Hansen was involved in bird- watching and poetry clubs while he was atHarvard, his friends said.

Hansen spent last summer in Canada bandingbirds for research, Travassos said. "Even thoughhe was alone, he really enjoyed it. He loved it."

Hansen's Harvard friends said they were notsure exactly why the sophomore decided to end hislife.

"Ansgar was a sort of a fragile person, he wasoverwhelmed by a lot of things and the work he hadto, and there were some family problems,"Travassos said. "He had a lot of stress, had todeal with a lot of different things, it reallytook a toll on him."

Travassos, Ignacio L. Montoya '97, andGiroux--three roommates in Cabot House--spent agood deal of time with Hansen.

"We came to see him as one of us," Jiroux said,his voice shaking. "He was our closest friend atHarvard and his death hurt as a lot. We went toNantucket and Cape Cod with him."

"Five days before he died, we went to Lexingtonand Friendly's with him," Giroux said. "His deathwas completely unexpected."

Dunster House will hold a gathering of Hansen'sfriends, to allow them to discuss the issues hissuicide has raised, Senior Tutor Suzi Naiburg saidyesterday. A time for the meeting has not yet beenset.

"We are deeply saddened by his death," Naiburgsaid. A letter will be sent to all Dunsterresidents to notify them to Hansen's death and themeeting, she added.

Naiburg encouraged Hansen's friends to contactthe Dunster House Office to arrange a time for themeeting.

Some of Hansen's friends said they wonderwhether his death could have been avoided.

"I wish Harvard had been more perceptive andhad reached out to him more," Giroux said.

"I think what happened is he tried to drop twocourses this semester, and Harvard would only lethim drop one. I don't think they were veryperceptive of his problem," Giroux said. "Maybeit's not Harvard's fault, but I really wish forhis sake and ours that they had been more gentle.

"Did they do everything they absolutely could?"Giroux asked.

Others, who knew Hansen from his Milton days,said that his relationship with his parents, notHarvard, was at the heart of his action.

Hansen was his parents' only child, and theyadored him to the point of suffocation, onestudent said.