I really had intended to limit my Daylight Saving Time ranting to the one bit of grumbling from yesterday. But Oseye T. Boyd’s “Hoosiers fear change and that’s why they hate DST” article in the Muncie Star Press was pretty annoying.
DST is symptomatic of Indiana’s aversion to change, Indiana University professor of history and author James Madison said. Madison wrote, “The Indiana Way,” which chronicles Indiana history.
The same attitude can be found in laws that prohibit selling alcohol on Sundays, the fight over prayer at the Indiana Statehouse and the latest battle to rid Indiana of township government, which was first proposed in the 1930s by then Gov. Paul McNutt.
Nothing in the article about how Daylight Saving Time doesn’t actually save any energy or how it hasn’t seemed to make a damn bit of difference in terms of jobs for Hoosiers or how Indiana’s longitude makes adopting daylight time more problematic and year round standard time a pretty good fit.
I get that synchronization with other states has advantages and that some people’s schedules are better suited to later nights than to earlier mornings. But let’s not pretend that Hoosier resistance to Daylight Saving Time is solely, or even primarily, rooted in some irrational fear of change.
I gotta admit a longing for the 70s, back when my professors at IU could construct a logical argument.
First, you wanna apply “resistant to change” to Hoosiers generally, axiomatically, fine. (And, I’d ask, what’s wrong with that, exactly?) But as a post-facto explanation for anger at a badly mismanaged, not to mention high-handed, imposition of DST on the western edge of Eastern time? I’m 55, and I’ve lived most of that time in Indiana. Under Central Time twice, Eastern Time twice, and DST three times. Some resistance to change. Sounds more like an ongoing squabble.
As for the argument from expertise, I’d remind Professor Madison that the leading cause of death in the US is heart disease. Second is cancer. Third is medical misadventure. Call me when you’re an expert in something you can prove.
DST stands as a good reason to be cautious about enacting some law in response to environmental concerns of the day. Mainly, conditions change. It was once true that DST was meant to curb two things: the consumption of coal in the home, and electricity for lighting, which again uses coal. Who’s going to argue that the goal of reducing coal usage was a bad idea (besides the union representing the miners and the mine owner, of course)?
Now we have more homes that have air conditioning, so the savings is long gone. Law is slow to change.
But I love that this issue gets your pants in a bunch perhaps more than any other. :-)
Daylight Saving Time and class basketball. What can I say, I’m a 5th generation Hoosier. Must be the water or something mutating the genes.
It’s a perfectly good rant. From what I’ve gathered, Indiana hopped into DST because everybody else does it. Yet there’s the bigger question of whether it makes any sense for everybody to do it.
Yet another BS article from the media who benefit from being in the wrong time zone. This is all about the money. Eastern time-bought and paid for by greedy lobbyists.
DST is stupid in the first place, for all the reasons Doug said. Then on top of that, Indiana being in the Eastern Time Zone is the end all be all of terrible ideas. It doesn’t feel right. It just doesn’t feel right. The time should have some passing relation to the position of the sun.
Well said, Doug. It seems that newspapers are knee-jerkily (wd?) in favor of DST and tend to run editorials and articles in favor of it, with little print given to the other side. The people who run Indiana newspapers have apparently decided that anyone who is against DST is hopelessly provincial and resistant to change.
I had James Madison for Indiana History when I was at IU. Knowing him, he was probably saying this tongue-in-cheek to the reporter.
However this is a lesson for us to wake up when it comes to change-becuase when we do fight it-and lose-we can end up with someone else’s moronic idea of what we need. (Like being linked to Eastpoint, Maine instead of Chicago).
For what it’s worth, I’ve read Madison’s “The Indiana Way” which provides an overview of Indiana history, and I liked it pretty well.
He looked like and acted a lot like Alan Alda;-)
That’s more of an argument against time zones generally than against Indiana’s placement in one or the other. One could just as easily say, “why is Indiana on the same time as Pecos, Texas yet an hour ahead of Cincinnati and Louisville?” Timezones exist, the line has to be somewhere, and based on our state’s location, it’s going to be inconvenient for Indiana no matter what we do.
Good point, John. In Tell City, I’m on Texas time, and west of Terre Haute, time-wise.
I don’t know whether it was Madison or the reporter from Muncie who made the following quote (I suspect the latter) but it is obviously in error:
The fight to move Indiana to daylight saving time was long and arduous. Although DST was first introduced in 1918, it took Indiana 88 years to observe it.
First, Central time counties have observed DST since Indiana moved into the split time zones in 1961. Second, from 1961 to 1968 all counties went on DST. I am sure prior to 1961 when DST was a local option, several Indiana counties used it.
So they push an article that trashes Hoosiers making them sound like they can’t figure out how to be on daylight time, or they refuse to be with the rest of the world. Problem is that is B.S.,as Arizona, Saskatchewan, Panama (and many other Equatorial countries), South Africa and part of Argentina do not observe DST, to name a few. If a businessman can’t figure out what time it is in Indiana then forget doing business in Argentina under NAFTA/CAFTA and the South American trade agreements because you are not only dealing with time zones, but varying DST, and season differences as well. On February 14, Rev. AJB in Valparaiso is 4 hours behind Buenos Aires and 3 hours behind Mendoza. Doug in Lafayette is 3 hours behind Buenos Aires and 2 behind Mendoza. March 9, now Rev AJB is 3 hours behind Buenos Aires and 2 behind Mendoza. Doug is 2 and 1 hour behind respectively. Move forward to May. It is now late fall in Argentina and now Rev AJB is only two hours behind Buenos Aires and two behind Mendoza (B.A. is off daylight time). Doug is one hour behind each. Until our early fall, then they go back on daylight time and the situation is the same as it is on March 9, for a few weeks. By November 9, we are back to the February 14 situation. Moral of story, if you can’t handle the time zones in Indiana, forget trying to figure out the rest of the world. (but do check out the wineries in Mendoza, they are excellent, and take the High Andes tour)
Plus ,when Saint Joseph County wanted to change to the central timezone that was deemed “unacceptable change”.
