The Pendulum
Emphasis
Possible dangers discounted
Tanning salons prove popular with students
By Loretta Bivins
Emphasis Editor
Even before spring officially
arrived last week, Elon had
already enjoyed temperatures in
the 60s and 70s. The popular tan
ning spots on campus are now
filled with sunbathers in colorful
suits and shades. But there is
something different about many
of this year’s sun worshipers—
they’re already tan!
While some may have been
fortunate enough to have gone to
some tropical island over the
winter, most achieved this bronz
ed look in a tanning salon.
These salons have been popp
ing up all over in the last year and
are becoming very popular with
Elon students. Penny Hollars,
who works at Endless Summer
Tanning Salon on E. Webb
Avenue, says that the majority of
customers there are students from
Elon.
But along with the benefits of
rosy cheeks and bronzed skin,
this fast tanning method may
cause damage to the skin.
Most beds or booths emit light
from the ultraviolet A (UVA)
portion of the spectrum. It is the
ultraviolet B (UVB) rays that pro
duce most burning. “Natural
sunlight has 15 percent burning
rays," says Lori Gray, manager
of Roctab Taiming Salon in Burl
ington. The tanning beds there
emit only two percent burning
rays. Most salons in the area have
less than five percent, and
Eleonore’s Hair Design and Tan
ning Salon have beds with ab
solutely no burning rays.
Safer Way to Tan?
Thus, it seems tanning salons
offer a safer way to tan, but ac
cording to Joe Graedon, syn
dicated author of “The People’s
Pharmacy” in The Greensboro
News & Record, evidence has
shown that UVB tanning is
dangerous. Graedon said that
studies have shown it to cause
mutation in bacteria, skin cancer
in both animals and humans, and
premature aging.
Although UVA radiation
penetrates the outermost layer of
the skin, Graedon said that the
UVA rays go even deeper and
have been shown to cause damage
in cells.
Natural sunlight has its dangers
too. “You’re not going to notice
any damage after a week in the
sun in Fort Lauderdale,” said Dr.
John Murray, a dermatologist at
Duke University Medical Center,
“but you will notice it 20 or 30
years later.”
Thursday, March 27
Snoozing: David Rich naps in the sun, “catching” some rays in the
process.
Murray said that prolonged ex
posure to the sun can accelerate
the aging process of the skin. He
added that it can also contribute
to dark patches and scaly brown-
gray growths called keratoses,
which are often precancerous.
Almost all of the cases of skin
cancer in the United States can be
attributed in part to sun exposure,
Murray said. Also, he said, more
skin cancer occurs in Southern
and Southwestern states than in
anywhere else in the country.
Precautions Taken
The men and women who work
in these tanning salons are aware
that there are dangers to overex
posure, and all said that they take
careful measures to insure that
customers do not stay under any
longer than the alloted time. None
have reported any cases of
sunburn.
Among the benefits of salon
tanning are achieving that “all
over” tan in a private room; a
bathing suit is not necessary.
Because tanning devices are
very low in UVB rays, the skin
does not bum as easily as it would
in natural sunlight. “You don’t
lose the tan the way you do in the
sun,” says Nan Wall of Phase
Two Tanning Center in Burl
ington. “You’re not getting the
burning rays that cause you to
peel.”
Another benefit is that most
tanning salons are open long after
the sun goes down, so busy
daytime workers can get in on
some of the bronzing action.
“We’re open six days a week,”
says Gray, “from 9 a.m. to mid
night on weekdays” and “until
we run out of appointments” on
Saturdays.
Eleonore’s Hair Design, just
across the street from the college,
has many Elon customers, and
they are men as well as women,
says Eleonore Dunn, the owner
of the salon. Dunn uses the beds
herself and has a tan. “I enjoy it
because it’s relaxing,” she says.
Unlike natural sunlight,
however, rays from the tanning
salon are not free. The area
salons have prices ranging from
$5 to $8 per session, the length
of the sessions varying from 15
to 45 minutes. Many salons are
currently running lower-price
specials, however.
But for many students, the cost
is worth the tenefits.
Good Investment
Stephanie Redding, a junior
from Elizabeth City, N.C., says
she visits a tanning salon once a
month when she goes home. “I
don’t go too often, because it
looks ridiculous to have a sum
mer tan in the winter time,” says
Redding.
She also adds that she’s not
concerned about the possible
dangers . “You’re in there for the
maximum of 20-25 minutes. I
don’t believe that 20-25 minutes
will do as much damage as lying
out in the sun all day,” says Red
ding. “I’ve never gotten burnt in
a tanning salon.”
Gayle Grasich, a junior from
Richmond, Va., also is un
concerned about the dangffs
because she said, “I heard ttat
they were safer for you than the
sun. ” Grasich says she goes t(Jn
tanning salon to maintain the tan
she got in Florida this winte^
Beg your pardon
Due to an editor’s error, an ai
de in last week’s Pendu^
(“Married students juggle
college life”) attributed to
Carrico quotations that she
not make. Carrico was not inlp-
viewed for the article. The Pen
dulum apologizes to hef
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