As the days grow longer and the sun&s heat strengthens, the skin&s hue darkens. Many students can&t wait for spring for that desired darker tone, and instead look to tanning beds.

Clientele around local tanning salons is picking up and with so many salons to choose from within a four-mile radius of Sacramento State (seven, to be precise), finding an available &bronze shop& is as easy as stepping outside.

&The tanning industry is doing very well right now,& said Georgina Patamakomol, the owner of Tan For All at 1355 Fulton Ave. Patamakomol is also a regular tanning bed user.

&I go regularly to my doctor,& Patamakomol said. &She cautions me on my use, so I take it very seriously.&

Patamakomol said discretion is important when using tanning beds. Patamakomol said the tanning beds emit certain types of UV rays that mimic the sun&s glow.

&If used properly, they will not damage the skin or the body in any way,& she said.

Emil Tanghetti, a Sacramento dermatologist practicing around the corner from Sac State off J Street, has a different opinion.

&If anyone is going to tanning beds they should be skeptical,& Tanghetti said. &It&s like going and asking someone from the cigarette industry if smoking is bad.&

Tanghetti said tanning beds are never healthy.

&They send a broad band of light out, called UVA light, and it penetrates through the epidermis, which is the protective layer (of the skin), down to the dermis and damages it,& Tanghetti said.

Tanghetti said that any type of light the body receives damages skin cells.

All types of UV rays exist. UVA and UVB rays occur naturally through the sun&s light. Another, more toxic form emitted from the sun, called UVC, is more-or-less blocked out by the ozone layer.

Any one of these types of rays has the potential for causing any number of skin diseases, including cancer and melanoma. Tanning beds mimic each form of these rays without any protection. For that reason, tanning bed sessions are usually limited to 15 to 20 minutes, depending on skin pigment.

Peter Mathis, owner/operator of a tanning salon called Wild Tans off of University Drive and La Riviera Drive, knows of the concerns and makes people well aware of the risks.

&If someone really fair comes in, we will recommend that they don&t tan, that they shouldn&t tan,& he said.

Mathis is also aware of the growing controversy over tanning bed use. As with anything, there are as many pros as there are cons.

&The thing is, if you try to research this on your own, you will only find the negative press,& he said. &It&s a good thing in moderation. People should just use common sense and discretion.&

Just having a broad sense of the effects of tanning seems to keep some Sac State students from using tanning beds.

&I&m kind of scared of them anyway,& criminal justice major Gavin Ray said.

For some it&s all about being safe and knowing their own body. Shaunna Heckenlaible, a fair-skinned child development major, said that using sunscreen out in the sun is fine with her. And if that&s not enough, there are other alternatives.

&I&ve heard that a lot of people use self-spray lotion,& Heckenlaible said.

Spray-on tanning is an option available at most tanning salons, at an average cost of $30. There is no skin damage with this method, but the tan only lasts for one to two weeks.

For Nicole Brown, a dietetics major and tanning salon employee, knowing the health risks doesn&t faze her.

&I don&t think it&s any worse than staying out in the sun for hours and hours,& she said.

Brown said it&s important to use lotions. The drier one&s skin is, the less likely he or she will tan. More importantly, dry skin can actually damage skin further.

It&s most important to be informed about the risks. Different people&s skin will react differently to exposure to UV rays. Depending on a peson&s pigmentation, the sun or tanning beds can have very serious and long lasting effects.

&Part of this has to do with being satisfied with our color. We don&t have to all look like we just walked in off the beach,& Tanghetti said.