With winter setting in and word of the FDA cracking down on barely visible tanning bed warnings, the Editorial Board is urging students to forgo sun-kissed bronze in favor of pasty white — or even Gators-themed fake orange.
We know Floridians use the term “winter” lightly, and we don’t expect you to hibernate along with the sun, but every year, it becomes more evident that tanning is a careless practice.
According to an Associated Press article, the FDA finally noticed that the warnings on tanning beds are less than menacing and is beginning to explore stricter regulation of tanning studios.
We’re all for the crackdown — we’ve Googled “melanoma,” and it’s not pretty.
The World Health Organization found that the risk of skin cancer jumps by about 5 percent when people use tanning beds in their teens and 20s. Sure, there’s a chance the data is skewed or it’s all a big conspiracy, but do you really want to take the risk? We don’t.
OK, we know most of you are already rolling your eyes, and that’s fine. But we’ll be rolling ours when you whine about the scar from the mole you had removed from your cheek.
We don’t expect you to start bathing in sunblock and wearing veils when you leave the apartment. We just ask you to think about which is more attractive: Slightly pale legs or ones with a big nasty scar from where doctors removed cancerous flesh? We’re thinking the former. Because looking like a vintage Coach bag by the time you’re 40 is just not cute.
