Nudists strip down for cause

A student group decided to bare the naked truth on College Green yesterday. Literally. In a demonstration in favor of nudity as a form of expression, four members of the Naturist Student Association stripped in front of the Peace Symbol. Speaking in front of television cameras and in the buff, Association President and third-year Law Student Gons Nachman, explained the Naturist platform. "Nudity does not have to be sexual. It is very positive, very wholesome, and very natural," he said. "We feel a strong connection to our planet and to other creatures that were born naked like ourselves. "We also enjoy a certain amount of freedom from embarrassment -- from having to worry about our looks without shame," he added. Although many members of the organization chose not to bare it all for the public yesterday, Nachman said the demonstration was necessary to correct the myths that nude exhibitions create a public disturbance. "After a while, people just went about their business on the Green," Nachman said. And indeed, student reaction -- or the lack of reaction -- to the Naturists' exposition seemed to support Nachman's claim. While Nachman stood with his unclothed counterparts, and fully clothed Naturists handed out literature, the majority of students and passers-by dedicated no more than a puzzled glance at the exposed bodies. But amidst this nonchalance, one individual made his condemnation of public nudity obvious to Nachman. About 50 posters publicizing the event were torn down yesterday morning, he said. Nachman also said he received a nasty message on his answering machine last night. "He said we were knuckleheads and should have nailed [the posters] to the foreheads of children," Nachman said. The two incidents were especially disturbing to the Naturists, who harbor the motto, "Be natural, be rational, be nude, be free." "We have never ever had anyone approach us and express any anger," Nachman said. "I'm sure it's someone who works for the University and I was disappointed because we were the target of censorship." Nachman added that the references to posters in the message he received lead him to attribute both incidents to the same person.

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