"I remember in September 1997 when he first met me he proudly showed me a printed circuit board that he had designed in China," Kung wrote in an e-mail.

"Computer science faculty and students who knew him were all deeply saddened by the loss," he added.

Jian Liu, also a first year, had a lot in common with Ge: they lived on the same floor in Child Hall, were in the same program in the same major with some of the same classes, and both were international students from China.

But it wasn't homesickness that troubled Ge, Liu said. Rather, it was the academic challengers of Harvard.

"I think he showed signs of difficulty in adapting to the study life of Harvard, and sometime he felt very disappointed and discouraged," Liu said.

First-year stress seemed to hit Ge harder than others.

"He was very sensitive. He cared too much about some of the [academic] things that happened to him," Liu said.

But Liu said that Ge never gave any indication that he was suicidal, saying he was always smiling and talking with other students. Ge did not have any hobbies, however, nor was did he go out a lot on weekends, Liu said.

"He put lots of time into studying," which is typical, Liu said.

"Every new student--especially for us [from China]--is now experiencing hardship, not only him, but also me," Liu said.

Two summers ago, an international graduate student from Moscow, Dmitry V. Podhopaev, committed suicide by jumping from the ninth floor of Holyoke Center. A year before, Sinedu Tadessi '96, an undergraduate from Ethiopia, killed her roommate and then herself at the close of spring exam period.

After Pdhopaev's death in 1996, University Health Services Director Dr. David S. Rosenthal '59 said that although many perceive that international students have a more difficult time adjusting to Harvard, they often bond together to form strong, supportive communities.

There will be a meeting today at 10 a.m. in Pierce 209 for those who wish to discuss the incident.

"Everyone is devastated by this. We expect to try to get together and have a session where we try and get everybody to understand as best as possible what happened and to try to understand if there are ways to prevent similar things in the future," Martin said.

--Marc J. Ambinder and Barbara E. Martinez contributed to this story.