By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

No, I haven’t forgotten the darkest moments of the City Council and their dreadful flirtation with repealing term limits. The gang of 22 and its seven Queens members who spat on the public and tried to overturn the will of the people can do little to restore their respect or credibility. They have the remainder of this year to gracefully fade away, hopefully forever from public view.

Public service is no career for those who cannot put the people first. There are 22 such people on the City Council — seven from Queens.

So we turn from the dark days of Council term limit repeal and look towards the light — the daylight.

And it is a spring when a young man’s fancy likely turns to thoughts of love, baseball and daylight saving time.

Yes, Daylight Saving Time, that annual ritual that we never quite could understand.

You know, Spring ahead, Fall back — it’s Daylight Saving Time!

Let’s see, it’s Spring ahead, so in April, we move our clocks from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Sunday morning. This Sunday morning, April 1st. Hmmm!

Okay, I know April first is April Fools Day and those of you that know me believe I’m capable of mischief. But let me clearly state we move our clocks on Sunday, April 1st — well actually Saturday night, March 31st — you change from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. This April Fools Day is really the beginning of Daylight Saving Time this year. (LOL).

The US Time Zones

Why?

Because, it’s the law!

Actually, Congress passed a law, The Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S. Code Section 260a) creating Daylight Saving Time. Any area that wanted to be exempt could do so by passing a local ordinance – there’s a chance for the City Council to mess things up. A 1986 Amendment set DST to begin on the first Sunday in April.

A little background might prove helpful for those of you who have always been befuddled by this strange custom.

Time zones were first used by the railroads in 1883 to standardize their schedules. In 1918, Congress made the U.S. rail zones official under federal law. When they created the Department of Transportation in 1966, it transferred the responsibility for the time laws to the new department and passed the Uniform Time Act.

Historically, the concept is much older. Our hero, Benjamin Franklin, while a minister to France, first suggested the idea in a humorous essay in 1784 titled "Turkey vs. Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle." But it wasn’t for more than a century later that an Englishman, William Willett, suggested it again in 1907 eventually resulting in the introduction of British Summer Time by an Act of Parliament in 1916. Clocks were put one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during the summer months. England recognized that the nation could save energy and changed their clocks during the First World War.

In 1918, in order to conserve resources for the war effort, the U.S. Congress placed the country on Daylight Saving Time for the remainder of WW1. The law, however, proved so unpopular that it was later repealed.

When America went to war again, Congress reinstated Daylight Saving Time on February 2, 1942 and it remained so year-round until September 30, 1945.

From 1945 to 1966, there was no U.S. law about Daylight Saving Time. So, states and localities were free to observe DST or not, causing confusion.

By 1966, some 100 million Americans were observing Daylight Saving Time through local laws and customs and Congress decided to step in, end the confusion and establish one pattern across the country. It was one of those rare occasions where Congress ended (as opposed to begun) the confusion.

During the Arab-Israeli War in October 1973, gasoline became scarce in the U.S. and prices jumped 40 percent, impacting the American economy. Following the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, Congress put most of the nation on extended Daylight Saving Time for two years in hopes of saving additional energy. This experiment worked, but Congress did not continue the experiment in 1975 because of opposition — mostly from the farming states.

Perhaps the biggest reasons we change our clocks to Daylight Saving Time (DST) is that it saves energy. Energy use and the demand for electricity for lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and when we get up. Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of Transportation show that we trim the entire country’s electricity usage by about one percent each day with Daylight Saving Time.

Studies and modeling are currently being done by the State of California’s Energy Commission to see if creating an early DST or going to a year-round DST will help with the electricity problems the state is facing.

Look out New York; you could be next.

Over the years, supporters have advanced new reasons in support of DST. One is safety. Some people believe that if we have more daylight at the end of the day, we will have fewer accidents.

The most frequent complaint is the inconvenience of changing many clocks, and adjusting to a new sleep schedule. People who wake at dawn often put a more legitimate complaint forth. Farmers often dislike the clocks changing mid year.

And the argument continues.

Everything is politics.

Now, if instead of the present system, you changed when we adjusted the clocks, you could likely win more universal support. It seems rather simple.

Hey Congress, pay attention.

Spring Ahead

This Sunday morning at 2AM (Saturday night), it’s Spring ahead to 3AM. Happy April Fools Day!

You should fall back on Saturday night in October — I’d make it earlier than two AM — giving folks more time to party, dine, play or enjoy their weekly hottest night out. If they moved the clocks Saturday night at let’s say, 9PM (making it 8PM), you could catch a 6:30 PM flick and be sipping wine with your salad at your favorite restaurant by 8:30 PM. Now who wouldn’t like that?

On the other hand, if they made the April "Spring Forward" move Monday at 2PM (in the afternoon instead of night), we’d all go home an hour early from work or school. You won’t get a lot of complaints there either.

I mean we could save energy, pick up an hour of playtime in October and lose an hour of school or work time in April. Congress, you could be heroic!

Hey, why not do it 6 or more times a year?

Now, remember, Sunday, Spring ahead.

Oh, Happy April Fools Day!

Why Is Sheldon Smiling?

THEN THERE WERE SIX: The first photo of the six announced Queens Dem Borough Presidential Candidates: (rear, l. to r.) Councilmembers Karen Koslowitz, Sheldon Leffler, and Helen Marshall; (front, l. to r.) former Board of Educ Prez Carol Gresser, newly announced Haydee Zambrana and Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer.
photo by: Dee Richard

For Good Health: It’s Sex Three Times A Week

Not4Publication.com by Dom Nunziato

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Michael Schenkler can be reached at: MSchenkler@QueensTribune.com

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