This weekend's warm weather and promise of sunny days has cracked the winter shell over UB and sprouted a rejuvenated population of students ready to experience what campus has to offer - minus their cars.
Paul Coir, an undecided freshman, said that skateboarding to class in lieu of driving is a good way for him to exercise and clear his head before class.
"I skateboard to class whenever I can, because it relaxes me and gets me moving before I have to sit for 50 minutes during a lecture," said Coir.
James Linz, a senior exercise science major and worker in the Student Health and Wellness Center, feels that daily exercise can have a great impact on a person's mood for the day.
"When a person exercises, their body is releasing endorphins and serotonin, which are chemicals which work to enhance mood and can generally make a person feel a little more energetic during the course of a day," said Linz.
Linz suggested that by taking a stroll around campus, students can influence the way they feel throughout the day.
"According to the Surgeon General, a person should be getting about 30 minutes of exercise per day. Walking from the dorms to the Union would probably take about 10-15 minutes, and then they would have to walk back. It would be a great way to relieve some stress, and would probably help overall mood," he said.
Aside from the health benefits, there are also environmental benefits in forgoing the car. According to Walter Simpson, director of the UB Green Office, members of the UB community rack up significant mileage driving around campus.
"A number of years ago, a colleague and I tried to quantify commuting by UB students, faculty and staff, and discovered that each year, collectively, members of the UB community drove 120 million miles just to get back and forth on campus," stated Simpson in an e-mail. "That's about 500 times the distance from the earth to the moon."
According to Simpson, global warming is increasing in severity, and it is important to do whatever is possible to help find a solution.
"Tragically, we are very much in denial about global warming and climate change. All of our car driving and fossil fuel burning behavior is contributing to it," stated Simpson.
While some students feel that it is beneficial to find alternate modes of transportation around campus, others, such as Nicole Scotto, a freshman business major, feel that driving or taking the shuttle bus can be easier when crunched for time.
"When the weather is nice, I would love to be able to walk to class from the dorms," said Scotto. "However, if I am running really late, I don't always have those extra 15 minutes. It's usually a lot quicker for me to just hop in my car."
Even small steps can cut back on emitting fossil fuel into the environment, said Simpson. It won't be an overnight change, but should be the altering of a lifestyle.
"It is essential that each of us make a commitment to change the way we live and to constructively affect our nation's energy policy so we are part of the solution and not part of the global warming problem," stated Simpson.
Environmental and health benefits aside, most people enjoy simply having the opportunity for a mood-elevating stroll in the sunshine.
"When the weather is nicer, I don't mind walking from one building to another, even if they are far away," said Michael Nowicki, a junior mechanical engineering major. "After being inside for class, it's nice to be outside for a change."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
