(Kelsey Jukam)

Every spring and fall it strikes unsuspecting Americans.

It affected freshman Lisa Rodriguez’s performance at a dance convention taught by world-renowned instructors.

“I came into my class an hour late and made a complete fool out of myself because I had to dance in a small group and had no idea what I was doing,” she said.

Sophomore Kate Hall failed to accept a gift from her mother because of it.

“Instead of getting to church at 11 [o’clock], I got there at 12,” she said. “Sunday school was over and my mom had gotten me birthday cake and everything, and I missed it!”

Without fail, some people will forget to change their clocks for daylight-saving time. In today’s technological world, many expect their digital devices to just know when to add or subtract 60 minutes from their lives.

“I thought my cell would automatically adjust!” Rodriguez laments.

Thanks to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the technologically dependent need to take extra precautions this year. Daylight-saving time will begin at 2 a.m. on March 11, three weeks earlier than in years past. It will also last a week longer, meaning daylight- saving time will be extended a complete month.

So there will be four more weeks of extended sunlight-what’s the big deal?

Without the proper updates, technology might not know about the Energy Policy Act. In other words, it might operate according to the old DST rules, which said the time change begins on the first Sunday of April every year.

DST rules have remained the same for so long that they have been hardcoded into the software of commonly used devices like computers, smartphones and PDAs.

Translation: From March 11 to April 1, devices with data capabilities might be off by an hour, potentially causing problems with scheduling applications and other programs involving time.

Rachel Mulry, the SMU Information Technology Service technical project manager, has made it her mission to inform technology and the SMU community alike of the change. She and the ITS staff have been working for months to ensure a smooth transition for the university, and Mulry has sent emails to students and faculty to make them aware of what has been done.

“It seems like such a minor change,” Mulry said. “I just don’t think anyone understood the implications on technology when the decision [to extend DST] was made.”

She compares all of the preparation and resources dedicated to making the time change successful to the Y2K technology worries.

“Hopefully this Sunday will be as quiet as Jan. 1, 2000,” she said.

Though the ITS staff has installed time-zone patches and a tool that should automatically adjust appointments on all ITS-managed servers, Mulry is anticipating many calls from students who cannot log in to their e-mail due to the time change.

Students’ personal computers are not managed by ITS; ITS only manages computers purchased for SMU faculty and staff members and those located in public places like the SMU libraries.

Therefore, it is the students’ responsibility to make sure the clocks on their personal computers-and other electronic devices, for that matter- have been adjusted accordingly.

If their computer’s clock is different from the time on their network’s clock, they will have trouble accessing the Internet.

Students’ personal computers are considered home computers. Users need to download the necessary patches-software released by a company like Microsoft to repair a problem- to make sure their computer clock has been changed.

Patches are often automatically downloaded by computers during periodic updates. Each time a computer is turned on, it is scanned for updates, according to SMU technology consultant Terry Johnston.

This means that as long as the user has not turned off the automatic update feature, the DST patch, which was released weeks ago, could very well have already downloaded onto his or her computer.

“Those who are more techie-oriented may have turned off the auto-update feature because they want to update [their computers] themselves,” Johnston said. “Granted, most people aren’t going to do that.”

To confirm that the proper updates have run, users can go to http://support.microsft.com/gp/cp_dst and follow the guide. The site also divulges necessary updates for PDAs and other mobile devices.

Everyone should double-check their devices’ clocks on April 1 to verify accuracy.

The aim of the Energy Policy Act was not to inflict technological confusion. The bill was created to conserve energy and offer tax breaks on energy-conscious purchases.

“I can’t really argue with the financial benefits and the energy savings,” Mulry said. “But it did make [those in the technology industry’s] lives a bit more difficult!”

Hawaii and most of Arizona do not participate in daylight-saving time.

Sophomore Megan Bradway, a Phoenix, Ariz. native, experienced the switch in Dallas for the first time last year. Puzzled, she does not understand why people would make their lives more complicated by changing time.

“Us Arizona people don’t believe in turning clocks back or forward,” Bradway said. “I think we are the normal ones. Everyone else is odd.”