Alumna recalls perils of Indiana 'slow time'

She grew up in an Indiana town. She had a nice mother, always around. She grew up tall, she grew up right, and for some strange reason, the clocks were never right. \nSo goes the story for Jessica Kaplan, a 5-feet-7-inch 1997 IU graduate originally from Rolling Prairie, Ind., and now an IT project manager for the Cintas Corporation of Cincinnati. \nFor Kaplan, who was raised in LaPorte County and whose father worked in St. Joseph's County, this meant growing up with two different clocks in the house: one for each of Indiana's two primary time zones. Growing up also meant attending junior and senior high school with students from two different time zones, something she described as "confusing sometimes." From late October to early April every year, the clocks of Kaplan's home were one hour apart as LaPorte County observed Central Daylight Time or "slow" time and St. Joseph's County observed Indiana or "fast" time. \n"There were two different clocks in our house. You would refer to the time as slow time or fast time. You would always refer to it that way. It was just a habit," said Kaplan. "The clock in my parents' bedroom was set on Indiana Time, fast time. And then the rest of the clocks -- because of where we lived, these clocks were on Central Time or slow time. We had his clock so he could set it to the time he worked in," said Kaplan, referring to her father's dilemma.\nFor Hoosiers of Monroe and Lawrence Counties who commute between the counties for school or work, this scenario could become a permanent reality if a request by Lawrence County to move to the Central Time zone is granted by the Department of Transportation. Lawrence County, along with 16 other counties in the state, petitioned in September to switch to the Central Time zone as a result of Indiana's decision to begin honoring daylight-saving time in April 2006. \nOn Oct. 25, the DOT proposed a preliminary recommendation to keep Lawrence County in the Eastern Time zone along with 11 other counties in the state. It did propose, though, that five counties switch to Central Time. Hearings will now take place this month in Jasper, Logansport, South Bend and Terre Haute to discuss the correct time zone for these 17 counties. It is still possible through these hearings all counties requesting a change could switch. After the hearings, the DOT will make its final recommendation. If the DOT changes ots initial recommendation for Lawrence County, it would mean a year-round, one-hour time difference between Bedford and Bloomington. \nIf the 17 requests are granted for the petitioning counties, 27 counties would observe Central Time and 65 counties would honor Eastern Time. \nDan Knudsen, an IU geography professor, said he occasionally travels to Bedford.\n"The notion that Bedford would be an hour different is kind of crazy," Knudsen said. "The adjustment is going to be difficult."\nIris Kiesling, the Monroe County Commissioner who advocated Central Time, said she doesn't believe an adjustment will be necessary for residents of the two counties. \n"(Lawrence and Monroe counties being on different time zones) is not going to happen. If anything, I could see them making the western part of the state in Central time," she said.\nWith so much debate and confusion in the past and upcoming future concerning Indiana's time, it is conceivable to wonder why Indiana didn't just leave the clocks alone. \n"There were quite a bit of people who were quite happy not doing anything with the clock," Kiesling said. "I think a lot of it was a political thing. Some of the powerful people in Indianapolis wanted this thing done." \nOne thing is for certain: time is not simple in Indiana. But Indiana time could be simple again. As Kaplan reminisced of her childhood roots and the months of April to October, she said, "We were fine on the same time"