As students walked through the front doors of Willard and Foster-Walker Monday, they were immediately approached by workers wielding clipboards and pens. Census takers arrived on campus today to help students living on campus fill out the 2010 U.S. Census.
According to university representatives, census workers will be at various residence halls throughout the week. To encourage participation, administrators have decided to develop a cash incentive.
“Northwestern feels that its many students are so much the fabric of Evanston that it is important for us as administrators to reach out and get as many students as possible to participate in the census,” said Lucile Krasnow, Northwestern’s Special Assistant for Community Relations.
Residences with the highest participation rates in each tier (85 residents and fewer, 86 – 150 people, and 151+) will be eligible for $250, $500, and $750 cash prizes, respectively. Incentives are also offered to Greek houses – a $250 prize for one sorority and one fraternity.
The U.S. Census Bureau itself has spent millions of dollars promoting the census with advertisements, yet the advertised “10 Minutes, 10 Questions” barely applies to students living on campus. For students living in university residences or Greek houses, only the Individual Census Report is required, and it only has seven questions.
SESP sophomore Nadia Ahmed thought an incentive from the university was unnecessary because she felt it was very important to be counted in the census. However, she voiced a concern about the accuracy of the census.
“I think it’s funny that the definition of ‘white’ is so broad. The fact that the term includes Middle Easterners really makes me wonder how comprehensive this is,” Ahmed said. “They could get more accurate results if they got more details.”
The census affects not only the students, but also the city of Evanston.
Krasnow noted that the city benefits from the census, receiving approximately $980 per year for the next ten years for every student who is counted in the census. Off-campus students can also participate by completing and mailing back the forms they should have received in the mail.
The real question, