Daylight Saving Time
With contributions from www.webexhibits.org 
This is a reminder that the clocks move forward one hour Saturday night, April 2 nd to begin Daylight Saving Time (DST). Whole books have been written on the history of DST and it is surprising how controversial it has always been.
Did you know that the European Union also has a Daylight Saving Time program that starts and stops on different dates than the United States ?
The Energy Savings Acts of 2005 changes the dates and extends by several weeks the time affected. This is scheduled to go into effect in 2007 unless Congress decides otherwise. This year as usual DST begins at 2:00 am on the first Sunday of April (April 2 nd) and ends at 2:00 am on the last Sunday in October (the 29 th). In 2007 DST will begin on the second Sunday in March and end the first Sunday in November.
Here are some interesting anecdotes about Daylight Saving Time:
Draft Status, Vietnam War
A man, born just after 12:00 a.m. DST, circumvented the Vietnam War draft by using a daylight saving time loophole. When drafted, he argued that standard time, not DST, was the official time for recording births in his state of Delaware in the year of his birth. Thus, under official standard time he was actually born on the previous day—and that day had a much higher draft lottery number, allowing him to avoid the draft.
Palestinian Terrorists
In September 1999, the Palestinian West Bank was on daylight saving time while Israel had just switched back to standard time. West Bank Palestinians prepared time bombs and smuggled them to Arab Israelis, who misunderstood the time on the bombs. As the bombs were being planted, they exploded—one hour too early—killing three terrorists instead of the intended victims—two busloads of people.
Time Change Riots
Patrons of bars that stay open past 2:00 a.m. lose one hour of drinking time on the day when Daylight Saving Time springs forward one hour. This has led to annual problems in numerous locations, and sometimes even to riots. For example, at a "time disturbance" in Athens, Ohio, site of Ohio University, over 1,000 students and other late night partiers chanted "Freedom," as they threw liquor bottles at the police attempting to control the riot.
Indiana
Indiana has long been a hotbed of Daylight Saving Time controversy. Historically, the state’s two western corners, which fall in the Central Time Zone, observed DST, while the remainder of the state, in the Eastern Time zone, followed year-round Standard Time. An additional complication was that five southeastern counties near Cincinnati and Louisville unofficially observed DST to keep in sync with those cities. Because of the longstanding feuds over DST, Indiana politicians often treated the subject gingerly. In 1996, gubernatorial candidate Rex Early firmly declared, “Some of my friends are for putting all of Indiana on Daylight Saving Time. Some are against it. And I always try to support my friends.” For years, many believed that Indiana changed time zones in the summer. Part of the confusion stemmed from the fact that in the winter, most of Indiana kept the same time as New York (which is Eastern), and in the summer, Indiana kept the same time as Chicago (which is Central).
In April 2005, Indiana legislators passed a law that will implement Daylight Saving Time statewide beginning on April 2, 2006. Still in question is which part of the state falls in the Eastern time zone and which part of the state falls in the Central time zone.
The Impact for Cincinnati Time Systems’ Clients
Most of the systems we provide automatically adjust the time at 2:00 am on the dates affected. If you are using HandPunch terminals or TruTime MTX terminals you will want to check the setup in your clock communications screens to make sure the dates are set. Note: NOVAtime users can find this menu by selecting Clock Communications, then Configure NT(X) 000B, then Hand Reader Setup.
Next year will be particularly challenging as several of the data collection terminals have DST hard coded into their firmware. The manufacturers are working now to make this transition go as smoothly as possible. We’ll keep you informed as we learn more.