By Lena LaJoy

Students at the University of Maryland, angered by the effects of daylight saving time, thought the annoyance resulted from farmers needing more sunlight in the mornings. However, this myth is not true, and some farmers also do not see a point in the time change.

Currently, daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November, according to Daylight Saving Time.

While many people think daylight saving time started as a way to help farmers, this isn’t true. Daylight saving time originated in Germany and Austria-Hungary in 1916, during World War I, to preserve coal, which was needed to generate artificial light at night, according to the source Daylight Saving Time.

The United States implemented daylight saving time in 1918 with the Standard Time Act. However, it was repealed in 1919 because of public opposition to the change. Following the war, the U.S. stopped using daylight saving time, according to Daylight Saving Time.

The U.S. reinstated daylight saving time during World War II. In 1966, confusion surrounding the practice prompted Congress to pass the “Uniform Time Act” to standardize timekeeping across the country, according to Daylight Saving Time.

Jeff Semler, an extension agent in Washington County for the University of Maryland College of Agriculture, said he thinks people associate daylight saving time with farming because there is a disconnect between rural and urban life.

“We’re farming in the dark today so daylight saving time is pretty meaningless on the farm,” Semler said.

Semler said he believes the myths about daylight saving time originating as a benefit to farmers came from fewer people working in the farming industry. He said this generational disconnect means that the truth about the farmers’ opinions on daylight saving time has not been passed down.

“There’s no direct connection to that, so they really don’t know, ‘Oh yeah Grandpa didn’t pay any attention to that daylight thing’,” Semler said.

Kay Angeh, a senior neuroscience major, strongly dislikes daylight saving time. She said she believes earlier sunsets affect mental health because people receive less vitamin D.

“Unless you’re supplementing a crazy amount of vitamin D, which I am, you’re gonna be sad and you’re not going to know why,” Angeh said.

Angeh also said earlier sunsets disrupt daily schedules because photoreceptors in the eyes detect sunlight and alert the brain to wake up. Similarly, at night, the darkness alerts your brain that it is time to wind down.

“It’s led to me feeling like my day’s over at seven o’clock and not being productive into the night,” Angeh said.

Rory Fritts, a junior government and politics major, said she dislikes daylight saving time because it can cause confusion when someone forgets the time change and fails to adjust their clock.

Fritts also said the time change disrupts her schedule, as it makes her feel less productive when walking to and from her later class in the dark.

“At the start of the semester it was very pretty,” Fritts said. “Now it’s pitch black by 5 p.m. and that’s the time I have to walk to that class … it just makes me not want to go even more.”

Sarah Moyal, a sophomore government and politics major, said she does not think daylight saving time is 100% necessary.  She also believes the time change is very disruptive not only for students but also for those who work 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“It is crazy that … soon enough they’re not going to be essentially outside when it’s daytime for the next two to three months because once they get out of their job, at 5 p.m., it’s already going to be night,” Moyal said.

Mahalia Williams, a junior public policy major, said she thinks daylight saving time is inconvenient because not everyone follows the time change.

Williams said that while she gets annoyed with the end of daylight saving time in the fall, she dislikes it even more when it starts in the spring because she has to wake up earlier.

Angeh said she does not understand why the U.S. continues to observe daylight saving time when not every state follows it.

In the U.S., Hawaii and parts of Arizona are on standard time, meaning they do not change the clocks during the year, according to congress.net. Although no other state has officially stopped observing daylight saving time, several states have made efforts to pass legislation to stop the time change.

“We need to keep up with the times … so I’m confused why we still do this,” Angeh said.

Featured Image: UMD Memorial Chapel Clock. Photo by Stella Henretta.