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Auditor: Keep calm on Y2K Alarmist are spreading bad info about computer fears, she says BY VICKI GUARINO An auditor busy working on resolving data problems relating to the year 2000 urged consumers Saturday to educate themselves and be wary of alarmist predictions. Janet Josselyn cautioned that misinformation can cause panic. She heads Rogue Federal Credit Union's efforts to update data systems and coordinate the flow of data so that the business functions smoothly into the new millennium. Her talk at the Medford First Baptist Church was sponsored by the Rogue Valley Y2K Task Force, a citizens group organized to address potential problems arising from the momentous calendar change ahead. The concern is that as the date clicks over to a string of zeros, date-sensitive systems will fail catastrophically. These include utilities and monetary systems dependent on computers that won't recognize a year of zeros. To get ready, Josselyn told a crowd of about 40, the credit union began testing its systems in October. All systems are expected to be Y2K compliant -- able to deal the coming date change -- by June, she said. Acknowledging that people are inclined to grow suspicious when they are not given answers, Josselyn tried to reassure the audience that companies are working on their year 2000 bugs. To task force participants who expressed frustration in getting information, Josselyn said the problem might simply be in communications. Staff in remote branch offices perhaps haven't been told of the work progressing at corporate headquarters. "I can't even get answers from some the the large banks," she said. "But I'm sure they're doing the same things we are." But she cautioned listeners to be skeptical about the sources of their information. She blasted one report e-mailed by a Y2K group called the Weathermen. The group's description of federal rules governing financial transactions was misleading and irresponsible, she said, "I would panic," Josselyn said, if she hadn't known better. "If people are going to be putting stuff out, I wish they would at least document it so people can check for themselves. Educate yourselves." One source Josselyn has found helpful is annual reports to stockholders that all publicly traded companies are required to file. Josselyn has found them on the Internet. For instance, she said that when she was dissatisfied with the Y2K-compliance information from Pacific Power, she looked up the company's 1997 report to shareholders. As it happened, she wasn't comforted by what she read. The company at that point was still assessing the extent of its Y2K project. "So I'm going to be real interested in seeing their 1998 report." She has found the Internet helpful in tracking Y2K progress at several companies that are important to the credit union. "I am constantly going in and looking at their updates," she said. "I'm not the type to wait for information to come to me." Josselyn also urged common sense. For example, to those worried about sudden mortgage foreclosures, she said homeowners can always fall back on their own paper records -- canceled checks, receipts and ledgers. "Do what makes sense to you," she said. Ultimately, she said, business will go on after New Year's Day 2000, even if it means resorting briefly to hand-written ledgers. "Paper works," she said. "I am going to have trouble finding a manual typewriter, however." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford, Oregon USA