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Opinion

Outdated time change should be eliminated

James McCormick 
Opinion Columnist

On March 10, daylight savings time started four weeks earlier than it has in years past. This was done in order to boost productivity, essentially so that people can work more hours. That said, it threw off the sleeping schedules of spring breakers -- at least among those who slept. But it's the time warp itself that really drives people insane.

Adjusting to a different sunrise and sunset time can be difficult, even if the time differential is only an hour -- just ask anyone who is not used to air travel. Indeed, the switch from standard to daylight saving time causes quite a bit of drowsiness, which can cause accidents on the road and on the job. This added danger is unnecessary and is induced for reasons that cannot be explained adequately.

In addition to that most obvious problem, the fact is that the time change causes other problems, as some areas not observing any time change, even within this country. 

There can be problems with data centers located in those states and countries that do not observe any kind of summer time change, mostly attributed to time-sensitive update schedules and writing-access errors induced by missing an hour on one day during the year and adding that hour back in the way it is done now. Of course, the computer scripts that do such jobs are written with the time changes in mind. That said, it is a hassle with which people should not have to deal.

If having a later sunrise actually does improve productivity, then perhaps daylight saving time should be implemented all year, not just when the day is at its longest. It would help in the winter solstice just as much as it does in the middle of summer. Perhaps moving permanently to Daylight Savings Time would be a good idea. 

After all, the government has the authority to implement any kind of time zone changes it wants. They could move the mainland and Alaskan time zones an hour forward. It's not as if anyone still uses the old definition of noon being when shadows are the shortest. People have watches, computers and clocks that synchronize to various time stations across the world, most of which are attuned to an atomic clock.

So, let's forgo the jump to the left and the step to the right, and stop changing our clocks. The government needs to either choose to use standard time or daylight savings time exclusively. 

McCormick, a computer science post-baccalaureate student, 
can be reached via dccampus@mail.uh.edu