A cult has taken over Ball State University's campus. The people involved make no attempts to hide their identities. They appear as normal, healthy individuals, but what is unknown are the terrifying, weekly and monthly rituals that these people voluntarily undergo. These individuals worship false sunlight and flock to coffins of rays that produce Jennifer Aniston clones. The cult members emerge with sun-kissed skin and super-straight, highlighted hair. These treacherous, ultraviolet tombs are known as tanning beds. Tanning to the point of absurdity is an increasing problem on Ball State's campus, as well as throughout our world.
All joking aside, it is not just women that flock to these beds, even though they are a higher majority. It is men, too. Although these people have been brainwashed into thinking these tanning beds are positive things used to enhance their appearance, nobody can really blame them for their decisions. Today's society tells us that to be beautiful, we have to look like sun goddesses who have just gotten off a plane from Jamaica. We're supposed to look like this even in the middle of winter, when it's not normal to be tan.
It troubles me that this service is becoming as common as going to the grocery store.
"I'm going to the store, the bank, and then I'm going to head over and damage my body cells. I'll be back by dinner."
Yet people still want to say that it's a healthy alternative to the real sun, and it's good for the body. I refuse to believe that this damaging of skin cells is healthy, whether it's the real sun or beams of ultraviolet rays five inches from the body. The Skin Cancer Foundation has even said that the radiation from a tanning booth may be more risky than exposure from the sun. I know that lately it seems anything will cause cancer. A friend of mine once said, "Starlight gives you cancer, these days." But these tanning beds can cause the three main skin cancers: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma. The latter two are more likely to spread and may require more treatment.
Not only are these tanning beds able to cause life-threatening diseases, but tanning ages people. The more people tan, the older they look, and the people that are in vogue right now are going to look pretty heinous when they hit their forties and fifties. Perhaps, by then, leathery wrinkles will be hot.
Then there are those people that tan so much they appear to be developing diseases before my very eyes. Don't they know there's a point in time when there should be a resting period? They have skin colors I didn't know existed. The most common of these colors is, of course, the oompa loompa color and the high blood pressure color when they are red in the face.
People that spend this much time tanning are spending, in Muncie, an average of $6 for every standard session. It seems that college students, who often complain of being broke, should be saving their money for more important expenses.
It's evident that society is not going to change anytime soon. Tanning bed businesses will continue to be a $2 billion-a-year industry in the United States, and natural skin colors will slowly cease to exist. Until this happens, I intend to embrace my pastiness and promote body cell abundance.
Write to Melissa at mmwhiten@bsu.edu
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
