Daylight Saving Time-and The Greeters Program here at THD

Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight saving(s), daylight savings time, daylight time (United States and Canada), or summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks to make better use of the longer daylight available during summer so that darkness falls at a later clock time. The typical implementation of DST is to set clocks forward by one hour in spring or late winter, and to set clocks back by one hour to standard time in the autumn (or fall in North American English, hence the mnemonic: "spring forward and fall back".

Sun, Mar 9, 2025 – Sun, Nov 2, 2025

United States · Pacific Time

William Willettindependently proposed DST in 1907 and advocated it tirelessly.

Proponents of DST generally argue that it saves energy, promotes outdoor leisure activity in the evening (in summer), and is therefore good for physical and psychological health, reduces traffic accidents, reduces crime or is good for business. Opponents argue the actual energy savings are inconclusive.

Although energy conservation goals still remain under certain conditions, energy usage patterns have greatly changed since then. In a publication from 2025, based on this change in consumption patterns, such as air conditioning systems, additional consumption is expected to occur more frequently during daylight saving time in the future.  Electricity use is greatly affected by geography, climate, and economics, so the results of a study conducted in one place may not be relevant to another country or climate. Nevertheless, while overall electricity usage does not decrease, the evening peak demand is flattened, which in turn has a direct impact on generation costs.

Economic effects

It has been argued that clock shifts correlate with decreased economic efficiency and that in 2000, the daylight-saving effect implied an estimated one-day loss of $31 billion on US stock exchanges. Others have asserted that the observed results depend on methodology and disputed the findings, though the original authors have refuted points raised by disputers.

Effects on health

There are measurable adverse effects of clock-shifts on human health. It has been shown to disrupt human circadian rhythms, negatively affecting human health in the process, and that the yearly DST clock-shifts can increase health risks such as heart attacks and traffic accidents.

Effects on social relations

DST hurts prime-time television broadcast ratings, drive-ins and other theaters. Artificial outdoor lighting has a marginal and sometimes even contradictory influence on crime and fear of crime.

Later sunsets from DST are thought to affect behavior; for example, increasing participation in after-school sports programs or outdoor afternoon sports such as golf, and attendance at professional sporting events. Advocates of daylight saving time argue that having more hours of daylight between the end of a typical workday and evening induces people to consume other goods and services.

In 2022, a publication of three replicating studies of individuals, between individuals, and transecting societies, demonstrated that sleep loss affects the human motivation to help others, which in its fMRI findings is "associated with deactivation of key nodes within the social cognition brain network that facilitates prosociality." Furthermore, they detected, through analysis of over three million real-world charitable donations, that the loss of sleep inflicted by the transition to daylight saving time reduces altruistic giving compared to controls (being states not implementing DST). They conclude that the effects on civil society are "non-trivial".

Inconvenience

DST's clock shifts have the disadvantage of complexity. People must remember to change their clocks; this can be time-consuming, particularly for mechanical clocks that cannot be moved backward safely. People who work across time zone boundaries need to keep track of multiple DST rules, as not all locations observe DST or observe it the same way. The length of the calendar day becomes variable; it is no longer always 24 hours. Disruption to meetings, travel, broadcasts, billing systems, and records management is common, and can be expensive. During an autumn transition from 02:00 to 01:00, a clock shows local times from 01:00:00 through 01:59:59 twice, possibly leading to confusion.

Many farmers oppose DST, particularly dairy farmers as the milking patterns of their cows do not change with the time, and others whose hours are set by the sun. There is concern for schoolchildren who are out in the darkness during the morning due to late sunrises. For Details read:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time

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The THD Greeters Program-An Update 

THD has now 100% Occupancy!!  WITH A LOT OF NEW RESIDENTS MOVING IN during the last 2 MONTHS, it is imperative that they should be welcome and made feel right at home with the help of the THD Greeter's Program.  

The other day, I was assigned to be the Greeter of Bill Obenchain. This assignment reminded me of my posting on the Greeters Program here at THD several months ago. I am reposting it to remind other greeters of their responsibility as a Greeter. Jenny and Ted are in-charge of this program besides their job in Leasing/Marketing.     

I believe that the Greeter's most important duty is to inform the new resident to complete the Vital of Life Packet that will include the resident health information and will help the 911 providers in case of emergency. This Packet should be included in the New Resident Brochure. It should be posted in the Refrigerator of each apartment for easy accessibility in case of a 911 emergency. 

 The general  role of the Greeter is as follows:

• 
  Greeters’ role is to simply help the new resident adjust to their new life at THD. Be a point of contact for them should they need help with dining, transportation, activities, or navigating the THD property. 
• Invite them to a lunch/dinner/breakfast.
• Invite them to THD social events or excursions.
• Introduce them to other residents and hopefully new friendships develop organically.

 

Overall, the role of the greeter is just being friendly, welcoming, and supportive!

I have been a Greeter twice during the last 12 months. I enjoyed this activity very much. I was the Greeter of Jay Pollack and John and Carol Larimore.