—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.
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"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.