So you want to get a tattoo. What's stopping you? Is it the thought of your parents finding out? Maybe you should be more concerned about finding a safe, clean tattoo studio.

"Since 1992, probably 95 percent of those tattooing are doing it safely and taking it very seriously," said Dennis Dwyer, executive director of Alliance of Professional Tattooists. "They have an awareness and want to do it correctly."

Dwyer advised that people who intend to get tattoos should check out tattoo parlors very carefully.

"Make sure the shop is clean," he said. "Ask if they have a sterilizer, to see it and how they set up for tattoos. If they don't have one, it's time to move on."

Students with tattoos had methods of their own for determining the cleanliness of a tattoo parlor.

Amy Schenck (senior-media studies) made sure what her tattoo artist used was new and unopened.

"They opened the needle out of the bag in front of me and poured the ink from the bottles into separate containers," she said. "Afterward, they threw them away."

Scott Donnelly (sophomore-business logistics) based his decision on where to get a tattoo on recommendations from friends.

"Basically word-of-mouth was the main reason I went down there," he said. "And the place looked clean."

-- Joanna Citrinbaum