COMPUTER SYSTEMS WATCHED BY SOME TODAY BECAUSE OF DATE: 9-9-99

Whether today will be a day of infamy remains to be seen, but Michael Seabaugh won't be spending it near a computer.

"I've never really used a computer before, and I'm kind of glad about it," said Seabaugh, a small-business owner in Cape Girardeau. "But I guess there are so many out there that if something happens it'll affect me anyway."

Another Y2K day of reckoning has arrived.

Electric utilities, banks and a few federal committees are watching computer systems more closely today, because it is Sept. 9, 1999, or 9-9-99.

For a few computer programs, linking four 9s together is a command to stop.

Y2K planners and some industries are taking advantage of the situation to test their readiness and backup systems for New Year's Day, when the real Year 2000 bug may hit.

AmerenUE conducted drills testing its preparedness to handle electrical troubles Wednesday, said spokesman Michael Cleary. It will do the same with natural gas today.

The drills are checking the utility's readiness to solve problems using satellite phone or radio communications rather than computers, which monitor nearly all functions of AmerenUE's operations, Cleary said.

The timing of the drills, which take place between 7 a.m. and noon, is more driven by public opinion pressures than real dangers of computer failures, Cleary said.

"If a drunk runs into a utility pole on New Year's Eve and cuts off people's electricity, they'll think it's Y2K," he said.

The date is probably getting more attention than it deserves, said Tim Ray, a professor of mathematics and computer science at Southeast Missouri State University.

The way a stop code becomes part of a computer program is different than a calendar date, Ray said. A date is equivalent to a variable, such as "x" when "x" is the result of a mathematical calculation, he said.

"I can't imagine the number of times that 9999 has come up in an equation," Ray said.

One reason for confidence is that 9999 is not as widely used as an end-of-file or end-of-program marker. Also, dates are more likely to appear in computers as 090999. And a 9999 problem is relatively easy to spot and fix within the millions of lines of programming code.

Similar worries were expressed earlier this year in anticipation of April 9. It was the 99th day of the 99th year. April 9 passed without significant troubles.

Some have turned 9999 into an asset. The electronics maker Sega is releasing Dreamcast, its high-powered virtual reality home game center today. The MTV network has scheduled its annual video awards ceremony for today, too.

Others count more important numbers than 9999.

The Bible is full of numerical significance, said Andy Chambers, a professor at Missouri Baptist College in St. Louis.

Multiples of 12, seven and three are repeated in several biblical passages, he said. Some of the 12s include tribes of Israel and Jesus' disciples.

"There is a mythical tradition that 72 Jewish scholars, six from each of the 12 tribes, were responsible for the Septuagint," said Chambers, referring to the early Greek version of the Old Testament.

God's creation of the world in seven days, the three members of the Trinity, and the three 6s that make up the Antichrist's number all have impacted world cultures, Chambers said.

But Chambers warns against becoming too wrapped up in a biblical numbers games, or Y2K. Many Christians have given Y2K more notoriety than it deserves, he said.

"I tell my students that we ought to be as normal a Christian this year as any," Chambers said.

Seabaugh, who owns a store selling Native American goods, said there are more meaningful numbers for a Native American than 9999.

Cherokees, like Seabaugh, recognize seven as a directional number. Besides the four points on a compass, Cherokees put equal importance on over, under and the place between the two, he said.

Thirteen may not be lucky to a Cherokee, but it is certainly positive. Tribal elders say the original number of Cherokee clans was 13, Seabaugh said.

As for significant years, 2012 is shared by Cherokees and the ancient Mayans and Aztecs of present day Latin America. All look to that date as the end of the world, Seabaugh said.

But many Native American prophecies need to be fulfilled before it happens, he said.

Seabaugh is not aware if any of the prophecies involve 1999.

"The tribal elders don't tell us all the secrets," he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.