Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

Streaki From Page One crowd erupted as the policeman responded to cat calls with a wave. The crowd grew larger. As night fell, Green Street began undergoing Ocean Drive-like transformations. Music blared from Preston and Woodrow. Cars crept bumper to bumper. People laughed, drank, smoked and waited. The crowd grew larger. A single streaker ran wildly between the lines of cars, nearly being run over by an elderly couple in the traffic tie-up. They laughed. Not long after, another single streaker mounted on the hood of a car, made his way down Green Street. (For purposes of accurate description, that person shall hereafter be referred to as "short stuff.") Before long, the festive group rendered Green Street impassable. Campus police made no effort to keep the street open; only to maintain a certain amount of order. The attention suddenly turned to two girls who were determined to tease the crowd by acting as if they were going to disrobe. As a circle inevitably formed, the girls became timid. From somewhere in the crowd appeared the ubiquitous "Short stuff." He was more than willing to perform his enticing dance routine "Number One." Still the girls refused to disrobe. The attention abruptly shifted to a small group of male streakers shouting, "We're number 1." Their glory was short-lived, however, as they soon dispersed into the crowd. Meanwhile, the mob became aware of the presence of the ABC network news television crew. They were greeted with the same enthusiasm given to the night's pioneer streakers. Inspired spectators now began to follow the news crew in hopes of gaining national exposure. ThIie RlE'n Vjiw4 rig: Soci Woodrow R4 T he news crew climbed atop the wall in front of Preston in order to survey the crowd. Once again the ever-present "Short stuff" stole the scene by performing enticing dances routine "Number Two" while all eyes, lights and cameras were trained on him. The camera crew continued to take short film shots as they made their way towards the Bate's House ramp. Pandemoniuml resulted each time the camera crew's powerful light was turned on the crowd. Standing about 20-yards from the action was Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Hill, of Columbia. "I'm real excited," said Hill, "If that's their thing and it doesn't harm anybody, then it's OK. Anyway it's all in fun." Mrs Hill said, "The news media brought us out here. We're not prudes about it." The Hills, who - al Eve, 'sidents Crane For A . ippeared to be in their middle 50's, Nent on to say they would not be ngry to see their daughter streak. Praise must go to campus Doliceman Ken Hanson, who took he situation lightly and was able to naintain a reasonable amount of )rder without resorting to police rutality. Hanson said, "I'm not oing to arrest every Tom, Dick and Harry." In light of his pun and ,he surrounding activities, Hanson lid well to conceal his enjoyment f the situtation. "The main thing s they don't want people in the trees and on the cars," he said. A student himself, Hanson' said he might have participated 10 years ago Not far from Hanson, two young ladies dressed in long gowm observed the festivities. Both ladies were elementary school teachers and said they had just Jones Outlaws Streaking Late Wednesday afternoon USC president Thomas F. Jones issued iis first public statements con :erning streaking on the university ya mpus. "I have instructed law en forcement officers to do whatevel is reasonable and practical ti protect the majority of oui students from abuses or in terferences within their basi4 rights," he said. Sig Hluitt, assistant director c public information at USC, said h has personally heard of only fou complaints about streaking. Jones further commented, "Thi spring foolishness has gone fa renough. It is time for th, .exhibitionist students and thei thousands of supporters to la~ aside this flaunting of modesty ani return to acceptable values." .Jones' wife said she has written letter to Time magazine explaininj the history of streaking at USC an< her opinionl of the recen escapades. "I was glued to th4 television set when AB(' had it on,' she commented. It was excellen coverage, dlone ini good taste, bui the hodies were not in gonna taste.' it OfSe letter Look. come from a cocktail party. Though they declined to give their names, they said, "This is the best thing since the riots of 1968." It was now approximately 9:45 p.m. and some 5,000 people had gathered. The crowd around Green Street was so thick that many people began to wonder where the streakers would be able to streak. Flashcubes popped; alcohol and marijuana were evident; the crowd grew restless. Then it happened. From out of the dark, led by a torch, came the 500. Resembling the beginning of the Olympic Games, the USC streakers made their way up the ramp towards Green Street. Short, long, tall, fat; they came in all sizes. To be exact, a record 509 streakers made their way through the cheering mob. The show of "short stuff" became very in ic o Of Th e ason significant amid the throngs and hundreds of other male masculinities who ran down the s tre ak in g pa th... A mid mass hysteria, strangely enough, only the streakers maintained their composure. The naked procession proceeded down Green Street, where it turned and headed for South BuilMing The next destination was the Capstone-Columbia Hall area. The entire entourage entered Columbia Hall to the delight of the female desk personnell College Street and the Pickens Street bridge led the streakers to the home of Thomas Jones, where they made a brief appearance. A desire for more exposure led the streakers back to the un dergraduate library. The totally glass front provided a spectacular showcase for the streaker's per formance, viewed by thousands outside. Exiting stage right, the streakers began to chant, "Go- to hell Chapel Hill, go to hell !" The news of USC's basketball victory over Creighton swept through the crowd, and a skeleton group from the pep band began to play "The Stripper." Unable to cope with so much success in one night, the mob erupted again, cheering both the victorious Gamecocks and streakers. Both teams had been thrown into national promin.ence for their performance. As if on cue from the pep band and the explosion of a sky rocket, the majority of the streakers headed back toward the Bate's ramp to the tune of USC's fight song. The absence of streakers, however, seemed to have little effe eton the prevailing party mood of the crowd. Fun and frolic con tinued on Green Street long after the streakers had retired to their beds in preparation for the next meet. Photo by K. Courtney l)iceh. '(nrolinn ( 5l9'