Indiana Succumbs to Daylight Savings Time
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James Joyner | Friday, April 29, 2005 |
Indiana House sends daylight-saving time bill to governor (AP)
All of Indiana is just a stroke of a pen away from uniformly moving clocks forward an hour next year. Last night, state lawmakers narrowly approved a bill mandating the time change. The state’s governor ran on the issue and is likely to sign it.
Most of the state’s 92 counties don’t change their clocks. And businesses and lobbyists say the current system causes mix-ups over airline flights, delivery times and conference calls.
Supporters are calling the vote historic and one that shows the world Indiana is “willing to step into the 21st century.”
States not adjusting to Daylight Savings Time are an odd curiosity, although the rationale for Indiana made some sense given its straddling of time zones and proximity to major urban centers in surrounding states. See “What Time is it in Indiana?” for extensive background.
The nagging question, of course, is why we still play the Daylight Savings Time game at all. I’ve long been an advocate of making Daylight Savings time the norm and not switching back. I’d much rather it be dark in the morning and recoup it in the evening, regardless of the time of year.
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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I am SO with you on DST year round. Then, we can just call it "time"
I get up a 4:30 am, walk and garden before work and school so I want it light in the morning.
And thus it continues, as great a clash as good vs evil: morning-glories vs night-owls
Screw daylight savings time. Just keep the clock the same one way or the other.
Of course, some people use that semiannual change as a way to remember other things they have to do, such as rotating their mattresses and updating their earthquake kits.
They tried the year-round thing once. The parents of schoolkids didn't like it. I do remember going to school in the dark that year, and wondering (with the recollection of a child) if that were 'normal.' "Is it always dark when I go to school in the winter?"
I've never figured out the rationale of DST, period. Now when I get to work at 730 in the morning, it's necessary for me to turn the lights on; prior to early March it was light enough to work by window light which I prefer. This actually makes me use more electricity.
If you are one of these strange people who enjoys getting up in the morning, find a job with flextime, or find a job which starts earlier.
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