Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 9, 1982)
npi n Texas A8cM HI ■ ■ The Batta ion December 9, 1982 /Page 1B -akupsi B-CS merchants preparing style hetti; spokesi® Iworkers >n 'vraentis Ithedivoi® S‘b!® by Mark C °PP ock Battalion Reporter Blaybt' it’s happened to you. :elworker You’re walking through a store workfotlF a certain item grins and said lit winks amid the blank stares of ay Iasi a the rest of the merchandise. You omhisa I* 2 ' 6 to ^ ave * t; anc * w h et l ier or land, Pa no1 y ou ^ iave t ^ ie mone y> tdie srifleto|«| a g eU ' n S something for tiissed Inotlutig taunts your good sense. ,W „ ifld *Shoplifting losses totaled $26 r hesailH|i ()n nationally in 1982, up thefadirffi-oin $24 billion in 1981. It has Idjobsaijteen suggested that the rise in e wor lj ipettv theft is due to difficult eco- ngtogi't nomic times. But Lt. Bobby e and it Rjgg S of the Bryan Police De- Brtment said that most of the ii . shoplifters his department com- ^ « 8 es in contact with don’t steal out of need. 'X ■“They steal just to get away V# it... to try to beat the sys- i,” he said. Season brings shoplifters It. )an Feldman, assistant mana- H of the Safeway store in Col- Station, said 85 percent of thl people caught stealing in his e had the money in their ket to pay for what they had rifcd to steal. lousinesses have tried to deter [Shoplifters by using one-way prors, convex mirrors, closed- circuit television cameras, plainclothed store detectives, uniformed security guards and electronic tagging of merchan dise in which a sensor at the door sets off an alarm if an item being taken out hasn’t been paid for. Dr. Hal C. Becker, an inven tor and businessman, has de veloped another approach to discourage dishonest shoppers. “Dr. Becker’s little black box” is a continuously playing tape machine that mixes its recording with a store’s own recorded music or radio station. Becker’s message is set at a low enough volume to penetrate only the lis tener’s subconscious — or sub liminal — mind. The message? The same thing, over and over: “Be honest, do not steal, I am honest, I will not steal ...” Businesses must be careful how strenuously they apply their anti-crime methods. Some times this can run off paying customers. A woman outside a College Station department store said: “A policewoman with a gun and billyclub was watching every body (in the store) very closely. I have never taken anything that didn’t belong to me and I felt insulted and intimidated.” The most common method of shoplifting is to slip an item in a coat, purse or pants, Riggs said. Another trick is to switch price tags or boxes or to put one item in another, such as putting a tie inside a shirt and just paying for the shirt. Riggs said that although cashiers should be alert for these things, there is pressure on cashiers to move customers through quickly and they probably aren’t able to catch everything. Shoplifting traditionally in creases during the holiday sea son. Lovie Washington of the College Station Piggly Wiggly said she saw more shoplifting in the week after Thanksgiving than in the two months she has worked there. While some sho plifters need and probably can’t afford what they steal, such non food items as cosmetics also are being taken, she said. Two men caught stealing hair-spray said that they “didn’t want to stand in line.” Some cities are offering to help out first offenders. In Atlanta and Washington, D.C., those convicted of petty theft for the first time usually draw some kind of public service, including cleaning up parks or helping in hospitals. Riggs said there is no such program in his depart ment. In Texas: • A first offender stealing less than $5 worth of merchandise is guilty of a Class C misdemeanor, which carries a $206 fine. • A second offender or some one stealing $5-$20 worth of goods is guilty of a Class B mis demeanor, with a possible 180- day jail sentence and/or a $ 1,000 fine. • A theft of $20 to $200 is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a one year jail term and/ or a $2,000 fine. • A theft of more than $200 is a third-degree felony, with a possible jail sentence of two to 10 years and/or a $5,000 fine. Dr. Mike Ash of the Texas A&M Department of Educa tional Psychology and Dr. Cecil R. Reynolds are developing a di version program for adolescent shoplifters. He said they will dis cuss peer pressure and ways to avoid it, do some role-playing, hear what psychologists think about their behavior and be told what will happen to them if they should continue to steal. 6 great gifts to put under the One-stop shopping at center United Press International HOUSTON — A 10-story showroom building, which will put manufacturers of furniture, wall coverings, car pets and other necessities of interior design and decorat ing all under one roof, is sche duled to be built in Houston next year. Although the Houston De-^ sign Center, a 500,000 square- foot, $70 million building, will compete with showroom cen ters in Dallas, New York, Chi cago and Los Angeles for the architects’ and designers’ dol lars, its planners think there is enough of a market in south Texas to keep manufacturers busy. “We felt that as the fourth largest city in the country, Houston deserved one cen tralized location for the buyers,” said Neil Tofsky, di rector of marketing for Cen tury Development Co., one of the developers of the center. The center is a joint project of Century, the developer of the multi-use Greenway Plaza; Mischer Corp., a Hous ton-based group active in commercial construction, real estate development and distri bution of air conditioning and heating systems; and Com- pedium-A Design Systems Corp., a Houston architectual and design firm involved in suburban office building de velopment. save 9 5! coffeemaker Reg. 24.99. With factory rebate, your net cost, 16.99. Proctor-Silex® coffeemaker brews up to ten cups of coffee or hot water for tea, soups and more! Hurry in and save now 19.99 Revere tea kettles in handsome styles 17.99 Comp, at 16-32. Choose from lustrous stainless steel tea kettles with copper bottoms or solid copper tea kettles 11.99-17.99 special! electric knife Hamilton Beach® electric knife carves quickly and easily with sharp, stainless steel blades. Superbly designed with a hole-in-handle grip and convenient safety switch 19.99 save 9 2! Proctor-Silex iron Reg. 21.99. Now save on this fine lightweight steam and dry iron with such great features as a cooler touch body and one finger control for instant spray or steam 19.99 save 9 2! Rival ice crusher Reg. 21.99. A great unit that crushes a whole tray of cubes automatically! Ice cup holds two cups and removes for convenient serving. Works with a quiet, powerful motor 19.99 save 9 2! Oster can opener Reg. 21.99. This top-quality can opener automatically pierces the lid, open the can and shuts itself off. It also sharpens knives and scissors. A great buy 19.99 EXPRESS Dillard's welcomes the American Express' Card j