Longer days coming shortly
Daylight Savings Time undergoes
first changes in decade
By STACEY GRIJALVA
This year, Americans are springing forward three weeks earlier for Daylight Saving Time on March 11. Local athletes, deer, firefighters, and Lexington City Hall are all affected by this jump.
The day for beginning of Daylight Saving Time, which had been constant as the first Sunday in April since 1986, was pushed up starting this year as part of the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005. Senators cited studies from 30 years ago that show the extra time would save thousands of barrels of oil a day.
Locally, the extra hour of daylight in the afternoon may help the five high school sports that had their tryouts in February and plan to start this week and next week.
In addition to students playing in the warmer daylight, schools also save money because lights on courts, fields, and stadiums that turn on at dusk are now delayed an hour. Some sports may not require the additional light because practice ends before sundown.
However, students who hop on the school bus early as 6 a.m. will have to endure the cold and dark mornings for an extra three weeks. The darkest mornings are November through February, so the sun should slowly rise earlier as time marches on.
Most computer and other "smart" gadgets are programmed to automatically update clocks on the first Sunday of April. Potential problems abound in regard to calendars, appointments, and payroll and billing applications. A range of Microsoft products will be affected unless they are part of Vista.
Lexington City Hall has guarded against any problems it might have with software.
Gigi Vita, the coordinator for information technology for the city, said IBM sent a worker in February just to update all the computers. All finances, such as accounts, budgeting, and payroll, should not be adversely affected next Sunday.
Microsoft released a patch for users for personal computers, which can be accessed by visiting the Microsoft website http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst if the computer is not set to receive automatic updates.
Firefighters nationally campaign for Americans to change the batteries on smoke detectors as everyone changes their clocks. This year, they continue to urge everyone to check smoke detectors - but on the earlier date.
Deer accidents are also expected to decrease after the time change because people will not be driving home during dusk.
Bridget Donaldson, a wildlife researcher for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said that dusk is a time when deer come out of the woods, but that during the winter months, dusk is also the time many people are driving home.
VDOT estimates that wildlife, mostly deer, cause about 40,000 accidents a year in the state. Dusk has the highest rate of accidents.
Donaldson studied wildlife and found that deer, raccoons, and bears will use highway underpasses to cross.
"If they [find] a fairly covered location, with height and design, once they come across it, they will go out of the way to go through it because it’s easier and safer," she said.
People who drive home may worry about television shows they record using TiVo or Digital Video Recorder, which Comcast offers.
Yet no one has to miss "Desperate Housewives."
TiVo’s website says it regulates television show times by a signal that it receives from the official time clock of the United States.
Comcast customers who subscribe to DVR should also have their sets automatically updated.
If anyone experiences problems, Comcast recommended for customers to call their local customer service representative.
The energy saving idea dates back to the seventies. After the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, the United States extended DST temporarily in hopes of saving energy. The Department of Transportation, which oversees DST, studied the results of the next two years and found that 10,000 barrels of oil a day were saved.
The California Energy Commission found in a subsequent study that America's electricity usage is reduced by about one percent during each day that DST is in effect. The main effect is felt because it decreases the peak energy demand when people come home from school and work. People are less likely to turn on a light if the sun is still out.
Any glitches experienced next Sunday will be a learning experience for the new timing of the end of DST, because it now extends to the first Sunday of November, a week later than before.
Luckily for parents, children this year will be able to trick-or-treat for an extra hour in the daylight.
Produced by Washington and Lee journalism students.
Lead supervisor: Prof. Claudette Artwick
Reporting supervisors:
Technical supervisor: Michael Todd