Question:

I need to be able to convert sysdate to GMT time.  Is there an way to do
that with Oracle?  I've looked at new_time but it only does certain time
zones not all.

I guess the other questions are can I determine:
1. Current time zone (i.e . CST or CDT)
2. The time offset from GMT

Answer:

select to_char(new_time(sysdate,'edt','gmt'),'mm-dd-rrrr hh24:mi:ss') from
dual;