My favorite times to hang out on the Columbia campus were in the summers. From the times when the South Field was slippery with the dew of the humid mornings to the times when the night sky stars start peeking over Pupin, the campus was one poor kid's warm weather oasis. In those off-season months, I had favorite hang-out spots on both sides of Broadway.

I miss the wooden bench by the doorway of Brooks where my best friend at Barnard and I entertained each other with rambling, choppy conversations, frittering away those hot evenings.

The old College Walk sundial was the unspoken rallying point for trips to the West End bar or one of the many neighborhood eateries. More often than not we loitered for hours, but no one cared because there was always something going on. Ah yes, the "cleverest band in the world," with all its brass blaring, would be making one of its spontaneous march on the steps of Low Library. Flourishes of Hare Krishna orange robes fluttered by with the delicate tinkling of finger cymbals. Out of nowhere old raspy Sam Steinberg came hawking his latest artwork and the oldest Hershey bars in New York. So there was always something to watch around that old sundial.

On fair days, the lawn that sprawls outside Lehman library was a cozy refuge for sun worshipping and to get away from those fanatical South Field Frisbee athletes. A few yards away, McIntosh Student Center offered a friendly shelter from the wet squalls. On any day, it was far more inviting than Columbia's old Ferris Booth Hall, which had the warmth of a jet age airport terminal. Just next to that sterile place, the Carman Hall lounge was the coolest air-conditioned place to sit, relax and eat a take-out lunch.

I am mindful the topic is favorite hang-out spots, so I won't bother to reveal all those secret and comfy niches for hard core studying, err, I mean "grubbing."