as we get closer to the weekend, let this serve as your reminder to turn your clocks back on Saturday night as we once again take part in the process of Daylight Savings Time. i knew that Benjamin Franklin originated the idea, but didn't know that it had only been sporadically in effect (including through all of WWII) in the U.S. before 1966. i'm sort of torn. on the one hand it seems to be a fairly trivial exercise in these days when fewer than 1% of the population farms. and i really enjoyed this quote:
A writer in 1947 wrote, "I don't really care how time is reckoned so long as there is some agreement about it, but I object to being told that I am saving daylight when my reason tells me that I am doing nothing of the kind. I even object to the implication that I am wasting something valuable if I stay in bed after the sun has risen. As an admirer of moonlight I resent the bossy insistence of those who want to reduce my time for enjoying it. At the back of the Daylight Saving scheme I detect the bony, blue-fingered hand of Puritanism, eager to push people into bed earlier, and get them up earlier, to make them healthy, wealthy and wise in spite of themselves." (Robertson Davies, The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks, 1947, XIX, Sunday.)
but on the other hand, there is evidence that turning the clocks ahead in April leads to energy savings, less crime and fewer traffic accidents. so why don't we just keep Daylight time all year round, thereby preventing the hurtful act of watching the sun go down at 4:30pm in the winter? Congress tried this for a couple years in the early 70s but relented to opposition from farming states in 1975. let's pick a time and stick with it. more arguments against DST here.
Posted by jamie at October 27, 2004 01:30 PMDid you know that they don't do DST in Arizona? It's a pain in the ass when you're driving through. That kind of shit should be federally mandated.
Posted by: Dave Nelson at October 27, 2004 02:22 PMThey don't do it in northern Indiana either. So for most of the school year at Notre Dame we were on eastern time but at the beginning and end of the year it was central.
Posted by: Jim at October 27, 2004 02:52 PMthis country is too damn big
Posted by: crispin at October 27, 2004 03:34 PMI work for an Indiana outfit, and it's a major pain to adjust to the time difference. When they say 4:00 pm, it means 5:00 pm to me. Or at least it should and then I wouldn't miss any meetings or phone calls.
Czechoslovakia started DST in the 50's because they ran out of heating oil in the schools and wanted kids to get to school an hour later when it would be warmer. Or at least that's accoring to Alena's Uncle Vaclav, who's generally not to be trusted.
Posted by: jake at October 27, 2004 03:48 PMGWU's Pres also wants the academic calendar changed, says it's outdated b/c it's based on agriculture. Has really good points, I heard him testify to the Senate about it, and for awhile the plan was all he could tlk about. Such reasons as you have expensive classrooms and dorms sitting empty for three months. Obviously, it's also a revenue-making plan, and that pissed people off and eventually his plan for GW didn't pass the faculty. He would like to see k-12 be full-year as well, I'm pretty sure. I hate the idea for colleges, since I work at one and then I wouldn't have a somewhat slower summer work-wise. But hell, send those kids to school all year long, those little bratty bastards shouldn't have the summers off! ;)
Posted by: Claire at October 27, 2004 11:31 PMgod, just one more...the Fox5 newscast coverage of the game noted facts from 1918 and one of them was that it was the same year DST was introduced by Congress. Weird! You were just talking about that! ;) Also, they won under a total lunar eclipse, FYI.
Posted by: Claire at October 28, 2004 12:20 AMI kinda like the changing of the clocks. I always get confused about which way to go and all that but it's sort of cool. I like the fact that there are some things that are a bit illogical.
I also like the darkness of winter. When I lived in the UK one would often get the feeling of being so very , very far from the sun. It was almost like living on Pluto. Truly, the deep midwinter.