If You Haven't Noticed, It's Nice Out

By Benjamin Nelson
Contributing Writer

The sun was setting on Stony Brook University on a recent Monday, but the two Students still decided to stay out and throw the old pigskin, around. The football went from one end of the field to the other. On a good throw it spiraled as if shot from a rifle. On a bad throw it traveled end over end like a hand grenade. There were far more grenades than bullets.

Over the last few weeks, thermometers have steadily risen and students can be found lounging outside their dorm rooms. Intramural sports like softball and basketball are beginning to take shape and the Stony Brook collegiate teams are returning to the fields from their indoor winter exile.

No matter how it was thrown, the football was almost impossible to pick up in the dying daylight. For Malcolm Lindquist, one of the two students, the brown ball blended with the dark purple sky too well.

“Ah damn,” Lindquist shouted as the football had bounced off his hand onto the grass. “That’s another jam,” the business major said. “But we have to keep going, the weather’s too nice. We haven’t gotten to play in awhile so we thought we’d take advantage tonight. We wanted to play basketball but the gym was closed.”

Lindquist and his friend, who also had several sprained fingers, aren’t the only students taking advantage of the rising temperatures.

“It’s just so nice out,” said Jane Pechera, a senior in the nursing program.” The Mendelson quad resident assistant, who had dreadlocks and a lip piercing, was walking by Lindquist and his friend in a faded t-shirt. “It’s the first time in awhile where I could go without a jacket all day. The sun’s down but it’s not cold at all.”

As the campus heads towards summer, more students like Lindquist and Pechera appear on the usually deserted campus. In the fall and winter months, Pechera said, many of her residents tend to stay indoors. But starting in the spring there is much more activity on campus.

“It’s kind of stupid,” said Pechera. “Every spring these ‘hot people’ come out from their dorm rooms in their miniskirts or sleeveless shirts. I like to call them insects because they hide out all winter and then they come out when the weather is nice, it’s like they were hibernating like bugs. They should be outside during the other seasons, too.”

But not everyone sitting outside is part of the swarm. Nastareen Khandaker, a freshman, sat at her own table with a pile of textbooks and a calculator.

“I decided to study outside because it’s so warm,” said Khandaker. “It’s nicer out here that it is in my room. I’m just going to sit here until it gets cold or I can’t see anymore.”

Even after students like Khandaker retreat with the sunlight, others come out to enjoy the mild nights. Dozens of students can be found on benches outside their buildings enjoying a six-pack or five. As the night goes on multiple runs to the near-by 7-Eleven and a visit from the cops usually stops the party. In the morning the only signs of the night’s activities are the shattered glass bottles and cardboard boxes.

“That is the worst part of the spring,” said Pechera as she said at the resident assistant’s desk in her building. “It’s like just because it’s warm out people think they can drink beers and smoke pot in public. Most of them can’t even drink beers in a bar. I almost always have to call the cops during the spring. They get so loud I can hear them from my room.”

Lindquist lives in the building next to Pechera but he didn’t hear any of that. He was too busy playing football and basketball until midnight.