I would like to know why, i have heard it is to help the farmers, then i heard it was for school kids what is the deal? Also which time is real? I know i should know this but i have no clue!

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), November 01, 2000

Answers

I remember like in the 4th or 5th grade 1972 a new law was passed or something and it changed, there was a lot of talk about it with the adults, that's all I remember. So I guess the Goverment is responsible for it. I think it was for the children who rode buses? Dh says he thinks it was later in 1974-75 and it was for the farmers. I don't understand that either cause you have so many hours of daylight in one day which varies during the year no matter what time it is? RIGHT? some one correct me if I'm wrong. good question, maybe someone who knows more than us will answer this in detail for us. I know a homesteader family who doesn't care to much for the goverment who doesn't adhere to the time change, they don't change their clocks.

-- Carol Waldrop (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), November 01, 2000.

We don't. A small part of Indiana does, though, the counties close to cities like Cincinnati and Chicago do. We're on slow time, they're on fast time. I like it better this way. Seems more natural since it's how it's been done since whoever decided on what time it would be. {:~}

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), November 01, 2000.

Nice Post! As I recall, DST was implemted on the East Coast for school children and construction workers. Kinda rough waiting for a bus, or trying to fix a road in the dark. God forbid New Yorkers (I can say that 'cause I am one) went with the 'flow' and adjusted to Mother Nature, instead of making their own rules! It's just not natural, and in the long run we suffer because of it.

-- Kathy (catfish@bestweb.net), November 01, 2000.

I know that Indiana and Arizona don't do the time change, but there is actually a reason. I read an article about it a couple years ago. I can't give you exact numbers BUT it saves several billion dollars in energy for both the consumer and is more environmentally friendly.

It is the only consulation I have....especially since it makes my kids crazy!!! :)

-- Carleen (netorcs@mo-net.com), November 01, 2000.

I know I hate it, especially now that we live so close to the part of Indiana that doesn't change back and forth. We live in Ohio but have Dr. appt. , etc. in Indiana a lot and it can get very confusing at times -I like it when Ohio gets back to reg. time and we "match" with Indiana. Children and animals don't understand it either (:. I wish we could just leave the time alone - takes me so long to make the adjustment twice a year.

-- Terry (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), November 01, 2000.

To remind up to put fresh batteries in our smoke detectors.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), November 01, 2000.

Daylight Saving Time was first suggested by Bengamin Franklin in 1784. England started British Summer Time by act of Parliament in 1916. In 1918, in order to conserve resources for the war effort, Congress placed th US on Daylight Saving Time. This was repealed at the end of WWI due to unpopularity. DST was reinstated in 1942 and time was advanced 1 hour forward yearround until September 1945. Again, to conserve for the war effort. It was ,again, repealed. From 1945 to 1966, there was no US law about DST. States and localities were free to observe it or not. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act was passed. Basicaly, this law was for organizational purposes. Any area that wanted to be exempt could do so by passing a local ordinance. During the energy crisis in the early 1970's, congress placed some locations on yearround DST, again to conserve energy. After the energy crisis, these areas were returned to normal DST. Although originaly started to conserve resources, DST also lowered the number of traffic fatalities and home burglaries.

-- Terri Perry (stuperry@stargate.net), November 02, 2000.

Ok now i am really confussed! I thought everyone changed time. What part of the country does and what part does not?Also is this NOT the"real" time now?

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), November 02, 2000.

Come to Amish Country, Renee,

Although DST is observed in Ohio, the decision to oberve it in the Amish communities here is an INDIVIDUAL choice, since it is a "yankee" invention. So, if you say to an Amish neighbor that you're going to drop by at such-and-such a time, you have to ask them what time it is, IN THEIR HOUSE! But the old adage still holds true... you can't tell a cow what time it is.

(:raig

-- Craig Miller (CMiller@ssd.com), November 02, 2000.

Ask and you shall receive.

Why did daylight saving time (DST) start, and why does it still continue? When asking a random sample of people we heard two answers again and again: "To help the farmers" or "Because of World War I ... or was it World War II?"

In fact, farmers generally oppose daylight saving time. In Indiana, where part of the state observes DST and part does not, farmers have opposed a move to DST. And the chief adversary of daylight saving time in the United States is the Farm Bureau. Farmers, who must wake with the sun no matter what time their clock says, are greatly inconvenienced by having to change their schedule in order to sell their crops to people who observe daylight saving time.

Daylight saving time did indeed begin in the United States during World War I, primarily to save fuel by reducing the need to use artificial lighting. Although some states and communities observed daylight saving time between the wars, it was not observed nationally again until World War II.

Of course, World War II is long over. So why do we still observe daylight saving time? The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided the basic framework for alternating between daylight saving time and standard time, which we now observe in the United States. But Congress can't seem to resist tinkering with it. For example, in 1973 daylight saving time was observed all year, instead of just the spring and summer. The current system of beginning DST at 2 AM on the first Sunday in April and ending it at 2 AM on the last Sunday in October was not standardized until 1986.

