This is the time of year where Salt Lake Community College students become a bit grumpy. Daylight saving time is almost here.
Daylight saving time occurs when clocks are adjusted one hour ahead to accommodate for the increasing amount of sunlight during the spring and summer months.
While most of North America participates in some form of daylight saving time, Utah legislators are considering changing time zones or simply opting out of daylight saving time.
“Most of Canada does do daylight saving time except where I’m from, Saskatchewan. Daylight saving time affects me more since I’m a night owl, the big differences [between] when the sun rises and sets can really throw me off kilter,” says SLCC student Sara Jans.
There are pros and cons to daylight saving time, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Daylight saving time means more flexibility for daytime activities; “falling back” shortens the day and limits what people can do before the sun goes down.
One benefit of ending daylight saving time is regaining the hour of sleep lost during the change, which is crucial for most college students because of all the stress they deal with during the day.
“The positive to it is during the fall, you get an extra hour to sleep, although if you work a grave shift that’s an extra hour of work,” Jans says.
Many Utahns believe the state should just stay with one consistent time because daylight saving time messes with everyone’s sleep schedule.
According to the Utah Daylight Saving Time Public Survey, about 27,000 people were asked if they were for or against the time change. A majority said they want to align with Arizona and stay on Mountain Standard Time. Around 700 of those surveyed were students.
“I don’t see much use keeping it around,” Jans says.
