"In selecting a token of one's love on Valentine's Day, it is important to remember that, just as there are many different ways in which people express their love, there are also many different ways people receive love from others," said Peter J. Marston, a communication studies professor who specializes in the communication of romantic love. Deirdre Larkin, a nutrition professor in the Department of Family Environmental Sciences, has a simple tip that could have a lasting impact for some people.

"Give her a diamond instead of chocolate, it's healthier," Larkin said with a laugh, adding that candies may not always be the best gift for everyone. She suggested people consider some healthier alternatives.

Sociology professor Veronica Elias said that a gift or gesture on Valentine's Day does not in any way make up for affection that should be demonstrated all year round.

"Valentine's Day is a wonderful day to celebrate your relationship, but it should be reflective of consideration and thoughtfulness you and your significant other have shown each other throughout the year," she said. "A card or bouquet of flowers on Feb. 14 does not make up for bad behavior at other times of the year. If you're considerate, generous, loving and attentive all year round - all things that really put the sparkle in a relationship - then the rituals of Valentine's Day just help nurture your relationship."

Marston agreed, saying that many people complain that Valentine's Day is a commercial contrivance, "but the real complaint should be that people need such a contrivance to motivate them to express love."

"Expressing love should be as much a part of our daily lives as eating and sleeping," he said. "Thus, the challenge is not 'how do I celebrate Valentine's Day with flair and grace?' but rather, 'how do I continue to celebrate my love throughout the year?'"

Veronica Elias said marking Valentine's Day does not have to be a grand or expensive gesture. She and her husband, James, also a CSUN sociology professor and director of the university's Center for Sex Research, have been married for nearly 40 years, and they still find time to celebrate Feb. 14.

"We might fix a special meal together, or go out to a modest restaurant," Veronica Elias said. "We tend not to make a big deal out of it financially, though I would be very disappointed if he forgot altogether, and vice versa I suspect. You know, a single rose can say as much, if not more, as a whole dozen."

Veronica Elias said she still has every anniversary and Valentine's card her husband has sent her over the years. "He always inserts something very sweet, from the heart, in them," she said.

James Elias said that Valentine's Day serves as a reminder to couples of how they should act the rest of the year.

"Take the time to share together the small pleasures of life - the sunrise, morning coffee, the first bloom in the garden," Elias said. "It's the small things that mean so much."

Marta Lopez-Garza, a professor in Northridge's Chicano/a and women's studies departments, said Valentine's Day is also the perfect day for people to reflect on what has happened since Sept. 11.

"It's an opportunity to think about how we can enact love in our daily lives, not just our personal lives, but our political lives as well," she said. "How do we treat people close to us, and far away?"