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oldschool

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 30, 2003
1,029
0
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040412.wxwreck0413/BNStory/National/

the nude beach near my school is under "attack".

The basic premise is that the university will be building new residence towers that will allow students to look at nude sunbathers.

I don't think the sunbathers should complain. First of all its a public beach, and secondly it is only 'unofficially' a nude beach. If you are going out in public naked you have to assume people are going to look.
 

oldschool

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 30, 2003
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By*ROD MICKLEBURGH
From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Vancouver — Wreck Beach has survived a lot in its 40-year run as one of the most famous nudist beaches in the world, from plans to replace its topless bathers with highway blacktop to invasions from crusading evangelists leading fully clothed, anti-nudity protesters onto its sacred sands.


Now, the venerable au naturel paradise, long synonymous with the city's multimellow lifestyle, is under threat from a new direction. Above.


If the University of British Columbia has its way, in the not-too-distant future, when Wreck Beach users look up — way up — they will see a row of high-rise residences, full of students, staring down at them.


Some have already dubbed the proposed buildings Peekaboo Towers.


"It will be creepy," said Judy Williams, who has been fighting for most of her 61 years to keep Wreck Beach from being wrecked. "And the advent of webcams makes it doubly creepy."


The four residences, to be built on a slab of land close to the campus cliff top overlooking Wreck Beach, will be 20 storeys high, capable of housing nearly 2,000 students.


After on-site experiments with balloons and a blimp floated to the equivalent height of the buildings, Ms. Williams said yesterday that 10 storeys will have to be lopped off the height of the tower closest to the beach to prevent buff bathers and students from eyeing each other.


The 300,000 estimated annual users of Wreck Beach are already under constant invasion from beach-level gawkers.


Busloads of Asian tourists regularly hike down the steep trails to the 7.8-kilometre swath of surf, sand and logs, according to Ms. Williams.


"They come down here in their high heels and business suits, with their cameras. It causes a lot of ill feeling. You start to feel like you're in a zoo."


But Ms. Williams, long-time head of the Wreck Beach Preservation Society, said the increased potential for voyeurism is not the only problem with the proposed towers.


Their construction will spoil the view from below, she said.


Wreck Beach is still surrounded by forest. When sunbathers gaze up toward the top of the cliff, they see nothing but trees.


"There's been no change since Captain Vancouver and Simon Fraser were here," Ms. Williams said. "It's the last beach cloaked in a forested area that we've got, except for Stanley Park, and it must stay that way.


"No one wants to see these obstructive monoliths sticking out above the trees."


The large university, home to nearly 40,000 students, is already under fire for what some see as pell-mell expansion and development plans on a campus renowned for its natural setting and spectacular views.


"This is about so much more than nudity," Ms. Williams said. "It's about spirituality. It's about saving an eagle tree, and it's about looking across the water from Richmond or coming into the city by sea and not wanting to see four 20-storey towers sticking out."


UBC officials could not be reached for comment yesterday, but university vice-president Dennis Pavlich said last week that the nudists' privacy will be protected.


"We want to be neighbourly. . . . If a building has to have some storeys lopped off, we will."


Ms. Williams, a retired special-needs teacher, has been coming to Wreck Beach since a boyfriend introduced her to its birthday-suit splendour in the late 1960s.


"I've skinny-dipped ever since I was a kid. I've always loved being kissed by the sun, clad only by the sky. It's just part of who I am."


Over the years, Ms. Williams said, Wreck Beach has become a main draw for naturalists from all over the world. "It's just so beautiful down there. Everyone knows about it, and I intend to keep on fighting to preserve it until I drop."


In the meantime, the beach's tireless advocate, with an almost unbroken record of past successes, remains confident that this latest threat to its purity will be beaten off, too.


". . .This is part of the city's legacy and UBC will not get away with destroying it."
 

