Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 14, 1995 TAG: 9504140036
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Researchers at Virginia Tech wanted to know how Blacksburg merchants would answer that question. Their plan: to send the three girls separately to each of 20 town merchants to try to buy cigarettes. Student observers would wait in the background and take notes.
By late Thursday, their research was almost finished. Their results: 14-year-old Karly Geller was able to buy cigarettes 18 out of 20 times, 16-year-old Krista Geller was successful all 20 times, and 18-year-old Amy Bolstridge, who had not completed her rounds by late Thursday afternoon, was successful 15 out of 15 times.
The results "shocked us," said Scott Geller, a psychology professor at Virginia Tech known for his research on seat-belt use and other safety and behavioral matters. "We thought we would get a direct relationship between age and selling cigarettes."
In Virginia, you must be 18 or older to legally buy cigarettes.
"We clearly expected to be carded half the time ... In a few cases, the clerk didn't even look at the girl who was buying."
The girls used a script when talking to the clerks and tried to buy the cigarettes at different times of the day from different types of stores. Sometimes the stores were crowded, sometimes they weren't. The researchers noted the clerk's race, gender and approximate age, but they did not write down names.
Some of the clerks asked for identification, the girls said.
"We were supposed to say we were 18 but we forgot our ID," said Bolstridge, a student in Geller's sophomore-level class that teaches research methods. The other two people who bought cigarettes are Geller's daughters. The project was supervised by undergraduates, and Geller supplied the money for the cigarettes.
"The project itself was motivated by a concern ... that laws were not being adequately observed," Geller said.
The girls did not smoke the cigarettes or open the packages. They bought a variety of brands.
Geller said the project "may be one of the first systematic attempts" to study the ease with which minors, especially girls, can buy cigarettes.
The results "pinpoint a serious problem we have in Blacksburg, Virginia."
Geller said he did not ask for prior approval from the university, because the project is a research project conducted by students for a class. He wrote a letter to Blacksburg Police Chief William Brown in which he said: "There is currently very little information available to researchers and policy-makers about the availability of cigarettes to minors. Thus, this project is very important and will add significantly to the knowledge of cigarette sales which may therefore lead to increased efforts to prevent illegal sales of cigarettes in the future."
"This is not something that's a high priority on my list," Brown said Thursday. He added that if his department had conducted such a project, he would have obtained approval from a juvenile court judge and the kids' parents.
Geller said he will not be surprised if the project elicits a reaction once the results become known.
"My prediction is, yes, some people will be upset." Geller said, adding, "I'm hoping the majority of the community will be pleased with what these kids have done."
by CNB