November 11, 1999

                    Alabama Well Behind Other States In Y2K Preparation

                    http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1009-200-1435409.html?tag=st.ne.1009.thed.1009-200-1435409

                    (Reuters-CNET News.com)

                    Doesn't look good for Alabama at this point:

                                  Alabama's Y2K debugging efforts sharply lag the rest of the United States, with just
                                  52 percent of its "mission critical" systems ready for the new year, according to an
                                  ongoing survey of the states. 

                                  Alabama's Y2K officials this week reported that just over half of the state's 328 key
                                  computer systems have been fixed to eliminate potential problems caused by the
                                  so-called millennium bug, which could prevent some computers from distinguishing
                                  2000 from 1900 because of an old programming shortcut. 

                                  This places Alabama well behind Oklahoma, which was next-worst at 75 percent
                                  compliant, according to the survey conducted by the National Association of State
                                  Information Resource Executives. 

                                  Rounding out the bottom five were Puerto Rico at 76 percent, New Mexico at 81
                                  percent, and Wyoming at 85 percent. 

                                  The survey reports that seven states are 100 percent ready: Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa,
                                  Michigan, Nebraska, New York, and North Dakota. Seven others--Florida, Kentucky,
                                  New Jersey, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, and Washington--said they are at 99
                                  percent. 

                    Drew Parkhill