Letter to the editor: simple time zone examples

U.S. Code is clear that time zones are designed to divide winter daylight hours evenly between the morning and the evening. Likewise, daylight saving time moves one hour of summer sunlight from morning to evening -- a compromise between extended leisure time and darkness at a reasonable hour for bedtime.

On January 26, there are 10 hours of daylight in Indy. The ideal sunrise and sunset would be as close as possible to 7:00 and 5:00 -- 5 hours before noon and 5 after. On central time, the sunrise and sunset are 6:58 and 4:57 -- within a couple of minutes of nominal. On eastern, sunrise and sunset are 7:58 and 5:57 -- effectively daylight saving time in the middle of winter.

On August 8, there are 14 hours of daylight. Ideal sunrise and sunset are 6:00 and 8:00 -- 6 hours before noon and 8 after. On central time, sunrise and sunset are 5:50 and 7:50 -- within ten minutes of nominal. On eastern time, sunrise and sunset are 6:50 and 8:50 -- nearly two hours sunlight shifted from morning to evening. It's easy to see why some have dubbed New York time in Indiana as "double daylight time."

cc: Indiana legislators, Governor Daniels, Mayor Stephen Luecke
cc: DOT Docket OST-2005-22114