The earliest known reference to the idea of daylight saving time comes from a purely whimsical 1784 essay by Benjamin Franklin, called "Turkey versus Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle." It was first seriously advocated by William Willit, a British Builder, in his pamphlet "Waste of Daylight" in 1907.

Over the years, supporters have advanced new reasons in support of DST, even though they were not the original reasons behind enacting DST.

One is safety. Some people believe that if we have more daylight at the end of the day, we will have fewer accidents.

In fact, this "benefit" comes only at the cost of less daylight in the morning. When year-round daylight time was tried in 1973, one reason it was repealed was because of an increased number of school bus accidents in the morning. Further, a study of traffic accidents throughout Canada in 1991 and 1992 by Stanley Coren of the University of British Columbia before, during, and immediately after the so-called "spring forward" when DST begins in April. Alarmingly, he found an eight percent jump in traffic accidents on the Monday after clocks are moved ahead. He attributes the jump to the lost hour of sleep. In a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine, Coren explained, "These data show that small changes in the amount of sleep that people get can have major consequences in everyday activities." He undertook the study as a follow up to research showing that even an hour's change can disrupt sleep patterns and "persist for up to five days after each time shift." Other observers attribute the huge spike in accidents on the first Monday of DST to the sudden change in the amount of light during driving times. Regardless of the reason, there is no denying that changing our clocks has a significant cost in human lives.

While some people claim that they would miss the late evening light, a presumably similar number of people love the morning light. And projects, postponed during the sun filled summer, will be tackled with new vigor when the sun sets an hour earlier each day.

-- Jeeves (Ask jeeves@ask.com), November 02, 2000.

So which is the right time? Now or in the spring?

-- Carol (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), November 02, 2000.

There is no "right" time -- keeping track is a human invention. However, we are now on Standard time, which most would consider the "right" time.

Oddly, we spend more of the year on daylight saving time than standard -- 6.5 months on DST and 5.5 months on standard.

Arizona and Hawaii do not use DST. Don't know why in Arizona, but in Hawaii, there is not enough change in the length of day for it to make any difference. They're around 20 degrees latitude -- their winter days are about 11 hours long and their summer days about 13 hours long. Here in Wisconsin, our winter daylight hours are about 8 hours and our summer daylight hours are about 16 hours, so it makes more sense to switch over, compared with Hawaii. Personally, I'd rather we didn't switch.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), November 02, 2000.

It's a Government plot! Just when your internal clock is running smooth, you get the monkey wrench and don't feel right untill it is changed back.

-- Nick (wildheart@ekyol.com), November 02, 2000.

Its "just an American thing". Suggested by old Ben Franklin as a way to help farmers with more daylight during growing times. Embraced by most Americans as a way for "more fun in the sun" during summer. Easiest way to handle it is to just accept it and laugh at the habitually late that actually get someplace early one day a year because they forget to change the clock. I used to wonder how folks on 3rd shift got paid (9 hrs in fall, 7 hrs in spring maybe) until I worked the shift (it goes by 8 hrs, no extra or less).

-- Jay Blair (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 02, 2000.

The response from Jeeves where did that come from? i thought that was a place to look up things not a person!

-- renee oneill (oneillsr@home.com), November 02, 2000.

No FEDERAL daylight saving time here in Arizona. We don't like the FED's trying to stick their nose in our (State) business. Everytime you let the FED's interfere with your life, you come to regret it. Remember the 10th Amendment (Bill of Rights)and demand your rights.

-- JLS (stalkingbull007@AOL.com), November 02, 2000.

I agree I like this time better, this has been very educational! So how would we go about changing a law to abolish this practice? Nevermind I won't do it anyway.

-- Carol in Tx (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), November 02, 2000.

I'm originally from Indiana, and never really heard of DST until I moved away. That was almost 20 years ago, and I still can't figure out what I'm supposed to do with the clock. I depend on my husband to tell me what time to set the clocks to. It drives me crazy. When I was stationed in Okinawa, the island used DST, too. Weird.

-- Teresa in TN (otgonz@bellsouth.net), November 03, 2000.

Renee, they do it just to irritate you. Mean, bad people!

I actually like it...except for that it's dark before I get home.

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@excite.com), November 03, 2000.

I've never liked DST, and wish they'd repeal it. But until they do, just remember the little rhyme: Spring forward, Fall back (in the spring, set your clock one hour forward; in the fall, set it one hour back).

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), November 04, 2000.

We have it here in Italy as well.

-- kelly (kellytree@hotmail.com), November 04, 2000.

This has been a very informative post! I've never really liked the practice and have always wondered why we do it. I also assumed everybody did it. I remember one of the "Dads" in my old neighborhood an independent type, who claimed that people who reset their clocks were lazy and that he just simply kept up with the time change in his head. Ex. The store opens at 8:00 in the spring and 9:00 in the fall. Or is that the other way around? Ha Ha.

-- Mark M (MagicMark@aol.com), November 04, 2000.