By JULIE MILLER

Staff Writer

Britney Spears has a fairy who watches her back. Bruce Willis opted for a skull on his left arm. Senior Cassie Craig, a family and child studies major, decorated her left foot with a burgundy star.

"All three of my roommates have stars [tattooed] on their feet, and I liked it," Craig said. "I never in a million years thought I would get [a tattoo]. I'm a goody-goody girl."

The trend of tattoos and body piercings is growing away from the stereotypical biker scene and has become more popular with celebrities and college students.

"Ninety percent of our business is from Tech and Grambling [students]," Dave Beckler, owner of The Great Divide, located at 609 S. Monroe St., said "When school is out in summer, business is slow.

"Women tend to get [tattoos] on their lower back because of the midriff [trend]," he said, also noting that trends vary depending on what rock stars are making popular.

Kayla Guynes, cashier at The Great Divide, said business was booming right before Easter break

"A lot of college kids came before they went home, getting nose piercings and tongue piercings," she said. Guynes noted that this was an unusual trend because most students purchase retainers to hide their piercings from their parents before they go home.

Brett Geesey, a senior mechanical engineering major, has a tongue ring and eyebrow ring.

"My dad understood the tongue ring more," Geesey said. "I got the eyebrow ring three years ago because I wasn't supposed to."

Geesey attended a Catholic high school, and the administration told him to take the ring out or leave the school. Geesey said he put a bandage over it until he graduated.

"I might have to take it out someday," he said. "It was just one of those things I wanted. It's something totally different. It's a rush."

Craig said the scariest part of getting her star tattoo was the anticipation.

"It didn't hurt at all," she said. "My roommates were shocked that I didn't freak out. I was shocked because I was expecting it to really hurt."

Craig said her dad just laughed when she told him. Her mom's response?

"She asked, 'Did you get it out of your system?'" Craig said. "If I do get another one, I want a Christian symbol or something memorable. I wouldn't want anything too big, gaudy or provocative."

Beckler said it is important for college students to worry about body art safety when they are considering going with the trend.

"People need to look for a state license, autoclave sterilization and brand new tools opened up in front of you [in the office]," he said. "Also, if [the artist] is smoking a cigarette while tattooing, they are blowing cancerous substances around. You wouldn't go to a dentist if he was smoking."

Beckler also said it is important to be leery of cheap tattoos.

"Anywhere you go in life, tattoos or anywhere else, you get what you pay for."