Get out of basement, into tanning bed

BY MATT ZOVKO
Staff Writer

Today having a glowing tan is the social norm. To maintain a beautiful tan in the colder weather, artificial tans are essential.

Tanning beds can be seen as harmful, yet they are not much different than sunbathing. They provide people with good tans and relaxing sensations.

There is a social aspect to tanning too. Most people are trying to keep up with the Kardashians, and all of the Kardashians have excellent tans.

In ancient times, being pale was a sign of beauty, but that is not the case today. Today, being pale shows people that you spend too much time on the Internet.

Exposure to the sun provides human beings with a sufficient amount of vitamin D. Most people do not get enough vitamin D, so tanning is a good way to provide the body with an ample amount.

Although tanning beds have been proven to pose somewhat of a health risk, if people want to use them they should be able to use them. People should not let others dictate what they can and cannot do to their own bodies.

Some people love to live on the edge by smoking or riding motorcycles without helmets. These activities pose their own risks, but people do them because they enjoy them. The same thing goes for tanning beds.

There are alternate methods to tanning that pose less of a health risk, such as spray tans and tanning oils. These methods pose the risk of turning orange, but if done correctly one could receive a nice tan.

Pale people should stop complaining about those who look better than them because of a nice glow, and leave their dark bedrooms to get a decent tan themselves.

To stay healthy, embrace pale look

BY LAUREN SCHUGG
Web Editor

Tanning salons may seem like a great place to break free from that pale depression of winter, but in reality, tanning is not a good solution.

Contrary to what most teenage girls want to believe, any type of tanning enhances the risks of developing skin cancer. A study cited in the New York Times said that tanning beds cause approximately 400,000 cases of skin cancer per year, 6,000 of which are melanoma, the deadliest kind. More than 40 states have some type of restriction for minors who want to use a tanning bed, the Times article said.

Spray tanning seems like a way to artificially tan skin for an amount of time that avoids the dangerous effects of ultraviolet rays, but dermatologist Darrell Rigel says that when a tanner is in the fog of chemicals, the main concern is breathing in acetones, which are the fumes that smell like nail polish. He said spray tans are better than tanning beds. As for getting a spray tan, “you’ll probably be O.K.”

The most important reason for being tan for average teenage girls is that they think the “natural glow” will make their skin look radiant. In reality, the majority of spray tans look orange and aren’t at all attractive, even if their other orange friends say they look good.

Spray tans dark enough to make someone look orange just make others believe that the tanner just rolled around in the cheese from Doritos.

One of the many perks of being pale is that it used to represent royalty and wealth because it meant that they never had to work outside and hired people who did it for them. More people should embrace their natural symbol of royalty rather than an artificial orange glow.