The new standard: no more daylight savings

By Danielle Cosino Social Media Editor

Daylight savings should be eliminated and standard time should be permanent.

It’s that time of the year when everyone across the United States sets their clocks forward by one hour in order to preserve as much daylight for the next eight months. While this practice has been going on for decades, it is time to put an end to daylight savings time as it has more disadvantages than benefits.

The act of springing forward an hour leaves many people, especially students, at a disadvantage.

Many students come to school more exhausted than usual. Students aren’t as alert, leading to shorter attention spans during that initial transition time. After all, everyone did become deprived of an hour of beauty rest.

Additionally, daylight savings disrupts our natural, biological sleeping patterns known as our circadian rhythm.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the circa -

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dian rhythm is a natural process that regulates our 24 hour sleepwake cycle and is synced with the sun. Our bodies respond to this process based on when we are exposed to light and dark.

While daylight savings increases productivity since the days are longer, many people tend to stay up and sleep later. The sun also rises a bit later than usual, which affects when we wake up in the morning. This throws off our biological clocks.

Although daylight savings stretches light exposure just a bit more, overall, staying in standard time wouldn’t make much of a difference because the days will naturally get longer as we get closer to summer solstice. What if daylight savings is kept permanent instead of standard time?

During fall and winter, the sun will rise way later than usual. Students with morning classes around 8 a.m. will end up commuting practically in the dark and this can pose a safety risk.

Additionally, during winter solstice (the shortest day of the year), we would get an even less amount of daylight in that time if daylight savings continues year-round.

Daylight savings proves to have more health disadvantages.

According to a 2012 study by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, it was found that within the following days of the time change, the risk of heart attacks increased by 10%.

Other research has shown that there is a spike in car accidents that happen during the week that daylight savings begins. People are more sleep-deprived resulting in shorter attention spans and slower reflexes.

On the other hand, standard time follows the circadian rhythm more closely than daylight savings.

In an article by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), AASM President Jennifer Martin states that, “Standard time provides a better opportunity to get the right duration of high-quality, restful sleep on a regular basis, which improves our cognition, mood, cardiovascular health and overall well-being.”

Why waste our time losing an hour of sleep and changing our clocks twice every year, when we can save it by sticking to the standard (time).

SMCCCD deserves justice for abuse of power by former Chancellor Ron Galatolo

By Gabriel Mendez Reporter

While Ron Galatolo has been arrested and may soon face the consequences, it is important to note the harm that he has done to the District. His actions mean that he deserves a harsh sentence and steps must be taken to make sure it never happens again.

The Skyline View recently published an article on the upcoming hearings regarding the former District Chancellor and his many crimes, but in case you haven’t read it, here is a quick recap.

He has been charged with 21 counts of various crimes like theft of private funds, false tax returns, perjury, etc. To put it in plain English, Galatolo allegedly stole money from the district, received gifts from business partners that could have swayed his decisions, and cheated on his taxes among various other crimes.

By Zach Hernandez Reporter

Music is not nearly as good as it used to be.

We are passed the days of timeless bands producing classic hits that will be remembered and loved until the end of time. Today, we now find ourselves living in the days of autotune, meaningless lyrics and a lack of love for the art from the artists.

Boring and unoriginal. Those are two words that can be used to most accurately describe the majority of this generation’s music.

Making music used to be primarily about formulating your own distinct sound. Nowadays, that philosophy has been thrown out the window.

Musicians today are too focused on appealing to the largest possible audience, which has unfortunately led to repetitiveness and generic production.

One genre that has gained the most traction in recent years is hip-hop. This genre has completely taken over the music industry. The problem is that this current wave of hip-hop has lost all sense of creativity.

Most of these rappers spew the same sort of content: sex, money, drugs, weapons and fame. It contains no lyrical depth, and to put it in the simplest terms, it is just boring. Aside from even just the lyrics, sonically these songs sound the same. The production is formulaic, the flows are basic and the voices are completely smothered by an excessive amount of autotune that sneaks its way into almost every track.

There is a major difference in skill level between current artists and artists from previous generations. Classic rock ran the 1980s, and this new era of hiphop runs this generation.

Musicians used to be releasing classic after classic. Tunes that would be played for ages.

Looking at the direction that music is headed, there will be no more “Piano Man” or “Hotel California” or “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Quite simply, we consumers of music do not get masterpieces like we used to.

Music is perpetually evolving, and it continues to evolve throughout different generations. However, music today seems to be lacking in certain respects. The absence of creativity, generic sounds and the lack of skill and depth have made this era of music look underwhelming in comparison to previous eras.

That is not to say that music can’t be saved. New artists continue to emerge, and if they can begin to prioritize the aspects of music that were displayed when this art form was at its peak, then music as a whole will be back on the right track.

Until then, the majority of classics continue to stand in eras prior to this one.

I encourage Skyline students, and the students from our fellow community colleges, to keep an eye on the proceedings.

This trial can set a precedent for corruption in the local community college systems; thus, it is imperative that District students and staff remain engaged with the status of the hearings to ensure that an effective precedent is set to end corruption in our educational communities.

In case it isn’t obvious, the chancellor is a powerful position. For example, looking at the District website, you can see that the Chancellor’s Office is in charge of various initiatives, one of which includes student housing. As you can imagine, this is something extremely important.

For Ron Galatolo’s time in the position, these kinds of decisions he is accused of making were made with his, not our, interests at heart. The harm he has allegedly caused the school is immeasurable and the punishment should fit the crime.

While serving justice to the community is necessary, setting a strong precedent to deter future corrupt officials with power in the San Mateo County institutions is critical to moving forward from Galatolo’s privileged idiocy.

If Galatolo is found guilty and let off easy, it will show the community that anyone can abuse their power at Skyline and get away with it. This would spell a dark future for our precious college. According to the official District website, the current San Mateo County Community College District Chancellor, Michael Claire, will be retiring in June of this year.

We need to keep up with who’s in power and keep them responsible for their actions. That is the only way we can prevent this from happening again. When a new chancellor is put in power, it is our duty as students and members of this community to keep those in power accountable.

April 6, 2023