Despite cold, Quad streakers bare it all

Yesterday morning's sun ushered in the kind of cold that numbs fingers in seconds. But the temperature, which was 32 degrees below zero with windchill, did not prevent two women and 18 men from participating in the seventh annual Quadrangle Streak. At 6:45 a.m. the streakers gathered in the "nipple" of the Quad for "mental preparation." In keeping with the post-Ground Hog Day tradition, they filtered outside and began to undress for their forthcoming buck-naked lap around the Quad. Although the runners made noise in an attempt to wake up sleeping Quad residents, the frigid temperature and early hour kept most students in bed. The spectacle did not go completely unnoticed, however -- female Quad Residential Maintenance workers gathered on Junior Balcony to cheer on the streakers. As the clock struck seven, the men and women dropped their drawers, untied their robes and revealed it all. "Hands up! Hands up!" they screamed as they made their way to the first stairway. "Get up! Get up!" With the exception of hats, gloves and sneakers, body paint was the only thing covering the twenty bare bodies. A rear view exposed buttocks boasting runner's initials, backs painted with the numbers "1995" and one smiley face. The brave group of students included 19 seniors and one sophomore. Within minutes, they had completed their run through the snow-covered Lower Quad and up along the Spruce Street side of Upper Quad. For two male and two female streakers the adventure did not end with a single lap -- upon returning to the "nipple" they discovered that their clothes were missing. They handled the catastrophe with grace though, and calmly followed the instruction's of a voice from an Upper Quad window. "They're in the lounge," a student called from above. Following the run, the participants hurried into a Quad building to finish dressing and have a post-run discussion. The students said they send their regards to those who stole their clothes. The exhibitionists also commented on their early morning exercise. "It needed to be done," said one female streaker who did not want to be identified. She added that the brisk morning run made her feel "alive." College senior Stephen Houghton had a different perspective on the icy temperature. "My piercings got pretty cold," he said. "From the tip of my nipple to the tip of my navel to the tip of my penis." A fourth year veteran streaker, who would only identify himself as a residential advisor in the Quad, said unlike last February's gift of warmth, this year's streak was the coldest he ever experienced. The senior also praised the two female streakers who also identified themselves as R.A.'s in the Quad. "Last year there were more women and we were happy about that," he said. "But we're happy with what we have." "A hand for the women," another male streaker added. When the sting of the morning's cold had almost warn off, one student declared he was now "a representative of the National Foundation for Shrinkage." And after "Farm-boy Flinn" finished off 1995's flesh display with a "symbolic mooning of all of Penn's campus," this year's crop of streakers headed off for hot chocolate and warm beds.