For many Harvard students, yesterday's holiday was more of a chance to party and sleep than to reflect on the reason behind their day off.

Students had varying reactions to Columbus Day, ranging from the slightly bored to the intellectually opposed. Most said they regarded it as nothing more than an opportunity to get out of classes.

"I'm psyched that we don't have school," said Kevin Daly '96.

Some students got out of Harvard as well. "A lot of people went home because of Columbus Duy," Carl F. Engstron '98 said. "The campus seemed emptier."

The campus population did lag over the weekend if the number of meals eaten is any indication. While an average of 1377 meals were served in the Leverett house dining hall over the last two weekends, only about 1200 were served this weekend, according to Tom R. Provost, Leverett dining hall manager.

But this apparently did not reflect a general desire to mull over Columbus' activities at home, if students surveyed yesterday are any indication. A common response to the question, "What is the significance of Columbus Day to you?" was the facetious "Columbus? Columbus who?"

Marry Cantabrigians took advantage of the clear autumn day to relax in John F. Kennedy Park.

"I'm just glad I got off work today, It's nice to get some sun," said Frances Berndt, part-time researcher at the Cambridge-based market research company Opinion Dynamics.

It was business as usual in Harvard Square, with the exception of a few stores. Thomas Cook Travel Services kept shorter hours in observance of the holiday, and all the banks were closed.

"Banks and government offices will close on any excuse for a holiday," said Jeff Herrold, assistant manager of Sports, Etc.

Herrold is also a daytime clerk for law firm Sarrouf, Tarricone and Fleming, which did close for Columbus Day. "The only significance [the holiday] had for me was I got to sleep in today," he said.

"It's a regular 12-to-five business day for us," said Harvard Shop proprietor Paul Corcoran. "I'm Irish, not Italian."

Italian-Americans in the North End were some of the few commemorating yesterday as an important holiday. Many said Columbus Day was second only to Christmas in their community.

"It makes me proud to be an Italian because Columbus not only discovered America, he gave America an Italian name," said Franco Graceffa, proprietor of the North End restaurant Dolce Vita. Graceffa even offered a Columbus Day special yesterday--cannelloni stuffed with spinach and topped with lobster meat and ricotta cheese.

Italians gathered Sunday to celebrate the occasion with the annual Columbus Day parade.

The parade site alternates between the North End and East Boston. This year the two-hour procession wound down Bennington Street to Central Square.

According to Vinni di Cicco, bar-tender at the Italian restaurant Domenico's on Bennington Street, the parade included balloons, floats, marching bands and various cartoon characters such as Batman and the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

About 1000 people showed up, including Treasurer of State Joe D. Malone '78, Gov. William F. Weld '66 and Lt-Gov. L. Paul Cellucci.

But the Native American community views the holiday with markedly less enthusiasm, one Harvard student said. "I would like to see it more focused on the indigenous people of the United States," said Willow S. Lawson '97, a member of Native Americans at Harvard/Radcliffe.

"People still say Columbus 'discovered' America, as if there were no indigenous people here already," Lawson said. "I would like to see it called Indigenous People's Day, as I believe it is called in Berkeley and in some other communities across the country."

Sewell Chan and Adam M. Kleinbaum contributed to the reporting of this story.