Younger shoppers stay traditional

Jeff Benson and Leslie Bruce

DVDs, concert tickets and iPods are atop many college students’ wish

lists this year, according to a gift guide survey conducted by New

York-based Educational Housing Services.

The varying forms of media were reported as the students’ top

choices for less than $50, less than $100 and more than $100,

respectively, besting previous holiday best-sellers such as CDs,

video games, DVD players, laptops, gaming consoles and digital

cameras.

Some UC Irvine students are avoiding the websites, opting instead

to brave the lines at Best Buy, Fashion Island, South Coast Plaza and

other malls.

UCI junior Tera Leuthauser, 21, of Newport Beach, said she’s

planning to buy gifts at Arden B., a women’s apparel store at Fashion

Island.

“I like their stuff and the little boutique-y places in Fashion

Island,” Leuthauser said.

The Educational Housing Services study, designed to provide annual

gift-giving ideas for students and parents, also found that 89% of

the 115 students polled planned to do their holiday shopping in

stores, compared with 11% who planned to browse online.

“[Educational Housing Services] was surprised to see that so many

of our students were shopping in retail stores this year, rather than

online, especially since college students spend so much time online,”

said Chief Executive Officer George Scott.

“We were also surprised that the students were so practical. We

found that 47% of students would prefer an apparel gift certificate

over other items such as electronics or entertainment.”

Educational Housing Services conducted the survey around

Thanksgiving and for the 1,200 college students from all over the

country that it has found residences for in New York City.

Leading vote-getters in the survey included furry sheepskin boots

in “The Most Sought-After Apparel for Girls” category; iPods and MP3

players rated top in “The Most Sought-After Gift for Guys;” apparel

gift certificates ranked best in “The Best Gift Certificate You Could

Receive” category; and Playstation 2’s “Grand Theft Auto: San

Andreas” was the most coveted video game.

UCI senior David Stark, 21, of Newport Beach, plans to shop for

gift certificates and electronics at South Coast Plaza.

Junior Marlise Gunzenhauser, 20, also of Newport Beach, said she’d

be thrilled to receive an iPod, a popular pocket-sized device that

has the capacity to shuffle through and play 10,000 songs.

“I really like music,” Gunzenhauser said.

“I want to have it for the gym or to listen to it in the car,

because if there is no good music on, I can listen to music that I

like.”

* JEFF BENSON covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].