Last weekend was time to change the clocks back to standard time. There has been some controversy over the practice of changing back and forth between standard and daylight saving times. Also, there are bills in Congress and many state legislatures to make daylight saving time permanent.

With reference to the American Academy of Neurology’s October/November 2022 issue of “Brain & Life.” In this issue of “Brain & Life” there is an article on the effects of standard versus daylight saving time. The conclusion is that we should stay on standard time as it best fits our bodies’ natural internal clocks, our circadian biology, which is synced with daylight. With daylight saving time we must wake up earlier than what morning light would dictate. In the evening we can’t get to sleep early enough because afternoon light is too strong or we get wrapped up in our evening activities as it is still light when we start and consequently get to bed too late. The result is sleep deprivation which has been proven to lead to all sorts of significant negative health issues, poor productivity and greater probability for accidents.

I recommend that we each contact our state and federal legislators and request that the state and nation stay on standard time permanently.

Ramon Lara

Baker City