Krizoitz

macrumors 68000
Apr 26, 2003
1,724
2,065
Tokyo, Japan
Honestly, its BC the only time its hot enough to go nude beaching is during the summer, so hardly anyone will be in school...
 

Ugg

macrumors 68000
Apr 7, 2003
1,992
16
Penryn
NOOOOOO!!!!

They can't close it down. It's really one of the best beaches I've been to, secluded, the water is shallow so it's swimmable, the hike up and down keeps the gawkers to somewhat of a minimum and the views of the surrounding mountains are wonderful. It's bad enough that it's on the floatplane flightpath but to have towers overlooking it would be a travesty of justice.
 

rainman::|:|

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2002
5,438
2
iowa
while legally there doesn't seem to be any recourse against this, i wish they'd be considerate of this beach-- it's not like it suddenly caught on in the last couple of years... it's an ingrained part of the area that they should try and respect.

paul
 

Krizoitz

macrumors 68000
Apr 26, 2003
1,724
2,065
Tokyo, Japan
MrMacman said:
Just tell me why the want it placed there in the first place.

Thats just REALLY stupid. :eek:

Unfortunately colleges are usually limited in terms of space especially when cities grow up around them.
 

Koodauw

macrumors 68040
Nov 17, 2003
3,951
190
Madison
While the University does have every right to build there, I would hope they would take into account that they might be ruining a really nice beach area. (Nude or otherwise.)
 

oldschool

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 30, 2003
1,029
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Koodauw said:
While the University does have every right to build there, I would hope they would take into account that they might be ruining a really nice beach area. (Nude or otherwise.)

the university isn't building on the beach or ruining the beach in any way...the article is misleading. they are building near the beach, and its far enough away so that only the top ten stories of the building will be able to see the beach.
 

rainman::|:|

macrumors 603
Feb 2, 2002
5,438
2
iowa
oldschool said:
the university isn't building on the beach or ruining the beach in any way...the article is misleading. they are building near the beach, and its far enough away so that only the top ten stories of the building will be able to see the beach.

You should read the articles you post more carefully, it's not misleading... not only will it end the use of the beach for nudism, which is has been used for for 40 years, but:
But Ms. Williams, long-time head of the Wreck Beach Preservation Society, said the increased potential for voyeurism is not the only problem with the proposed towers.

Their construction will spoil the view from below, she said.

Wreck Beach is still surrounded by forest. When sunbathers gaze up toward the top of the cliff, they see nothing but trees.

"There's been no change since Captain Vancouver and Simon Fraser were here," Ms. Williams said. "It's the last beach cloaked in a forested area that we've got, except for Stanley Park, and it must stay that way.

"No one wants to see these obstructive monoliths sticking out above the trees."

I'd say that's enough to consider it ruination.

paul
 

G4scott

macrumors 68020
Jan 9, 2002
2,225
5
USA_WA
Wow... I could see an argument like this uprising at my university, if we had beaches nearby...

As it is, I live in a 14 story dorm that along with it's 9 story counterpart, hold somewhere around 2700 students. I think it's the biggest dorm in the world, but I'm not entirely sure. I think the biggest one before ours burned down...

Of course, dorms meant to hold more than 2000 people are going to appear as monoliths to anybody... If the university needs housing, then they should be able to build it. Maybe new designs could be drawn up or something, but I think the University has the right to do whatever they want to do. If they want to build the dorms so that they don't invade the privacy of the nude beach, then they can, but they don't have to.
 

oldschool

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 30, 2003
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paulwhannel said:
You should read the articles you post more carefully, it's not misleading... not only will it end the use of the beach for nudism, which is has been used for for 40 years, but:


I'd say that's enough to consider it ruination.

paul

:rolleyes:

i did read it carefully, however some other people posted comments about how it would totally ruin the beach. i simply stated that maybe for them the article is misleading, as it won't destroy the beach, just the privacy aspect. the beach will still be there.
 

coolsoldier

macrumors 6502
Jan 7, 2003
402
0
The 909
Holy S**t! A 20 story dorm building!?!?

