Sunny SIDE UP

She can already hear the waves crashing, feel the wind blowing and smell the salt water churning. Spring break is so close she can taste it. Lounging on the beach, soaking in the sun and truly taking the definition of vacation into context, junior Lida Coalter is hours away from spending her break in the Bahamas. Many students have been preparing for this magical week off in mid-March by packing and finishing up school work. Coalter has other plans. She's been preparing for spring break in a manner that has been catching on around campus and the nation in the past few years. A few weeks ago, Coalter started going to a tanning salon. \n"I'm getting ready for spring break, so I don't get as burnt when I'm on the beach," Coalter said. \nFor Coalter, the Bahamas may be closer than ever, but so are the risks associated with tanning. Since her head start on looking bronze, Coalter has been showering under the ultraviolet lights of the tanning booth almost three times a week. Even though she's just beginning her routine trips to the tanning salon, Coalter doesn't think it's enough. "I started a couple weeks ago ... I'm not going as much as I'd like," Coalter said. \nThis constant exposure of dangerous rays can amount to years of damage in the long-run. According to www.myphysicians.com, the dangers of tanning can include "cancer, a dysfunctional immune system (with prolonged radiation exposure), sun and eye burns, cataracts and photosensitive reactions to medications." Although aware of the risks, many continue to tan anyway. \n"I'm aware of the risks," Coalter said. "It's basically the same if you're out in the sun. I know it's bad for you, but I do it anyway."\nCoalter doesn't see psychological benefits to tanning, but Lake Forest University researchers say otherwise. As stated in an article in the Knight-Ridder Tribune, while the risks may outweigh the benefits, the bright side to tanning can be a real mood lifter.\nIn the study, Lake Forest University researchers speculated that tanning might stimulate secretion of mood-boosting endorphins for a "drug-like reinforcing effect." Researchers found that tanning beds can be habit-forming because tanners crave the good mood. Although researchers claim tanning to be addictive, junior Ashley Morton says she only tans for aesthetic reasons. "I feel healthier. If I'm not tan, I look sick." \nAs reported in the Lake Forest study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology last summer, researchers found that people felt significantly more relaxed and less tense after lying in a real tanning bed compared with lying in a placebo bed with no UV light.\nAnother benefit of tanning is the absorption of vitamin D. Although stepping outside without sunscreen or taking a calcium pill laced with the vitamin can fill a daily requirement, tanning fulfills the prescription as well. \nCoalter also recognizes the trend of over-tanning in her peers. "I know people who go all the time just for no reason and they start to look gross and wrinkly."\nEither way, it's hard for many to look at concrete evidence that shows the true effects since our generation has yet to see the repercussions. \n"Cancer might not have time to materialize if you set the same factors into motion at 60," Ron Buchheim, who edited the Lake Forest University report, told Knight- Ridder Tribune. "That certainly also applies to skin aging. UV radiation can be better controlled inside, but our evidence indicates tanning salons do not control as scrupulously as they could and should. It's a potentially dangerous pleasure."\nYoung people are at special risk because the health hazards of tanning are cumulative, and abnormal cells have a longer time to eventually blossom into dangerous tumors within their life span, Buchheim said.\nIt may not be a question of knowing the risks, but more of understanding them. Researchers found that many tanning salons not only deny or downplay the possible risks of their service but also endorse unsafe practices. Many Bloomington tanning salons refused to comment on not only the risks of tanning but the procedure of notifying new clients of the dangers.\nConsumer Reports investigated 296 tanning salons in 12 states for a study, published in its January issue, under the headline, "The Unexpected Dangers of Indoor Tanning." Seventy-five percent of the surveyed employees said you could tan every day or come in as often as you wanted, even when researchers identified themselves as beginners; and nearly 35 percent denied that indoor tanning can cause cancer and/or premature wrinkles, brown spots and other signs of aging skin. About 6 percent even permit the dangerous practice of tanning without protective eye shields.\nMore than 20 percent said minors, who may face the greatest long-term risks, could tan without parental consent, Buchheim said.\nThe myth of "base tanning" is shared by almost all tanners. All alike in theory, it generally states that tanning before prolonged exposure to the sun will prevent burning. According to myphysicians.com, there is "no such thing as a 'base tan' which protects from future sun burns. This is news to Morton who, like Coalter, is cramming tanning in the weeks before spring break. Many students favor this "pre-tanning" before break as a way of capturing the so-called "base tan." \n"I like to go tanning before spring break because I'll burn if I don't," Morton said. "I don't tan unless I'm going out of town." \nAlthough aware of the risks, Morton can't resist the booths before her much-anticipated week off lying under the Florida rays. Coalter makes it a point to get a tan before her trip because she feels that if she didn't, "then I'd get burnt as hell when I get there and be miserable."\nNearly 30 million Americans, including a growing number of teenage girls, are expected to visit tanning salons in 2005. With spring break approaching fast, more and more tanning salons in Bloomington can be counted on to contribute to this growing number. Other options for tanning are using sunscreen while outside or applying a self-tanner or bronzer.