Spa brings tanning to campus
Tanning is now available at the Student Recreation Complex.
Published Jan. 26, 2007
With frigid temperatures in Columbia and cloudy skies, students can still find a place to get bronzed in time for Spring Break.
Though few are within walking distance, MU now offers one inside the Student Recreation Complex.
The Spa, new this semester, will feature a state-of-the-art tanning salon and massage studio in the Downtown Brewer section of the recreation complex.
The Spa is privately owned by Tan Rio, which leases space from MU.
MU will make a profit from the lease because it has no affiliation with Tan Rio.
The opening and running of the salon, like the food distributors in Brady Commons, will cost MU no money.
With another salon on Forum Boulevard, students who pay for tanning at the location inside the recreation complex can also tan at the other location.
Tanning inside the recreation complex will require an $89 subscription fee that can be student charged and will let a student tan unlimitedly for the semester.
The salon offers ultra violet tanning from levels one to six, Airbrush and a "Mai Tan," which is similar to mystic tanning.
Christine Dunne, who worked as a masseuse at the 2004 Olympics, will offer massage therapy at The Spa.
"We aren't advertising because we are still a new facility and we are just now getting all our beds," Tan Rio Manager Beth Mayberry said. "We want to make sure we have all the kinks worked out."
Mayberry said there hasn't been any trouble getting clients to try out the spa.
"There's been a steady flow of people, considering we are now in tanning season," Mayberry said.
Freshman Eliza Murphy said she discovered The Spa through her roommate.
"We had been tanning somewhere else, but this is so much more convenient and well-priced that we decided to switch," Murphy said. "Who can pass up student charge?"
One downside to the tanning availability is that it poses health risks that many frequent tanners overlook.
Dr. Elizabeth Whitmore, who conducted a study with the American Academy of Dermatology, said there is no such thing as a safe tan.
"A suntan is the skin's response to an injury and every time you tan you accumulate damage to the skin, as well as accelerating the aging process and increasing your risk for skin cancer," Whitmore said.