Little and his roommates rent movies about three times a week, though "only on a very slow weekend would we stay in and watch." Friends come over and munch popcorn while watching favorites such as "Beverly Hills Cop," "Ghostbusters," and "Trading Places." But, Little says, two of the three machines are usually on loan to friends: "Not many of my friends own VCRs; they're all borrowing mine."

Most students rent movies from Videosmith on Mass. Ave. and Video Biz in the Garage, the two video stores closest to Harvard. Styles of choosing range from "taking whatever looks good" to picking up "the latest releases" to "getting those classics I missed."

Sal V. Perisano, executive vice-president of Videosmith, says that movies popular with students lately have been "The Gods Must Be Crazy," The Beatles' "Help!," "F/X" and "Diva."

"A lot of alternative cinema type things rent very well with the college-age crowd. They tend to go for foreign films," he says.

At Video Plus, store manager Barry Lavoi, who estimates that the clientele is half students, half area residents, says that students are "going for pretty much everything. Their tastes are more eclectic than our regular customers."

"We basically rent everything," says Chris W. Marx '89. Someone in their room watches a movie nearly every night, he says. "Rebel without a Cause" and "East of Eden" are favorites.

Henzer says that he and his roommates go for `comedy and adventures, tending more to active, funny stuff. We do on occasion rent a cheap B-movie just for kicks."

Although students are not sure whether more people are actually buying VCRs, most seem to agree that renting movies is quickly becoming a sure cure for campus boredom. "It's great because when you have nothing to do, you can watch a movie," Marx says.

"A lot of friends off the hall come in and watch. Someone picks up the movie and someone else gets the popcorn--it's a blast," says Berkman.

Perisano sees VCRs as the wave of the future. "They're becoming the norm rather than an exception as an appliance in American households."