Daylight Savings Time
Sorry about the...long delay...since my last post. When school started up again I tried to kick my internet news habit so I'd have more time to do work. Now that that plan has failed resoundingly, I can go back to harassing all of you here.
Jim Lindgren from Volokh has written a post arguing that daylight savings time should be in effect throughout the year—or that the entire country should effectively move an hour ahead to make daylight coordinate better with our schedules. In response, Eugene Volokh jokingly (I hope) argued that we should just extend daylight:
Jim Lindgren's extending Daylight Savings Time plan sounds good, but I'd much rather extend daylight. L.A., where I live, is already on average warmer and sunnier than most places in the U.S. Why shouldn't it be on average lighter?Now, I admire Professor Volokh very much, but on this issue he is simply nuts. One of the worst things about living in LA is the constant sunniness. It's rarely cloudy or overcast, and when DST is in effect it stays light past dinnertime. I'm much happier now that DST's over, and I can pretty much stay inside until after dark.This whole everyone-gets-12-hours-of-daylight-a-day-on-average plan sounds wrong to me; another example of hyperegalitarianism run amok. Maybe even Communism. We Americans deserve better -- there ought to be a law, or something. Sixteen hours a day of light on average, with eight hours of darkness, sounds about right to me, but I'll be willing to compromise on 14-10. And, no, I'm not in the mood to move hemispheres myself twice a year; I want the light to come to me . . . .
posted by Jadagul at 10/30/2005 07:20:00 PM
4 Comments:
Have dinner later in summer. Would that be so hard? For many people it is never easier than in college to throw off mechanical watches and follow their emotional clock. Except for attending class, and for some modern students, I understand, not even that. Never easier before or after to eat when hungry and sleep when sleepy. Tomorrow's creeping up on you in its petty pace. Tick. Tock. A clubmate of mine ran USNews & World Report's annual college guide for many years. Perhaps he should add a sunlight factor to his rankings.
I agree whole heartedly, sunlight is unpleasant. A constant 50 degree sky threatening rain 24 hours a day, but only making good on said threat when I step inside.
in reply to mcafee- univ of colorado actually does
include a sunlight factor- go figure - it helps with recruiting! and personally- i look forward again (since college is far far behind me) to the sleep and eating pattern being set my nature and not a 9 am manditory meeting with the guys in from new york! ah retirement looks so good- although indiana seems to be fighting the daylight savings war for years now and no one wants to live there
And it's bad for you! Wouldn't a beneficent government advocate DAT (Daylight Avoidance Time) to protect its citizenry from the scourge of sunlight and the rapid rise in the rate of skin cancer? Surely a thoughtful congressional investigation (oops, oxymoron alert!) would result in the creation of incentives designed to promote nocturnal living. Jay, you're simply ahead of the curve!
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