Before anyone signs a petition to put us all on year-round Alaska Standard Time, consider that if we drop back, between mid-May and mid-July, the sun would begin shining through cracks in our curtains in the 3 a.m. hour, rather than after 4 a.m. Also, forget those 10 p.m. softball games, as functional daylight would begin to fade around 9:30 p.m., rather than 10:30 p.m.
Interesting that with all of the alleged hazards and decreased alertness issues, I have never heard a complaint about the consequences of losing or gaining an hour or two on travels ranging from Rocky Mountain states to Hawaii. How is that possible? Should we have a petition-signing to prevent students from travel outside of our own time zone to preserve their health and alertness? Or could the entire thing just be psychosomatic?
Instead of dragging us backwards, we should instead opt for permanent Daylight Saving Time. It would result in us having the same time as the West Coast for 6.5 months of the year. If the rest of the U.S. were to abandon DST, we’d permanently be in sync with them. We have a lot of light for more than half the year. Let’s take advantage of it!
— Greg Durocher
Anchorage
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