THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 10, 1994 TAG: 9410100064
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KIRSTEN WILLIAMS CAMPUS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
``What do window cleaner and University of Virginia students have in common? They both streak.''
Fliers bearing this message prompted more than 100 streakers and 1,000 cheering spectators to converge on the Lawn early Sunday morning to protest a police crackdown on streaking - an age-old U.Va. tradition.
``This is the most excitement I've seen on this campus since I've been here,'' said junior engineering student David Manka.
Naked students ran up and down the Lawn for more than an hour, cheering and singing the ``Good Ole Song.'' Some carried their clothes with them as the streaked, others left their clothes behind and some lost them altogether.
Several U.Va. sophomores organized the mass streak in response to police presence on the Lawn. Police last month arrested two students for streaking during the annual Convocation ceremony and one student for streaking on the Lawn.
``Last weekend me and one of my friends went to streak, and we couldn't because there were three cops there.'' said sophomore architecture student Kevin Finn, who helped print and post more than 400 fliers for the event. ``The only way to do it was to get enough people.''
``It's a crime that streaking's a crime.'' said Michael Yablonskey, a second-year medical school student and streaker. ``We like to be free. We like to be naked. We're out here to have a little fun.''
While many veteran streakers turned out for the protest, the jubilant atmosphere prompted others to streak.
``We just came out to see it at first,'' said sophomore Minta Johnson, who with Eudoxia Aga was streaking for the first time. ``It was a test of endurance.''
Streakers traditionally start at the Rotunda steps and run the length of the Lawn, kissing the statue of Homer before returning to the Rotunda.
Several non-U.Va. students also joined the festivities.
``Me and my friends do it at William and Mary,'' said Terry Rogers, a sophomore at that school who decided to streak while visiting his brother on campus.
``It's an act and display of human emotion,'' he said. ``It's an unbelievable opportunity for every college-age student.''
``I think it's really successful,'' said Finn, who streaked six times Sunday morning. ``I'm going to try to do it next weekend too. Hopefully the police will get the message.''
Five university police officers were in the area at the time, although they made no arrests. No officer filed a report on the event.
``Our position now is to make sure no one gets hurt and there is no destruction of property due to the sheer size of the crowd,'' University Police Sgt. Don McGee said.
``Cops should not be here,'' Manka said. ``There are dozens of crimes going on right now and the cops are here. Nobody's going to get hurt.''
Indecent exposure is a class one misdemeanor, and is punishable by up to a year in jail or a $25 fine. by CNB