For both men and women, piercings of all sizes, colors and shapes are showing up in all kinds of places. University students are no exception sporting belly button, ear, nose and even nipple rings. According to local tattoo artist Robert Frazier the era of the tattoo is fully upon us and his co-worker, known as "Thicket," said he often helps university students get the tattoo or piercing they desire.

"It's growing," Frazier said of the popularity of tattoos. "It'll probably go out again."

He added that tattoos were very uncommon in the '50s but began to make a comeback in the '70s. "Now they're in full swing," he said.

And that means business is good for tattoo and piercing artists at Earth's Edge, 1800 Silas Creek Parkway, a local parlor offering a wide array of tattoos, piercings and related merchandise.

Sophomore Cecilia Jen got her belly button ring at Earth's Edge and said the pain of piercing did not live up to the hype. She had heard from friends that the pain was sustained and unbearable but did not find this to be the case exactly.

"The initial pain was worse than I thought," she said. "But it was very quick and abrupt."

Jen said the larger concern for the pierced of the world is maintenance. She said piercing hopefuls can expect a few complications, but the satisfaction was worth it for her.

"It pussed a little, but apparently that's normal," she said.

Jen said she was told to wash the pierced area with anti-bacterial soap twice a day for six to nine months.

The one aspect anyone with a ring or tattoo anywhere must at least consider is visibility. For Jen, this was not a concern. "I really don't care who sees it," she said.

Sophomore Austin Vanassa was forced to consider the visibility of his tattoo when he was changing shirts at home and his mother saw it. He hadn't told her about it at the time, but after he explained why he had gotten it, she was not angry at all.

Vanassa wears a tribal design across his shoulders, at the center of which is the Chinese character for "health." Any tattoo is an expression of something personal, but Vanassa's tells a more harrowing story than most. Vanassa was diagnosed with Hodgkin's disease, a type of cancer, during his sophomore year of high school and went through six months of radiation and chemotherapy.

After finding out he had overcome the disease, Vanassa wanted something to symbolize his struggle. The summer before this academic year, he came up with the design for the tattoo he has now.

"The whole thought behind it was the permanence of the tattoo and health symbol, me overcoming Hodgkin's and not getting it again," he said.

He took the design to his uncle, who runs a tattoo parlor outside of Pittsburgh, and had it done. His uncle agreed to keep it between Vanassa and him. "No one knew I was going to do it," Vanassa said.

But tattoos, like all secrets, are tough to keep from a mother's eye.

Tattoos of a more lighthearted variety also exist on campus. Junior Mike Kren had the Pi Kappa Alpha letters put on his ankle for a couple of reasons. During high school, Kren actually gave himself a tattoo of the letter "K" on his ankle. He wanted to cover it up with a professionally done tattoo but also wanted something for which the meaning would endure.

"I wanted to get something that would mean something to me later in life," he said.

But Kren warns others who have their eyes on their ankles for potential tattoo spots. "It hurt like a b----," he said.

He said it was extremely painful and that he was even advised not to get the tattoo there by the artist. However, because of the need to cover up his own amateur work, he had no choice.

But others who do have some leeway choose from a number of piercing and tattoo options. And this group does not just include students. Denise Godwin, the assistant director of residence life, got her belly button ring three years ago.

"It didn't hurt," she boasted. She also said that she doesn't consider it a hassle. "You just have to keep it clean."

Godwin has gotten used to her decoration, something the staff at Earth's Edge said is common for those who take time making the decision to tattoo or pierce.

Thicket said no matter how hard he and other professionals try to advise those who want piercings or tattoos, that customers still rush into bad decisions. He said, "we get 18-or 19-year- old kids who have been dating for all of a month and they want to get each others' names tattooed." He added that if they are unable to persuade the customer that they will sometimes even "jack up the price" to discourage them. He said the advice given at Earth's Edge is usually heeded ... often too late. Thicket said 80 percent of those Earth's Edge tries to sway from a tattoo decision come back in to get it covered up.

Other employees echo Thicket's sentiment. "Think about it before you do it," piercing artist Chris Friend said.

The professional staff at Earth's Edge takes their own advice, covering themselves in artful combinations of their own products.

Frazier said it is common for tattoo artists to have a background in visual arts. He studied commercial art at Greensboro Technical Community College, where he met a friend who introduced him to a professional tattoo artist. He learned the trade and is now often booked solid at Earth's Edge.

But he said there is a lot of work to be done between learning the art and being able to practice it professionally.

According to Frazier, each artist has to pay ,000 for a business license, a fee charged by the city. But that isn't it. To get started, each tattoo artist has to pay a ,000 bond which is repaid three years after the artist leaves the industry. Then the Health Department checks out the facility and issues a permit. After that, it is up to the artist to build a reputation that keeps the chair full.

During a break in the afternoon schedule, Thicket decided to add to his repertoire of body art with a "daith" piercing. If tattooing is an art, then piercing is undoubtedly a science. For just the ear, one can receive a daith, helix, rook, conch, lobe or tragus piercing, all terms referring to the regions of the ear. After deciding where to get a piercing, customers then have to choose from rings, studs, stones or industrial styles.

Thicket gritted his teeth as Friend went to work. After it was over he said, "not a sharp feeling at all, just a big old crunchy feeling," before running out the door for a cigarette.

Thicket also described the process of multiple piercings.

While waiting to have the daith area pierced on both ears, he said, "the second one is always the hardest because you can't psyche yourself out."

He grimaced as Friend prepared to perform the second piercing and said "with the second one you're always like, 'damn, I know what this is going to feel like.'"

Sophomore Kristen Davis gave a lot of thought to her latest piercings. She had her tongue pierced a year and a half ago, but after that style become popular she wanted something to set herself apart. It was then that she decided the get her nipples pierced. Of the tongue piercing fad, she said, "it wasn't cool anymore."

Davis also involved a bit more political philosophy than normal in her piercing selection. "I think it represents feminism at its peak by doing something that is anti-feminine."

So, even though they say it will only hurt a bit, anyone considering a piercing or tattoo should take their time deciding. Whether you're choice of decoration is serious or silly it is still, in some cases, permanent. That is just something to consider before becoming one of the university's marked men (or women).