“That’s more of an argument against time zones generally than against Indiana’s placement in one or the other. One could just as easily say, “why is Indiana on the same time as Pecos, Texas yet an hour ahead of Cincinnati and Louisville?†Timezones exist, the line has to be somewhere, and based on our state’s location, it’s going to be inconvenient for Indiana no matter what we do.”
Frankly,I don’t see your point,John. There are 24 time zones. When you divide the globe into 24 sections it stands to reason that there is going to be wide stretches between edges of each section.But the fact remains that not one inch of Indiana soil lies geographically in the Eastern time zone.If geography has nothing to do with time zones,which is essentially what the DOT said when it placed Indiana in the Eastern zone,then lets put LA on NY time.Or, like China,just have one time zone. That makes as much sense as Indiana being on Eastern time.
Imo,the only other workable option for Indiana,other than the present one, would be statewide CTZ.That movement would have to start from Indianapolis ,and it surely won’t unless thinking changes.It would have to be a straight forward, whole state shift, all at one time.
Whenever regions in Indiana opt for TZ ,the state divides down the middle,with Indianapolis anchoring ETZ.Im not sure how much DST changes this trend.But hardly anyone wants the state divided by TZ down the middle even suffering post 9pm summer sunsets and post 8 am winter sunrises.So unity always trumps TZ. TZ is a lesser consideration for most people.But unity is a perception and perceptions can change,or be changed,but also become ingrained with time,so time is what’s working against CTZ. These are just my personal views as a non-resident,but frequent visitor.
The catalyst that would change the present equation is for the Indianapolis area to have a CT Epiphany. I can’t define *Indianapolis area* but someone living in Indiana probably can.
Lou, I have a problem with your idea that the change will need to come from Indy. My reason for this is why then did Mitch feel the need to stop Saint Joe County from going central? Could that have been because we would have seen a top down spiral to central time?
Larry-It was because 20% unemployment Elkhart County felt that St. Joe County going central would screw up their economic chances-as they wanted to remain in ETZ. The much less populous Elkhart County held back St. Joe county from being tied to Chicagoland-like they’d like to be.
Gary-that reminds me of when I lived in the eastern edge of La Porte County in the late ’90’s. Five miles to the north of me was always an hour ahead. In DST days, five miles to the east of me was on the same time. In the fall-it too was an hour ahead.
To make matters worse-the school district straddled that eastern line…
REV AJB I know that about Elkhart County, never forget or discount the letter Mitch sent to the DOT. In theory, he could have said to the DOT move Saint Joe County and Elkhart County. More later
I’d to clarify why I think Indiana got the reputation of having confusing time.It’s because of people like my sister who don’t focus in on time generally ,and who only periodically would go in and out of Indiana. Here’s the latest true story.She’s going to catch a plane in Indianapolis on March 29th which leaves at 7:30 pm.From her point of view the plane leaves at 6:30 pm,because she’s coming from Illinois.Ive already had to clarify that there will be no time change for her departure.
Before DST observance in Indianapolis the departure time in Illinois would have changed from 6:30 to 7:30 pm CDT.So those who try to make a case that CDT and EST are the same are self-deluding.CDT is always seasonal,and is not a TZ. Now when both Illinois and Indiana change clocks at same time, her departure time remains at 6:30 pm CDT,so the one hour time difference between CTZ and ETZ remains constant.But that’s different from how it used to be,so it takes getting used to.
There was always this perception that when Illinois changed time , Indiana collapsed into time chaos,especially for the periodic traveler coming into and leaving the state.And perception becomes fact if continually re-inforced.I mentioned once before the confusion of game starting time for Chicago sports travelers to South Bend after Illinois time changes.There’s huge amount of fans who travel to SB.
It will take a couple more years or so for this minority of people to feel confortable again that Indiana time is predictable for those who don’t cross TZs often .I truly don’t think people living in Indiana appreciate what the confusion has been.
I will give Gov Daniels credit on recognizing that Indiana should observe DST along with the rest of the country. A minority of confused people on what time it is,probably would depress business and profit. TZ is another entire issue he didn’t focus on and that’s why he’s condemned by some on the time issue,imo. But I would guess that CTZ or ETZ makes no difference as long as the time difference is consistent. And then added weeks of DST became effective at the same time as EDT,and the time criticism was exacerbated.
It’s interesting to hear reports above that even some living in Indiana in CTZ and ETZ are confused with the present time system within the state.
This old, retired, Minnesota gopher living in Panama is reminded of the voiced concerns of the 1950’s that cows would give less milk because the time change would confuse them. I never saw a cow with a watch!
One year the state of Minnesota voted not to have daylight savings time but the city of Minneapolis did. However, the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis was state property and followed state rules.
All summer long motorists crossing the Mississippi were greeted with a banner as they crossed onto campus, “Welcome to the University of Minnesota where we are exactly one hour behind the times.”
Greetings from Panama where we do not change the clock twice a year.