Letters to the Editor for March 28

Daylight Savings Time all the time? Just say no

It has been proposed in the state Legislature that Washington adopt daylight saving time year round. I can see staying on standard time year round, but having midnight reset to 11 p.m. at night makes no sense at all.

Humans are diurnal people, not nocturnal. Causing people who work during the day (the vast majority) to have to endure even more days of going to work in the dark during the Northwest winter imposes an unnecessary burden. Such nonsense would likely produce more stress that is dangerous to our health than switching to and from DST each year.

Lawmakers must realize that they cannot change nature. Passing an amendment that repeals the law of gravity when one takes a fall would work just as well as trying to pretend that they can produce more daylight by changing the setting of the clock.

Larry M. Sturdivan, Olympia

Music in Our Schools Month: Why are we still advocating for music?

For the last 20 years, there has been study after study published about quality music education and its positive affect on the brain. In 2017 a study proved that it affected mathematical development, and even one decade-long U.S. study found that students who participated in at least nine hours of arts education a week were four times more likely than their peers to have won recognition for their academic achievement. In one 2009 Canadian study young children taking music lessons showed dramatic improvement in their verbal intelligence scores after only four weeks of training. In 2012 the College Board SAT published findings that said students who studied music improved their math reading and writing scores by 16-17 percent on average with four years or more of music education. This is a fact published by the test manufacturer almost seven years ago.

On March 11, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez read a congressional resolution to the nation, stating that “research has documented that participation in school music promotes student engagement, leading to improved social and academic outcomes, particularly for at-risk students.” The resolution continues, “participation in school music also promotes cognitive, social and emotional development, exercising skills valuable to the workforce such as motivation, attentiveness, self-discipline, teamwork, persistence, empathy, respect and leadership.”

Happy Music in Our Schools Month. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go explain again why it’s good for you to learn music.

Stacey Burns, Olympia

Music director at Pioneer Middle School

This story was originally published March 27, 2019 at 12:25 PM.