It is no secret that crime is a problem.

And although the violent crime currently devastating America's cities is far removed from quiet and peaceful Happy Valley, the recent political push to get tough on criminals will have a large impact on people who are the same age as the students who populate the campus.

John Kramer, associate professor of sociology and administration of justice, said he expects crime rates to rise in the next few years because the group of people currently about 17 or 18 years old tend to be more violent than their predecessors.

That cohort -- a group of people who are the same age -- is also growing in size because births in 1976 were low relative to the following years, Kramer said. That phenomenon has resulted in more people who are presently in their late teens, he said.

Crime rates have consistently been higher among people in that age group.

"Each year the arrest patterns are highest around the age of 17 or 18," Kramer said. "We expect things to increase just because we have more people."

Many state governments are getting tough on crime with harsher punishments such as the death penalty and are likely to deal with more youthful criminals in the future.

"Each cohort successively has gone to greater use of violence, and that has corresponded to increasing homicides by young offenders," Kramer said.

If governments follow through with their plans, there will be an increasing number of young people subject to capital punishment, he said.

Although many college-aged students are likely to commit crimes, Kramer said the statistics point to a more specific group.

"It's this college group age-wise, but it happens to be a minority population that is disproportionately committing crime," he said.

University students agree that youthful crime is a problem even though it might not be evident in State College.

"I don't think it's the college kids as much as other kids," said Brian Snyder (junior-management science and information systems). Violent crime, he said, is more of a problem with high school students and drop outs.

Megan McCarty (freshman-engineering) said she has never noticed a problem with crime since she has been in Happy Valley.

"I think other places have a lot more of a problem than we do," she said. In Ann Arbor, where she is from, McCarty said she sees much more violence with college-aged students.

The increase in youthful crime is not an inexplicable occurrence as many analysts believe there are specific reasons behind the problem.

Rosemary Gido, senior lecturer of administration of justice, said she believes young people have turned to violence because of the atmosphere in society.

Problems have arisen, Gido said, because both President Reagan and President Bush dismantled many social programs throughout the 1980s. The lack of social support in such programs as job training led to poor socioeconomic conditions for many families, she said.

"Young people in particular turned to the underground economy of drugs," Gido said. "The basic problem is these kids are raising themselves."

Roy Austin, director of the administration of justice program, agreed that several social factors can be tied to an increase in youthful crime.

He added there has been a lack of education as well as poor relations between parents and children.

"If those are not good then one can expect the children to be getting into more trouble," he said.

Kramer said he thinks the increased ease in obtaining guns has contributed to growing crime rates.

"The availability of firearms certainly enhances the ability to kill," he said. "What might have been a fight 15 years ago would be a death today."