None of our dorm buildings are more than three stories! And it's not like this is exactly a small university, either (30,000+ students).

How big is the University of British Columbia, anyway?
 

G4scott

macrumors 68020
Jan 9, 2002
2,225
5
USA_WA
coolsoldier said:
Holy S**t! A 20 story dorm building!?!?

None of our dorm buildings are more than three stories! And it's not like this is exactly a small university, either (30,000+ students).

How big is the University of British Columbia, anyway?

My university (The University of Texas at Austin), is the largest in the nation, with somewhere around 52,000 students. My dorm (website here) is (I think) the largest in the nation (someone said world, but I'm not sure), and holds over 2000 people (somewhere around 2700, I think.) It's often called "Jester penitentiary" or something to that effect. It's also the largest brick building in the US (maybe world, again, but I'm not sure.)

Most of the other dorms on campus aren't more than 4 or 5 stories tall, and don't hold nearly as much people.

We also have a 24 or something story dorm, but it's privately owned, and doesn't hold as many people...

As for the topic of this thread... I think it'd be cool to have a dorm overlooking a beach... It'd be a lot better view than what I have now. I look out my window, and see the courtyard below... Not much to see...
 

wdlove

macrumors P6
Oct 20, 2002
16,568
0
oldschool said:
the university isn't building on the beach or ruining the beach in any way...the article is misleading. they are building near the beach, and its far enough away so that only the top ten stories of the building will be able to see the beach.

So it ends up that the nude beach will only interfere in the summer. Guess that summer school will become very popular, with a big push to be on the upper floors.
 

Koodauw

macrumors 68040
Nov 17, 2003
3,951
190
Madison
paulwhannel said:
You should read the articles you post more carefully, it's not misleading... not only will it end the use of the beach for nudism, which is has been used for for 40 years, but:


I'd say that's enough to consider it ruination.

paul

Thanks Paul.

I would think the whole dorms being in the area would ruin the seclusion of the beach, even if you couldn't see anything from the beach.

I learned a new word....ruination.
 

advocate

macrumors regular
Jan 16, 2004
131
0
coolsoldier said:
How big is the University of British Columbia, anyway?
Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 35000 undergraduate students and about 10000 graduate students, increasing every year. Oh heck, there are already three 17-floor residence towers, along with half a dozen other residences, right on the campus.
 

oldschool

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 30, 2003
1,029
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advocate said:
Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 35000 undergraduate students and about 10000 graduate students, increasing every year. Oh heck, there are already three 17-floor residence towers, along with half a dozen other residences, right on the campus.


do you go there? what year are you in?
 

coolsoldier

macrumors 6502
Jan 7, 2003
402
0
The 909
advocate said:
Somewhere in the neighbourhood of 35000 undergraduate students and about 10000 graduate students, increasing every year. Oh heck, there are already three 17-floor residence towers, along with half a dozen other residences, right on the campus.

Ah, see, here we have 32 3-story dorm buildings.
I guess that's just because around it's cheaper to spread out than to build up. You don't see many "towers" around here :)
 

Jimong5

macrumors 6502
Jul 22, 2002
296
0
G4scott said:
As it is, I live in a 14 story dorm that along with it's 9 story counterpart, hold somewhere around 2700 students. I think it's the biggest dorm in the world, but I'm not entirely sure. I think the biggest one before ours burned down...

Of course, dorms meant to hold more than 2000 people are going to appear as monoliths to anybody... If the university needs housing, then they should be able to build it.

Kinda sounds like where Im going next year, Since its in downtown Milwaukee, The university has only 1 dorm hall. And Sandburg is 4 towers in 1 building that is rated at 2700+ people. so if your dorm is one of the largest, this ranks up there too. http://www.december.com/places/mke/images/uwmsh.jpg
 
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