WHETHER USING NO-DOZ TO STAY AWAKE OR RELAXATION TAPES TO FALL ASLEEP, MANY HARVARD STUDENTS ARE FINDING THAT THERE IS...

Sleep is to college life as decisiveness is to Ross Perot: elusive, erratic and usually inadequate.

Though insufficient sleep is not usually harmful in the long run, says Dr. Randolph Catlin, chief of mental health at University Health Services (UHS), it can cause increasing short-term psychological and physical problems.

Researchers have found that the average college student gets about 6.87 hours of sleep a night. At Harvard College, that number is probably closer to between five and six. Health officials recommend an average of six to eight.

Most students change their sleep/wake cycle when they leave home. Many fall into a routine of going to bed at 3 or 4 a.m. during the week, getting consistently less sleep than they need.

This cycle usually lasts until the weekend, when a vain attempt is made to catch up by sleeping additional hours.

M. Astrid Moise '95, a biochemistry concentrator, engages in typical college sleep patterns.

"During the week I have to get up at 8 a.m. and I go to bed between 2 and 3 a.m. On Sundays I get 14 hours of sleep," Moise says.

The college sleep/wake cycle is unhealthy for two reasons. First, it causes chronic sleep deprivation, and second, it is interrupted on a regular basis.

While sleep deprivation has long term effects only in severe cases, its short term effects can be frustrating.

Everyone has a time of day at which be or she reaches a peak energy level. Changing a sleep cycle alters the energy peak, which may come at different times of the day and be decreased in intensity, Catlin says.

Recent studies on college students also suggest that lack of sleep affects a person's diet.

Students who get less sleep are more likely to suffer from eating disorders to have disrupted eating patterns, and to be concerned about excess weight, according to a 1990 study published in Perceptual and Motor Skills journal.

Surprisingly, they also have greater perceived levels of energy. Researchers believe that this is the result of a slightly increased metabolic rate. The net result is that students who sleep less eat more, not just because they are up later, but because they have bigger appetites.

Students on a low-sleep schedule may also be more likely to gain weight, since their increased food consumption is usually accompanied by an increase in the percentage of fat in their diets.