You can be replaced on that Y2K project? -- MIDRANGE-L

This  fell into my  EMail box today.
        Think any of the  executive  magazine article  based decisions will
be swayed?

"""Subject: Funny or Sad?

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/wr/story.html?s=v/nm/19980930/wr/teens_
1.html
Millennium bug fighter enlists teens in campaign
By Spencer E. Ante
SAN FRANCISCO (Wired) - The millennium bug has spawned an entire industry
of compliance consultants who promise to stamp out the bug wherever it
occurs -- for a few million dollars. But where does that leave the little guy?
``If Y2K happens, the nonprofits will be hit hard for services, but they're
the least equipped to handle it,'' said Mick Winter, who hit on the idea of
helping nonprofits deal with Y2K while he was building a computer network
for the Bay Area Homeless Coalition, a California group seeking accessible
housing.
``Their computers aren't going to work and they have no one to fix them,''
Winters said. The problem is this: Many nonprofits operate on meager
budgets, using older equipment, with employees who have minimal technical
expertise. To make things worse, many of these groups rely on databases to
carry out their day-to-day work.
Winter realized that these databases were sitting ducks for the Y2K
problem. But instead of calling up Arthur Andersen or another pricey ``Big
Five'' consulting firm, he turned to a bunch of 17-year-olds.
Winter is mobilizing students from his daughter's high school into a
volunteer Y2K SWAT team. They will fan out across the San Francisco Bay
Area with orders to eradicate the dreaded millennium bug from the computers
of groups least able to cope with the problem.
``I like the idea because it gives our students an opportunity to give back
to the community,'' said Mark Morrison, the director of Napa New Technology
High School, an innovative high school that Winter's daughter attends as a
senior.
Morrison agreed to support Winter's proposal. He said the task force will
enlist 10 to 12 students and be up and running before the end of the year,
if not sooner.
The Napa New Technology School opened its doors in 1996 to prepare students
for the digital workplace. Taking its cue from the intensely competitive
business culture of nearby Silicon Valley, the school is run like a
start-up company, with each student getting a computer and email account.
The curriculum combines a traditional education program with heavy doses of
science, multimedia, software certification, and community service-which
Winter saw as an opportunity. Seniors must complete 10 hours of community
service each semester, and complete an internship. Morrison approved
Winter's proposal that the ``Bugbuster'' task force could fulfill either of
those requirements. Students will be taught to analyze a group's computers
and propose bug fixes. They'll be armed with an inspection checklist and
floppy disk
containing software that troubleshoots a computer and is able to run basic
fixes and upgrades.
If students can't fix a problem themselves, they will refer their clients
to a commercial consultant. It's also possible, Morrison said, that
students with advanced Y2K skills could charge nonprofits a nominal fee for
their work.
``It's a r Desum De-builder for technical skills as well as a community
service,'' added Morrison, who also sees the educational value of the
project. ``Y2K is a supreme example of the downside of information
technology.'' Bugbusters is the first tangible project of the Napa Valley
Y2K Action Group, a group Winter founded a few months ago to educate
leaders in his community on the millennium bug. For his part, Winter says
the Bugbuster program represents a practical approach to solving the
problem, something that Y2K survivalists who are stockpiling their dried
lentils and hunkering down for Armageddon might wish
to consider. 
(Reuters/Wired)"""

+---
| This is the Midrange System Mailing List!
| To submit a new message, send your mail to MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com.
| To subscribe to this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-SUB@midrange.com.
| To unsubscribe from this list send email to MIDRANGE-L-UNSUB@midrange.com.
| Questions should be directed to the list owner/operator: david@midrange.com
+---