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National speaker
By Nathan VanderKlippe NEWS EDITOR A recent pr-esentation at Kentwood Community Church gave an unusual angle to the Y2K issue. On February 18, Steve Hewitt, editor in chief of Christian Computing Magazine and an ordained pastor, delivered a speech entitled The Challenge Ahead; Y2K is a “challenge” he said, not a “disaster.” Y2K, an acronym for the Year 2000, is a computer problem that revolves around the way in which computer systems and PC’s have been structured. In order to save memory, the digits 1 and 9 have been custonarily excluded from the record of the year so that when the year changes to 2000, there could potentially be significant worldwide computer system crash. “It will be a bump in the road, a personal inconvenience; almost non-existent,” said Hewitt. “Y2K is a big bug, but we live with bugs all the time.” He cited an article which appeared in USA Today on Feb. 2, 1999: “Only 0.2% of Y2K bugs will cause business-critical problems. In addition, most crashed systems will only take a few hours or days to repair, and negative effects will be lessened because January 1, 2000, falls on a Saturday.” Hewitt stated that one of the problems with public perception of the Y2K “crisis” is the use of old, irrelevant, and in some cases untrue, information. “It’s a fast-moving technological story. ... The problem is that today’s society is using 1996 - 1997 information. It’s easy to quote stuff from six or seven months ago and use it,” he said. Only eight percent of Y2K-related problems will actually occur on January 1, 2000, said Hewitt. “There’s already been all kinds of Y2K problems.” In fact, he noted, 60 percent of all North American and European companies have already experienced Y2K-related problems. Furthermore, “70 percent of computers will simply ask for the date” the first time they are started up in 2000. He explained that in the world of technology, problems are repaired under the idea of “fix on failure.” According to Hewitt, “we are used to failure ... there’s never been anything guaranteed not to crash.” “The greatest danger is that of overreaction,” stated Hewitt. “There is a lot of myths and fallacies scattered around and a lot of bad advice,” he said. He focussed particularly on churches who have begun to treat Y2K as an apocalyptic event, the end of the world. Some pastors, he said, have advised their congregations to purchase an old car, and then to set it on fire in front of their house on January 1 in order to make it look as if they have already been looted. Others have instructed their audiences to build ten foot walls embedded with sharp pieces of glass around their property. Some churches are also seeing Y2K as a chance for God to punish the nation for its sins. According to Hewitt, some have said that “maybe it’s God’s wrath against America.” He told about a book entitled “Y2K Equals 666,” and said that one of the most negative consequences of the Y2K issue for Christians is the unflattering image currently being painted by the mass media of people such as these. Quentin Schultze, CAS professor and special consultant for the Gospel Communications Network, agreed. “The voices in the Christian community tend to be the doomsdayers,” he said. “And that’s the opposite of what the Christian community ought to be doing.” Hewitt explained that much of the hype surrounding the year change is done for economic as well as religious reasons. Many businesses stand to profit handsomely from this, he said, such as those companies selling food in bulk one company is selling 200-pound barrels of soup. While there is the “possibility of some sort of economic impact” and Y2K-related nuisances will likely affect most, Hewitt told people to prepare for January 1, 2000, much as they would prepare for a big winter storm. Referring Hewitt’s message, which has been criticised by many members of the Christian community, Schultze said, “I see him as kind of a balance. ... I do think that we need to avoid the bunker mentality and we need to provide a warming, calming voice.” Schultze said that he hopes to hold a Y2K forum on campus this fall. |
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