Richie R. Williams '01 also said he disagreed with the HUPD's decision.

"I think it shows an overall ambivalence towards security on campus, and getting some verbal promise from someone is not going to change anything," he said.

Other students in Hollis North expressed sympathy for the man and reported that they did not feel threatened by him.

"He should not necessarily be prosecuted. I do have an element of sympathy toward him...at least he's trying to take a step toward hygiene," said Sandra L. Guzman '01.

The HUPD contacted the homeless man's parents in New York, but they refused to speak to them. McNamara said his parents might travel to Boston to visit him. The HUPD does not know how long the man has been away from home.

The Hollis resident who first discovered the homeless man said that police told her the man was planning to return to New York.

The student said she was surprised to see him at the Tasty at about 1:30 a.m. Saturday night. She said he obviously recognized her.

"It was scary," she said. "He stared at me for 20 minutes. Finally I left. He didn't follow me."

Williams said he encountered the man holding a plastic bag in front of Urban Outfitters on Saturday.

McNamara said the HUPD is now unaware of the man's whereabouts.

Students in Hollis said they are concerned about how the man entered the building.

"The police should have questioned him about how he got in," Guzman said.

The Freshmen Dean's Office and the HUPD are working together to prevent incidents like this one from occurring in the future, said Elizabeth S. Nathans, dean of Freshmen, in an e-mail.

"Regrettably there are often instances of both trespass and theft at the start of each academic year," she wrote yesterday.

According to Guzman, students in Hollis try not to become preoccupied with the seriousness of the intrusion