Mortimer, a senior in radio-television from Virden, said she always tries to tan indoors before she takes off for a trip where there is a beach.

I need to tan ahead of time so I won’t burn while I’m in Daytona, she said. I feel a little awkward standing on a beach looking pale, and I want some color on my body.

Mortimer is not the only student toasting herself in the beds. Indoor tanning has been popular for students going on spring break, as well as for those staying in town.

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Stephanie Kelly, manager of Puretan, 855 E. Grand Ave., said this is the busiest time of the year for tanning salons, and many of their customers tan there for various reasons.

A lot of people choose indoor tanning in order to get a base tan, she said. They want to have color before they expose themselves to the sun so they won’t burn. Others just want their bodies to be real dark before they even get to their destination. A lot of people just come to relax because of the heat and background music in the beds.

James Horaz, an employee of European Tan Spa, 300 E. Main St., said his business has tripled this month because of students preparing for spring break.

Horaz said by law, tanning salons have to keep a personal record of every customer who tans.

We keep track of their skin type and how it reacts to the sun so we can determine how long they should tan, he said.

Kelly said tanning salons provide precautions to every customer to reduce the risk of skin cancer.

She said people should avoid frequent or lengthy exposure, wear protective eye wear such as goggles and check their medications, like antibiotics, which can cause sensitivity to light.

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Kelly said many of her customers prefer indoor tanning over outdoor tanning because it takes place in a controlled environment.

People are able to monitor their exposure, she said. Whereas, when they tan outdoors, it’s difficult to measure the length of exposure because they tend to lose track of the time.

Kevin Lister, executive director of American Cancer Society in Southern Illinois, said there is no such thing as a safe tanning bed, and the Society encourages everyone to stay out of them.

He said that this year, there will be 800,000 cases of skin cancer through epidermal studies, along with 9,430 deaths from skin cancer.

Horaz said European Tan Spa carries a lot of finalizers and lotions to prevent people from burning, but Lister said people are defeating the purpose if they use sunscreen while tanning indoors.

The American Cancer Society does not advocate using sunscreens in tanning beds, he said. Instead, the American Cancer Society encourages people to stay out of the beds altogether.