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	Vol.7, No 59, December 13-17, 1999
			*Holiday Guide 99'*
	L.B. 99 percent ready for Y2K, officials say By Jason Kosareff Daily Forty-Niner Long Beach is 99 percent Y2K compliant, due to efforts to thwart any potential millennium "bug" that began five years ago, said Bob Metzger, director of technology services for the city.  "We've gone through all the important areas," Metzger said.  Any technology still not compliant is low impact and of little consequence, Metzger said. The city has spent $15 million since 1995 to upgrade major computer systems. "We probably would have done that anyway," Metzger said.  Systems that are required for operating everything from the city's payroll and public safety department to utilities are "in good shape," Metzger said. More than 18,500 systems citywide have been tracked since 1995, he said. "What we did was a complete inventory of services," Metzger said. "We're going to end with a little over 99 percent of the items that were tracked [being in compliance]," he said. Long Beach Airport has been deemed compliant and been given clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration, said Kathy Parson, public information officer for the airport.  "Immediately following midnight, safety crews will be [on the airfield] checking equipment," she said. Under regular circumstances, commercial flights into the airport end at 10 p.m. and don't resume until 7 a.m. due to noise ordinances, but some small planes may still be utilizing the airport at midnight, Parson said.  "We will have three hours advance notice [from the East Coast] if there are any problems," Parson said.  U.S. Rep. Steve Horn, R-Long Beach, said "most federal agencies have finished preparing their mission-critical systems [the ones an agency must have to perform its duties] for the year 2000," in a news release last week.  Horn is the chairman of the House Government Management, Information and Technology subcommittee, which gave the federal government a grade of "B+" on its Final Y2K Report Card.		Illustration by Cristian Vera Aleman Freshmen dropout rate declines   Educators fight for district seat   Lawmakers back textbook tax drop   Disease common in U.S. colleges   Student aims for U.S. presidency   SEMESTER IN REVIEW   Millennium celebrations across the Southland   Holiday mail volume skyrockets   L.B. 99 percent ready for Y2K, officials say   500 bands to be at first city celebrating 2000   Y2K bug exterminated at CSULB, CSU system   Cultural Christmas NASA wasting space   President pitches reading program   Big market for booze in Long Beach Fall 99 ISSUES DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications, Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach ©1999 All rights reserved.