Fall break is a time to relax, a time to forget about your troubles and a time to not even worry about the time of day.
That is, if you can keep track of what time of time it is.
Students who left town over the four-day weekend might have had trouble last weekend with a task that is usually taken care of by a simple clock. Anyone who left Indiana for a destination such as, for example, the Chicago area on Friday arrived in a time zone that seemed, on the outside, similar to Muncie's - no clocks needed to be changed.
Enter Daylight Savings Time.
At 2 a.m. Saturday, when most - ok, probably very few - Ball State students were asleep, most of the nation pulled a fast one on them and turned their clocks back one hour.
Now, all of a sudden, clocks were changing, but no time zones were being crossed.
The confusion to follow was the type that only true Hoosiers could feel in their blood. No matter how often they were told it was 4:30 p.m. - or how many times they told themselves - they knew, deep down inside, that it was a lie.
Despite the inner-conflict, most students probably put up with it, if for no other reason than to catch the end of the World Series. But then they would have to change their clocks back again as they eagerly packed their bags to return to Ball State.
The concept of Daylight Savings Time began in 1883 when it was established by the railroads, but did not become law until the Standard Time Act of 1918, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. That law was repealed in 1919, but was re-established during World War II. Since then, it has seen some changes, but the concept has remained the same.
However, most of Indiana, along with Arizona and Hawaii, does not observe Daylight Savings Time. When the rest of the country turns back its clocks, we ignore it. Why? Because we're Hoosiers.
That is why a weekend outside of Indiana when these changes are taking place seems so radical.
That is also why it will be interesting to see what becomes of a bill that proposes adoption of daylight-savings time in Indiana in 2003. The bill is co-sponsored by State Rep. Tiny Adams, D-Muncie. Also, the Hoosier Daylight Saving Coalition, a group of businesses, labor unions, professional and government groups, has returned to campaigning, saying an extra hour of daylight would reduce electricity up to 1 percent per day.
Support for the bill in the senate seems favorable, with no one appearing to flat-out oppose the bill. In fact, the only real opposition seems to be coming from the Indiana Farm Bureau. Lew Middleton, a spokesman for the Bureau, called daylight savings time a gimmick that saves "neither time nor daylight."
Despite the Hoosier traditions, though, those little white lies during fall break were rather pleasurable. When you've whittled your day away and still have a lot more you wanted to do, it is kind of nice to look at the clock and realize it was much earlier than you thought.
Hopefully the senate will consider the bill. If nothing else, it will add a little sunshine to the dreary winter months.
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