A Feb. 1 graphic on the change to daylight saving time contained incorrect times for sunrise and sunset in the Washington region on March 11. Sunrise will be at 7:26 a.m., not 7:04 a.m., and sunset will be at 7:11 p.m., not 6:46 p.m.
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Clocks' Early Spring Forward May Bring About a Few Falls
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"Users should view any appointments that fall into these date ranges as suspect until they communicate with all meeting invitees to make sure that the item shows up correctly on everyone's calendar both internally and externally," Microsoft says on its Web site.
Similarly, network equipment maker Cisco Systems "has undertaken a company-wide initiative to supply documentation that describes how to update each product," the firm said in a recent online notice. "Customers should contact any vendor that uses time-sensitive messaging or other time-stamped communications in order to determine the impact."
"This is an important issue," said Cisco spokesman John Noh, cautioning companies and consumers against too much complacency.
The congressional debate over expanding daylight saving time barely caused a ripple in the spring and summer of 2005. It was buried in a wide-ranging energy bill that got attention for granting tax breaks to oil and gas companies. Advocates said the nation could save about 100,000 barrels of oil a day by extending daylight saving time, pushing more human activity into sunlight hours and reducing the use of light bulbs. So lawmakers agreed to start daylight saving time three weeks earlier -- on the second Sunday in March -- and end it a week later, on the first Sunday in November.
Some airlines fought the change, saying it would cost millions of dollars to change domestic schedules to match landing and takeoff slots at international airports. But President Bush signed the measure in August 2005, and the matter seemed to hibernate until corporate and government officials began realizing what the March 11 onset might entail.
If the change is prompting confusion and consternation, it's in keeping with daylight saving time's curious history. First proposed by Benjamin Franklin, it was briefly adopted by Congress during World War I. In 1966, Congress set daylight saving time to begin in April and end in October but temporarily extended the period during the mid-1970s energy crisis.
In 1986, Congress scheduled daylight saving to start at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April and to end on the last Sunday in October. And there it has remained for two decades, a period of explosive growth in the use of computers.
Although Congress had stopped meddling for 20 years, some states and counties kept feuding. After resisting for years, Indiana adopted daylight saving time last year. But Hawaii does not recognize it, nor does Arizona -- except on its large Navajo reservation.
If there is a sweet ending to the debate, it will occur Oct. 31. Candy manufacturers lobbied for years to stretch daylight saving time to encompass Halloween. Not only will children have more daylight hours to consume treats, they contend, but they will be safer zipping across streets in their costumes.
And if Nov. 1 seems unusually dark and cold when the first school bell rings, perhaps they can warm themselves with thoughts of unused barrels of oil.
