Campus census booths to assist and recruit students

Regional Census Center employees will begin sitting in booths at Coffman Union and in the St. Paul Student Center on March 19 to ensure University of Minnesota students will be counted in the 2010 Census.
On Thursday March 4, the student Board of Governors voted in favor of providing a free booth in Coffman to the Census Center so that students could utilize their help and services.
“Not only is it important to provide students with help but we wanted to do our part in making sure students get counted,” said Kenny Kapphahn, political science senior and president of the Board of Governors.
The Census Bureau’s rules state that the organization is not allowed to pay for space in a public location, Kapphahn said. Instead, the space must be donated.
“We wanted to allow the centers to be here because it’s a good cause,” Joel Livingood, sophomore management major and member of Board of Governors, said.
The census booths will be in operation from March 19 to April 19 and will be open for 15 hours each week.
Bill Davnie, Minneapolis local census office manager , said that their office appreciates the University’s help in spreading the word about the 2010 Census.
“They’ve been supportive and cooperative to get the news out to students,” Davnie said. “Besides advertising, it’s especially helpful that we’ll have a center right on campus.”
National Census Day will be on April 1 but residents of houses and apartments can expect census questionnaires to start arriving Monday.
All students who are not living with their parents during the school year should fill out their own census, Davnie said.
On April 1, census employees will deliver a stack of questionnaires to community advisors in each dorm for distribution and employees will pick them up the following day, Davnie said.
“Student areas are always a focus,” Davnie said. “These people are smart and understand what’s going on but it’s also hard for them to remember that this is something to worry about.”
Students who do not fill out their questionnaires will receive a visit from a census worker reminding them to fill out their form, Davnie said.
“We are trying to remind people that this is something that’s quick, it’s easy, it’s safe and it’s important,” Davnie said.
Employees working the booth will not only be helping students but will also be recruiting students to work for the local census office.
“We are working around that area to get students to take the exam necessary to get into our pool of potential employees,” Davnie said.
Students looking for a job will be hired for the months of May, June and July .