The Battalion
Thursday, February 22,1990
Special Spring Break Ins;
Negative effects of tanning include
skin cancer, premature wrinkles
Sophomore Mark Holcomb is one of the many A&M students hit- Holcomb, who uses the tanning facilities at Tan-U on Northgate,
ting the tanning beds to get their skin ready for spring break. plans on going to South Padre Island.
By PAM MOOMAN
Of The Battalion Staff
It will catch up to unsuspecting sun-
bathers sooner or later.
“The damage that comes from ultra
violet light, like the sun or tanning
lamps, has an additive cumulative ef
fect,” Dr. Clyde Caperton, a local der
matologist, said. “When you’re 40,
you’ll look 60.”
The price paid for a tan at 20 is dry,
wrinkled skin and scaly patches that
could turn into skin cancer at age 40 or
50, he said. Tanning, he said, ages
you before you are old.
But the negative effects don’t al
ways come later. Repeated bad sun
burns can cause black moles to form,
whatever the sunbather’s age, Caper-
ton said.
Black moles could signal dangerous
melanomas (skin tumors), he said.
With spring break approaching,
sunburns inevitably will crop up.
“That’-S when (people) are partic
ularly susceptible because they’ve
been indoors all winter,” Caperton
said.
Another factor adding to this spring
break phenomenon is alcohol. Caper
ton said people who are normally sen
sible might drink heavily and stay in
the sun longer than they should.
Coloring also affects skin damage.
People with dark pigmentation can
stay out in the sun longer with less risk
of serious damage, Caperton said. But
it’s a different story for blond, blue
eyed people who never tan.
“If you’re extremely fair, you’re in
the greatest danger,” he said.
Sunburns occur both at the beach
and the ski slopes, Caperton said.
Hours spent in the sun and the close
ness to the equator also determine the
probability of sunburns, he said.
For example, you are more likely to
get sunburned on a Texas beach than a
New York beach, he said.
But there are some general precau
tions that sunbathers can take to pro
tect their skin:
• Use a sunscreen with a sun pro
tection factor (SPF) of at least eight.
• Cover up with clothing.
• Be reasonable in the amount of
sunbathing you do.
• Be aware of sun sensitivity that
may be caused by medicines.
“You cannot make the skin tan in
one exposure,” Caperton said. “Burn
ing does nothing good to the skin.
“(A bad sunburn) will ruin (your)
vacation, if nothing else.”
Officials in Mexico
provide guest sign-ii
By BILL HETHCOCK
Of The Battalion Staff
Spring-breakers venturing
into Mexico at the Matamoros
bridge will have a chance to
register their visit as they cross
the Rio Grande River.
A new program by the Mex
ican immigration office will
allow any temporary visitors
to the country to log their
names and destinations as they
enter.
Antoline Licona, chief of
the Office of Immigration on
the Mexican side of the bor
der, said he hopes students
will take advantage of this vol
untary service.
University of Texas student
Mark Kilroy was abducted and
killed last year on a short trip
into the Mexican city of Mat
amoros.
Licona said that he hopes-
this program will decrease the
chances of a recurrence of this
type of accident and wi
narrow the search process
case of an emergency.
“The main reason for
registration is so we can
for sure if a person has
the border into Mexico,’;
cona said. “In case
gency, we can try to
person. At least we wi
they have entered the con!
if they sign in at the bridge
Signing in upon entryis;
mandatory but is strong!J
ommended, Licona said,
Carlos Perez, deputy cot
to the Mexican consulate
Brownsville, said itisag
idea for anyone going
Mexico to sign in. Heh
there will be five to lOit
gration agents working
program, so lines won
up and visitors to the c
won’t be delayed.
The voluntary registralj
See Sign in/Page 4
Students should book
tour packages with can
By SELINA GONZALEZ
Of The Battalion Staff
Spring-breakers take heed
— local travel agents agree
that students might be suck-
ered into tour company pack
age deals that prey on naivete.
“It’s safer and better to go
through a travel agency,” Sue
Niemeyer, a travel agent with
Aggieland Travels Inc., said.
“At least when you do, you
know that you are dealing with
tour companies that have been
in the business and are reputa
ble.
“A reputable tour company
will be registered with the In
ternational Airlines Travel
Agency Network.” Students
can call a travel agency and
check if the package they are
considering is listed.
Niemeyer said to be cau
tious of tour companies not
listed with the International
Airlines Travel Agency Net
work.
She said while mosl
companies aren’t tryingtt
advantage of students, ili
portant to read the fine pm
all advertisements.
“For example, someaii
will run specials foroif
and in fine print downt
the bottom it will say,
on round trip per direct^
Niemeyer explained,
would end up meaningSfiJ
direction.”
She said that one
group of vacationers arritf
the airport to find the cl!
had been cancelled.
“In cases like that,;
times you don’t gets
money back,” Niemeyerf
Hilda Hill, a travel!
with Dog Gone
agreed that students arei^ ;
protected from being take!
vantage of by making!
ments with an agency.
“We know most
See Safe/Page 4
Alcohol overindulgence can cause harmful side effects
By SUZANNE CALDERON
Of The Battalion Staff
Spring break, the greatest
week you’ll never remember.
But overindulging in alco
hol and staying drunk all week
could be harmful, said Dr.
Dennis Reardon, coordinator
for Texas A&M’s Center for
Drug Prevention and Educa
tion.
Staying drunk all week or
overindulging in alcohol can
impair body functions, over
work the liver and destroy
brain cells, Reardon said.
“Since the effect of alcohol
is to anesthetize the brain,
(drinking too much) can de
stroy brain mass,” he said.
But, Reardon said, the im-
Safe Break ’90provides safety tips during all-University party
By SUZANNE CALDERON
Of The Battalion Staff
It’s a party before the party.
Informing students of how to stay
safe during spring break is the purpose
of the Texas A&M All-University
Beach/Ski Spring Break Party from 8
p.m, to midnight March 7 in the
Grove.
The party is part of Safe Break ’90
— National Collegiate Drug Aware-
-
ness Week, which is the week prior to
spring break, March 5 to 9. Admission
to the party is free.
A committee of students from orga
nizations such as Alpha Phi Omega,
Residence Hall Association, Interfra-
temity Council, MSC Hospitality,
Off-Campus Aggies and Panhellenic
are organizing the party, said Timm
Keen, coordinator of Safe Break ’90
and a graduate assistant for A&M’s
Center for Drug Prevention and Edu
cation.
Booths representing various spring
break destinations will be set up at the
party. Information about safety and
fun in those specific places will be
available at the tables. Keen said.
Bill Huddleston, a friend of Mark
Kilroy, the student who was kidnap
ped and murdered last year after
See Safe/Page 4
mediate danger of excessive
alcohol consumption is what
people do while under the in
fluence.
“With that kind of drinking.
we are more concerned with
the difficulties people get into
when intoxicated — things
like driving while intoxicated,
public intoxication and not
making responsible deci
sions,” he said.
“There is also the danger of
blackout, where a person is
operating almost on automatic
and doing things but having no
memory of what those things
were,” he said.
Reardon said mixing sun
alcohol also can cause
problems.
With the anesthetize|
feet of alcohol, people 1
stay out in the sun longefl
not realize they are gel
burned, he said. Alcoholl
has a dehydrating effectffll
body, making it moresosf
ible to sunstroke.
Should spring-breal
overindulge, the bad nil
that nothing but thepassai
time can ease a hanai
Reardon said.
All of the so-calledcurei
a hangover are just mytll
said.
“A cold shower willj
See Alcohol/Page 4
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