Daylight Savings Time

[dooleysm]

This past year the governor of Indiana decided that it was time for Indiana to start observing DST. This has been a major ongoing political firestorm in the state and I won't go into that. The high and low of it is that the county commisioners in each county were left to determine which time zone (Eastern or Central) their county would join.

Most of the state happily went on Eastern time except for 2 pockets, one in northwestern Indiana, near Chicago and the other in Southwest Indiana, near Evansville, which went with Central time. I am in one of the Southwestern counties, Dubois in particular, that went on Central time.

Now there are 2 major issues, the whole state being forced into DST (which I think the majority of the state did not want) and the issue of which time zone the counties are in (which is personal preference as far as I can tell).

Our county initially went on Central time. This caused a major uproar with the local businesses (we have several large companies for such a rural county...Jasper Engines and Kimball International) who all wanted and assumed we'd go on Eastern time. There was a meeting to revisit the issue this past Monday and I think I heard over 1000 people showed up.

I have heard all the points that both sides make, many of which are nonsensical. My own personal preference is Eastern time, for the fact that we would get an extra hour of daylight in the evenings in the spring, summer, and fall. With Central time, it would be pitch black by 5 pm in the winter months. Ouch. Right now (on Central time) it gets dark around 7:30. It's getting nice out and I could get so much more done if it was light for that extra hour (I get home from work around 5:45-6:00).

So, my question is, where do you guys and gals live with respect to a time zone boundary? Which side of the boundary are you on? How do you feel about your time? If you are on the far east side of a boundary, do you wish you could shift to the other zone? Or do you prefer your time zone, and why?

 

[Highbeam]

I think DST is completely dumb. I vote to eliminate it and leave it the way it is right now with more daylight in the evening. The mornings are spent getting to work anyway. Living up north we get to a point in the winter where it is dark going to work and coming home which is no problem in the morning but the evenings are spent indoors under artificial light after being indoors all day at the office under artificial light or outside in the rain.

I want more light after work. Kill the DST!!

 

[smittys6]

Here in Louisiana there is a bill that has already past the house, and now up for debate in the senate that DST will be all year long. Looks like it might pass.

 

[MLinOleMiss]

I'm with highbeam, leave it to where we get the extra daylight in the evening. If I remember correctly, starting in the fall of 2007 the "fall back" time will be in late november and the "spring forward" time will be in early February.

 

[dooleysm]

I've never thought of this issue before this year when it came up in Indiana. I find it fascinating. Everyone seems to have a multitude of reasons for/against every time you can think of.

In our county, nearly everyone I've talked to has agreed that Eastern time would be better, due to more evening light. Most of the people I know are builders or farmers. And yet, in the paper the letters to the editor are overwhelmingly in favor of Central time.

One of the big arguments I hear in favor of Central time is that it will be lighter in the mornings so the kids don't have to wait for busses in the dark in the winter. Now, Indiana has been lined up with Eastern time during the winter for as long as I've been alive (almost 30 years). I have yet to hear of an epidemic of children being run over by busses in the mornings. Nobody has ever thought this was an issue before this year. But, now if you are in favor of Eastern time, you are endangering the welfare of the children!

 

[1948berg]

Do you all have the same date over there? /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
All of Europe has DST from March 26. to Oct 29.
Did you know Benjamin Franklin first thought of it?

 

[1948berg]

<font color="blue"> I want more light after work. Kill the DST!! </font>
You must have misunderstood something,- or have I?

 

[dooleysm]

Before this year, Indiana did NOT have DST. We were on Eastern Standard time. This meant that we were lined up with the Central Time Zone in the summer and Eastern Time Zone in the winter. I think that Arizona or one of the '4 corners' states was similarly not on DST.

Now we are on DST, but our state is split so that most of the state is on Eastern time, but we have the 2 pockets that are on Central time. NOBODY likes this.

People like me, that work in one time zone but live in another, especially don't like it.

We do all have the same date, most of the time.

 

[jwstewar]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( If I remember correctly, starting in the fall of 2007 the "fall back" time will be in late november and the "spring forward" time will be in early February. /quote]

That was the original plan. Once it finally made it through it is now the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November. When from extending it by 2 most to just about 3 weeks.

 

[fishman]

Highbeam,

Here is the link to a previous discussion. It appears that DST actually is the cause for the "extra" hour of daylight after work.

dst discussion