—The Daily Collegian Tuesday, Feb. 11, 1992 Valentine's Day blues Local business owners unsure of holiday sales By MICHELLE LESTER Collegian Staff Writer The recession does not discriminate. It even creeps into the pockets of lovers. IncPl flower and candy businesses expect increased Valentine's Day sales but some jewelry store owners have not sold as much as they have in the past. Florists differ on how much they predict cus tomers will spend on their valentines. "Love has no limits," said Susan Traxler, owner of Belle Garden Florals, 116 S. Spring St. "You can't put a price on love. People won't care how much they spend on flowers, as long as they look nice." Stephanie Woodring, manager of Woodring's Floral Gardens, 145 S. Allen St., said although people will still buy Valentine's Day gifts, they might not spend as much on them. "We know that more people have $3, $4 or $5 in their pockets than people who have $3O, $4O or $50," Woodring said. But people can always afford some kind of flower, from a small spring bouquet to long stemmed roses, she said. Woodring added that her flower sales increased about 2 percent last Valentine's Day, but would not predict this holiday's sales. She has received a few more orders, but said that people usually order flowers at the last minute on Valentine's Day. Jewelry store owners and managers are con cerned about a drop in holiday sales. "The big sales just aren't there," said Michael Bay, manager of Crabtrees Jewelers Inc., 132 S. Allen St. "The candy and flower businesses have pretty much taken over the Valentine's Day trade." But Bay did not attribute the lack of sales to the recession, saying he thinks the State College area is insulated from the national economy. "It's not really a big holiday. It's not important enough to spend more money on jewelry a big ticket item," Bay said. Sarah Songer, owner of The Candy Cane, 128 W. College Ave., said that during the Christmas season more people spent money on less expensive gifts such as candy. She expects the same for Valen tine's Day. "Instead of expensive jewelry, people may go to the more traditional kinds of things like valen tine's hearts," Songer said, adding that she expects business to pick up toward the end of the week. Don Goldberg, owner of Steven's Jewelers, 218 S. Allen St., said the economy has affected his Valentine's Day sales. "Usually this time of the year we have increased sales, but not this year," Goldberg said, adding that he has not sold as many of his biggest-selling Valentine's Day item —engagement rings. But Jim Eberly, support manager for Moyer Jewelers, 100 E. College Ave., said his Valentine's Day sales have been consistent over the past few years, including this year. "We're doing OK," Eberly said. "Valentine's Day is not like Christmas, when people go out and start buying things at Thanksgiving. Business is pretty normal now, but it will probably pick up this week." "Because of the recession, people are more conservative in spending," said Marvella Crabb, spokeswoman for the Society of American Flo rists in Alexandria, Va. Prices for flowers especially roses will increase because of the holiday demand, Crabb predicted. "It's the coldest and the most expensive time of the year to raise flowers," she said. Demands on the industry for the holiday, such as increased orders, overtime payment for flower store employees and extra packaging also cause flower prices to increase, Crabb said. Expert: Crime activity differs between sexes By LISA HUMPHREY Collegian Staff Writer Women are less likely to commit violent crimes and usually commit crimes for others, not for personal benefit, according to a University crime expert. Darrell Steffensmeier Penn State professor of sociology and one of the country's leading authorities on crime said women are less likely to commit crimes than men because of differences in moral development, social control, physical strength and crime opportunities. "Femininity and the role of a female define the lives of women and their involvement in crime in a powerful kind of way," Steffensmeier said. Marriage and parenthood are major life goals that are crucial in the socialization of females rather than males, and crime is incompatible with these roles, he said. Lynne Goodstein, associate pro- offenders at the University, but the fessor of administration of justice forms of crime differ. and women's studies, agreed that men "Men steal just as much as women, and women are socialized into dif- but the women are most likely to steal ferent cultures that expect certain from other women in the dormito forms of behavior. ries," she said. "There are certain ways men and Women offenders at the Univer women are expected to act," she said. sity also use stolen checks or credit "Women focus on the welfare of cards where the men are more likely others and tend to consider the needs to harass or make prank phone calls, of everyone." Cihak said. Being feminine is also not asso- "In this area, most definitely the ciated with crime. But being criminal men are more violent in crimes," she is very compatible with what it means said. to be masculine, Steffensmeier said. A large proportion of women who Shoplifting, minor larceny, Lack of aggressiveness and risk- commit crimes are addicted to alcohol employee theft and bad checks are taking limit a woman's ability to or drugs and often have children who among the most common female become involved in crime, he said. rely on them for economic support, crimes, because women are more They may take risks in relationships, Goodstein said. likely to shop and write checks, but not in exploiting the physical "Most of these women are sub- Steffensmeier said. 'University Please Join Us! -, University Health Services 4 §-, , invites you to an I 'N , t • 5/ OPEN HOUSE \ s\ -:)celebratin g the opening of our new Women's Health and Educational Service in 7 Schulze Hall Pollock Residence Hall Area Tuesday, February 11, 1992 I PENNSTATE 3:00 - 7:00 p.m. poik9 Student Services W Refreshments will be served We're proud to be a sponsor o "Women need a higher level of provocation, and they must traverse a greater psychological distance to commit a crime." environment, he added. "Women need a higher level of provocation, and they must tra verse a greater psychological dis tance to commit a crime," he said. Women are taught to be less violent and less risky, he added. For crimes like public drunken ness, larceny and minor criminal mischief, the motives and number of each gender committing those crimes is the same, Steffensmeier added. University Police Services Offi cer Chris Cihak said she deals with the same number of female and male Darrell Steffensmeier professor of sociology jects of victimization, like neglect or abuse," she said. Organized forms of crime, like large-scale corporate crime, also tend to be overwhelmingly male-domi nated, Steffensmeier said. "This is one of the most glaring differences in crime," he added. "The constraints of women and fewer opportunities they have to commit crimes takes a greater push by women to be involved with crime." When women want to break into male-dominated crime groups, they're frequently defined in terms of sex roles by playing a secondary role or acting as a sexual decoy, Steffensmeier said, adding that prostitution is the only female dominated crime. "Female crime is dominated by their involvement in sex-related crimes," he said. "Women can market sex in a way that men cannot." Men and women tend to gravi tate toward the crime that best fits their skills and provides the most money for the least amount of work, he added.
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