One bill which was introduced in the Arkansas Legislature, House Bill 1947 by Rep. David Meeks of Conway, has my support. If it were passed by the House and Senate and signed by the governor, it would do away with Daylight Saving Time in Arkansas and leave us on Central Standard Time year round.
Arguments offered in favor of the bill include studies indicating the time changes negatively affect people's health, causing an increase in heart attacks, fatigue and fatigue-related accidents.
According to news reports, Meeks said before filing the bill he used Facebook to ask if people would support the idea and 99 percent of those responding were in favor of his proposed bill.
The same news reports said he would not recommend implementation of the change until at least one other border state also passed similar legislation so as not to isolate Arkansas from neighboring states. Why can't we be first? Perhaps, then, others would follow!
I concur with the argument that the time changes twice a year have an ill effect on sleep cycles and one's body clock. I like to be up as soon as it starts getting light, but the most recent time change made that a bit later than I like. It made me feel sorry for the school children and commuters who, up to March 8, were beginning to enjoy a little light in the morning hours as they headed off to work and school but are now back in the dark again.
Yes, I realize that some appreciate the extra hours of daylight in the evenings for outdoor activities; but wouldn't it be easier to just go to work earlier to get off earlier and have more time in the evening? And what about those who like the early light for morning activities? Don't they kind of get cheated? As soon as it begins getting light earlier in the morning, the time change comes along and takes it away!
Then, there's going to bed at night. For those who like to start the day early, it can mean going to bed well before dark to get enough sleep to be up in the predawn hours to get an early start at the day's activities. Even though I tend to stay up late, Mrs. Griz is always up early and finds herself going to bed before dark in late spring and early summer so she can be rested when it's time to be up and going in the morning.
I suppose I could argue that I don't like changing all the clocks. Most of them are easy, but my wife's car usually requires studying the manual a while before I can figure out all the buttons which need to be pushed to get it changed. And, by the time it's time to change back again, I've forgotten how to do it and have to go back and read the instructions again. I believe, last fall, we just left it until the time changed and it was right once again.
Of course, my body clock is a bit harder to change and it takes a lot longer. In fact, by the time I finally fully adjust to daylight saving time, it seems to be time to return to standard time once again.
One of the reasons governments enacted daylight saving time was to save energy; but in Indiana, which did not enact daylight saving time until 2008, energy use went up a percentage point with the implementation of daylight saving time because of the use of air conditioning later into the day while people were up and busy in their homes.
Anybody who has ever worked on a farm, or in a host of other jobs related to daylight hours, knows it doesn't matter what the clock says as much as what the sun says. When it is about to get light, it's time to get at it. And, if a fellow needs to get at it some distance away, he'd better be up early enough to be there by dawn. And farmers and other hard working folks don't quit just because it's 4 or 5 o'clock. They work until it's too dark to work.
Perhaps it's the TV stations which push for Daylight Saving Time. Their prime time shows are, for the most part, so pitiful they certainly would not stand a chance if they aired an hour earlier and had to compete with sunshine and fresh air. By moving the clock forward, more of their shows are aired after dark. I can say that not even the time change helps their ratings with me. My favorite channel is still off!
My final argument in support of HB 1947 is purely scientific. Since the sun still rises and sets on its same course and within its appointed times, why should we change our clocks to make it seem the sun overslept one night and has been late ever since! I say, until the government can make the sun stand still or make its shadow back up on the sundial, let's just set our clocks on standard time and live with it.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 03/18/2015