Keep standard time
Don't we have enough information now to see that daylight saving time is a failure?
We're about to "fall back" to normal standard time and the people who credit the spring time change with bringing the daylight will immediately bemoan the sudden darkness. This seems to fuel their incessant cries to continue the switch and even extend it year-round.
Without the false impressions that daylight saving time gives us, the days would gradually get shorter by minutes and seconds and not by an hour on one day.
Since the summer solstice, days have less daylight, just as at the winter solstice, daylight begins to grow longer.
Changing the time from standard to daylight saving also carries the risks of suicides and accidental deaths from increased substance abuse.
There are more traffic accidents in the two weeks after the time change in the spring, more drowsy driving and more heart attacks related to lack of sleep and stress. These are not found in the move to standard time.
If this were vaping or some other vice, people would be up in arms to stop this risk; but for an extra hour of sunlight, it's totally OK for people to suffer these health risks.
Let's stop this insanity now.
Instead of starting daylight saving time in March and ending it in November, just leave it at standard time. It works great: The sun comes up and goes down at normal times and we don't have that spike in deaths.
Let's go back to permanent standard time.
GLORIA B. JENKINS
Charleston
Help end Alzheimer's
There has never been a survivor of Alzheimer's. Not one.
Nearly 7 million Americans are living with the disease. Alzheimer's kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined.
It slowly and painfully takes away a person's identity and the ability to think, eat, talk, walk, connect with others and find his or her way home.
The Alzheimer's progression is gut-wrenching to witness, and sadly, the disease and the burden on caregivers do not get the attention they rightfully deserve.
Alzheimer's is a rapidly growing public health crisis throughout the nation.
As a caregiver, I understand firsthand the impact this disease has on families across America. Thankfully, since the 2018 enactment of the bipartisan Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act, progress is being made.
South Carolina is one of 30 states funded through the act for implementation of the Statewide Plan to Address Alzheimer's and related dementias.
To ensure the state is able to continue to implement this plan, the legislation must be reauthorized. This bill directly helps people in the Palmetto State. South Carolinians are benefiting from early detection and diagnosis as well as improved resources for caregivers.
Join me and the Alzheimer's Association in encouraging U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott to support the Building Our Largest Dementia Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Reauthorization Act of 2024.
To learn more about how you can join the fight to end Alzheimer's, visit alz.org.
PAIGE TURNER
Hanahan
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