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Should we change to a single time system? A WSU sleep scientist weighs in.

This weekend, we will again make the twice-yearly time change. We will “spring forward” into daylight saving time. And again we may hear elected officials wonder whether the law should be changed to a singular time system. That may reignite the debate over whether that singular system should be daylight saving time or standard time. There are political and scientific arguments for both.

Hans Van Dongen is a internationally-renowned sleep scientist based at WSU Spokane.
Courtesy of WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine
Hans Van Dongen is an internationally-renowned sleep scientist based at WSU Spokane.

SPR’s Doug Nadvornick wondered what WSU Spokane sleep expert Hans Van Dongen thinks about the time change. Van Dongen is a core member of WSU’s Sleep and Performance Research Center in Spokane and a professor of translational medicine and physiology.

Doug Nadvornick has spent most of his 30+-year radio career at Spokane Public Radio and filled a variety of positions. He is currently the program director and news director. Through the years, he has also been the local Morning Edition and All Things Considered host (not at the same time). He served as the Inland Northwest correspondent for the Northwest News Network, based in Coeur d’Alene. He created the original program grid for KSFC. He has also served for several years as a board member for Public Media Journalists Association. During his years away from SPR, he worked at The Pacific Northwest Inlander, Washington State University in Spokane and KXLY Radio.