Avoid the Frigid Temps and Kick Back
By Molly Cullen

During those infamous frigid days in Blacksburg, otherwise known as “Bleaksburg,” finding a way to escape from the bitter cold includes a range of choices.  For example, some choose to hide away by skipping classes and bundling up in their beds.  For others, Deet’s Place provides a warm solution by serving up hot tasty drinks.  Still, others like to workout intensely at McComas as another way to heat up.  Finally, there are those who religiously visit the local tanning salons for a 20-minute ultraviolet blast. 

“I like looking tan in the winter,” said Katie Boynton, a tanning bed enthusiast.  “When it gets cold and depressing in the winter, tanning puts me in a better mood.”  That would be my choice too, but I know there is no such thing as a “healthy-looking” tan. 

I’ll never get used to the winters in Blacksburg.  I love to spend much of my time outdoors, especially in the warmer seasons when I can enjoy boating and traveling to the beach.  It’s a bummer when winter comes around and I can’t get that sun-kissed glow.  The tanning bed craze solves my problem.  Even just one session at a salon can make me look and feel like I’ve just spent the day by the pool. 

Maybe I’ll go tanning just a couple of times right before the night of my sorority’s formals when I want to look my “best.”  “Being tan makes me feel like I look better,” said Jessica Moore, a tanning package purchaser.  “I think everyone feels prettier when they’re tan.” 

I’ve been kidding myself by claiming that I won’t get skin cancer.   That couldn’t happen to me, right?  By the time I am diagnosed with it, knock on wood, they will probably have a cure or a way to detect it sooner so I won’t have to worry about it.  Why should I let the unknown scare me if I’m not seeing the effects of it now? 

But now I know better.  In reality, that suntan image that I have been aiming for has deadly consequences.  “The fact that your making a tan is a sign that you’ve had an injury to your skin,” said John Carucci, the director of dermatological surgery at Cornell University.

Sadly, skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in humans.  According to the nonprofit Skin Cancer Foundation (skincancer.org), one out of seven people will develop some form of skin cancer during their lifetime.  Tanning salons are one of the major culprits in the rise of skin cancer among young women.  While we’re young, health issues often take a backseat to more important concerns like having a tan for that new party dress. 

Excessive sun exposure in the first 18 years of life increases the chances of developing skin cancer.  Malignant melanoma, the most lethal, kills one in four people who develop it.  A family history also plays a role, especially in melanoma.  Redheads and blondes have three times the risk of developing melanoma.  This diagnosis used to apply to people who either worked outdoors all of their lives or avid sportsmen.  Unfortunately, that is no longer typical.  More and more skin cancer is being detected in women in their twenties and early thirties, most of whom are using tanning beds.  Since skin cancer is on the rise, why compound the problem by patronizing tanning salons?

However, indoor tanning is big business.  The Skin Cancer Foundation reports that this is a $2 billion-a-year industry in the United States.  According to industry estimates, 28 million Americans are tanning indoors annually at about 25,000 tanning salons around the country.  Conveniently, there are five locations where you can tan right in Blacksburg, not to mention four more in Christiansburg.

This semester, tanning package prices have gone up, therefore, I wouldn’t have been able to sustain that “healthy” glow like my fellow tanners even if I wanted to.  For example, $16.95 buys unlimited tanning privileges for a month at one of Blacksburg’s downtown locations.  What may seem like a deal to some is no comparison to the cost of damaging my skin.  I’ll be spending my money on a safe alternative, self-tanners.  Talk a walk down the lotion aisle in a grocery store to see the full array of products that give consumers their desired glow in a bottle.  You might run into me.