay off-campus over winter break are encouraged to do so.

"It will be easier to deal with any [problems] that may occur if only a

few people are affected," he explains.

All first-year dorms will be closed for the holiday, but usually a few hundred undergraduates remain in the Houses over break, Lewis estimates.

Lewis provides a pertinent anecdote from four years ago, when the first members of the Class of 2000 arrived on campus.

"The keycard entry system refused to let them into their dormitories on the basis that they had graduated 96 years earlier. This problem was fixed within hours, so most people never even heard of it," Lewis explains.

"I haven't heard of any other problems," he adds. "A lot of non-compliant systems have been replaced before such problems could arise."

The Human Touch

Indeed, administrators across the University say they don't expect

any major problems. Still, most campus buildings will be staffed on Dec. 31 so that any computer glitches that crop up can be dealt with by a human hand.

Michael N. Lichten, director of physical resources within the

Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), says his office has spent the last 18 months making sure the computer system that runs keycard access across the campus will function properly.

And while Lichten says all hardware and software is now Y2K compliant, a crew of about eight physical resources specialists, including steamfitters, electricians and plumbers, will still be on-site to deal with any potential problems.

"I am expecting that it will all work," he says, "but it's dependent on

power supplied to Harvard [from outside]."

Should Cambridge lose power, for example, all locks will revert to the locked position. The system will then run for a time on batteries, but it can't function on back-up power indefinitely.

The direct digital control system, which is responsible for heating dormitories and buildings, has also been designated Y2K compliant, but, like many other systems, it also relies on a power source outside the University.

Lichten says provisions are being made for those who will remain on-campus during the holidays in the case of an extreme emergency situation in which systems--and consequently buildings--shut down for days on end.

"Arrangements have been made for catastrophic circumstances," Lichten says. "We'd rather overestimate than be unprepared."

At the medical and dental schools, according to Jane Garfield, local coordinator for Harvard Medical School operations, each department will have one or more representatives working on New Year's Eve to monitor labs, systems and other equipment.

Also, Garfield says, representatives from facilities maintenance, engineering and utilities, environmental health and safety, security, Internet technology, and the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD), in conjunction with outside vendors, will be on site from 6 p.m. on Dec. 31 through Monday, Jan. 3.

"At midnight [on New Year's Eve], representatives will walk the buildings

in teams to identify any issues or malfunctions which may have occurred," she adds.

Leaving a Light On

And in addition to technicians and problem-solvers, personnel will

also be on hand to help students and others on campus at service providers

including University Health Services (UHS) and HUPD.

Marc N. Pollack, local coordinator for UHS, says in recent years the

number of cases seen in urgent care over New Years' weekend has been low,

and UHS officials are expecting light usage of its facilities over break.

Nonetheless, UHS will remain open in after-hours mode on Sat., Dec. 31 and Sun., Jan. 1, barring any unusual circumstances.

"We've put in a huge effort over the last six months [to get computer systems up to speed], bringing the last pieces of it up to code in November," he says. "And in the unlikely event that the Holyoke Center has to close due to a problem with the gas, for example, UHS will have to close down, but arrangements have been made with area hospitals to take diverted emergency cases."

HUPD spokesperson Peggy A. McNamara says University police are similarly prepared to treat this much-anticipated weekend as they would any other.

"Service is not going to be diminished in any way. The University police will be staffed as normal," she says.

On an average day, she adds, the staff consists of two supervisors and

anywhere from six to 15 patrol officers, depending on the shift.

But in addition to keeping up normal staff numbers on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, HUPD has taken active measures to ready itself for the next millennium.

Local coordinators for the department have worked over the past several months with Eagan and Bradner to make their keycard system, alarms and radio communications Y2K compliant.

"We have a backup battery as big as a dorm room that should be good for

several hours" to ensure the continuance of systems, McNamara says. "We're very comfortable."

In fact, McNamara says, the only potential for trouble that exists is the possibility that the phone system will go down. That system is dependent on AT&T and Bell Atlantic, and a widespread failure seems

improbable.

And in the event that any form of communication does fail, she says, security guards will all be equipped with radios.

"If you find yourself on-campus--even though it's recommended that you not be here--make sure you know where there will be a guard," McNamara says.

To keep the Harvard community informed, on-site contact people across campus will be calling into University Information Services during the early hours of Jan. 1 to report

status, Eagan says.

These status reports will then be posted on a recorded

announcement line at (617) 384-2000 (from inside Harvard, dial 4-2000).

But for students like Geoffrey Mainland, convinced that Y2K hype has been blown out of proportion, the telephone help line seems to be an unnecessary measure.

"I think the most severe consequence of the year 2000 will be an

unusually high number of hangovers on Jan. 1," he says.