A brisk wind whipped through the courtyard behind the Becton Center as we stepped out of Sheffield-Sterling-Strathcona Hall Monday morning, buttoning our fleeces and shoving hands into pockets. But no matter; there was sun, and we were glad to see it.

Astronomers and almanac writers tell us that today is the first day of spring, which means volleyball nets will soon go up on Cross Campus, bikinis will work their way out of the closet, and someone will start getting upset about spending the week before graduation at Myrtle Beach.

New Haven, it must be said, looks an awful lot better in March than it does in January, when Yale and its Gothic spires seem to blend into a gray shroud of cloud cover. As we dodge the swelling high school tours of Old Campus and the 12 colleges, we will soon discover the familiar joys of that small slice of the Yale calender that creeps into the season of rebirth.