U.S. SHOULD BLACK OUT DAYLIGHT-SAVING TIME.

Byline: Christopher Nyerges Local View

ONCE again, I am wondering why I must ``lose'' an hour this Sunday in our twice-annual adjustment of time. What am I gaining? Why do we do this to ourselves?

Daylight-saving time is a manipulation of the basic solar time within each time zone's standard. It was said to be an idea of Benjamin Franklin, and was begun in the United States during World Wars I and II, and eventually became ``official'' in all but two states.

Mexico only recently adopted daylight savings time, a result of our pressuring our southern neighbor to be in step with the U.S. But many Mexicans asked, ``What do we need this for? What is the benefit of this?''

Indeed, daylight-saving time is like a quaint tradition of a bygone era that refuses to die. It is a pointless habit with little recognizable merit.

There are two often-cited reasons for the use of daylight-saving time. One is so that, in the fall, the children can have more light going to school in the morning. But consider the following: The children have an hour more of daylight in late October, when the clock is set back to standard time.

Get that? It is the very use of daylight-saving time that creates a darker morning as the days get shorter and shorter. The ``falling back'' an hour merely puts us back in sync with the local time zone. It is the use of daylight-saving time that created the problem of less light in the morning, and only in that sense can you say that the ``falling back'' to regular time gives children that extra hour of light.

Another commonly cited reason for the use of daylight-saving time is so there is more usable light in the afternoons and evenings of the summertime, presumably so that farmers can work outside longer, and so that city dwellers can work around the house longer without consuming electricity. Again, these are very hollow reasons.

My grandfather and all my uncles on my mother's side were farmers. I have some knowledge of the schedule of farmers. There is not one that I know who does not arise at the crack of dawn, if not sooner. There is no other way to function as a farmer. You then proceed to work as long as needed, and as long as you are able. The manipulation of clocks in no way affected how much work farmers get done, or not done.

As for the average city dweller working around the house and not using as much electricity because of daylight-saving time, I am simply not convinced that this is such a great pressing need which compels us to manipulate our clocks.

I have never talked to, heard or met a single person who has declared that the implementation of daylight-saving time was somehow critical or important to his or her lifestyle, livelihood, or business. Not one!

We all utilize the never-ending cycling of hours as a gauge to our life's activities. We get accustomed to certain patterns and rhythms. I have found that my body tends to arise at the same ``time,'' whether the clock reads standard or daylight-saving time. But since none of us lives in a vacuum, there is always the necessity to ``readjust'' after each changing of the clocks so that our natural rhythms are then realigned with the legal time. It sometimes takes me two or three days for this adjustment. Is this really necessary?

Those who wish to start school or go to work earlier can do so on their own! It may even make the freeways less crowded at rush hours. But keep the standard time year-round.

Yes, this is a small thing in the context of a world at war, with hate and suspicion in all political camps, and endless economic hardships. But it's still an issue that should be resolved and dealt with.

Let's end daylight-saving time as a pointless relic of the past that has outlived its usefulness.