"We'll play some sports--anything to lighten it up," Peabody Terrace Building Manager Pamela N. Cornell told the crowd.

Finally, the evacuated residents migrated next door to the Gordon Indoor Track and Tennis Facility. There, children played on the mats in a pole vault pit that earlier in the day had been used in a track meet.

Harvard University Dining Services (HUDS) served the residents snacks of hot chocolate and Oreo cookies until macaroni and cheese, chicken curry and hot soups arrived for dinner.

It took HUDS less than four hours to prepare meals for 400, said Richard M. Spingel, a HUDS production manager, since HUDS chills and bags food in advance. "We just looked at what we had [in the freezer]."

For several hours, Dr. David S. Rosenthal '59, director of University Health Services (UHS), managed a remote pharmacy to provide residents with doses of prescription drugs they had left in their apartments.

Rosenthal said no one had come to him with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, which normally include lightheadedness and nausea.

"We're trying to make sure people are as comfortable as possible," he said as he went to measure out a dose of Robitussin for one of the children.

Although most graduate students were concerned for their personal possessions, most had a more pressing issue on their minds: exams.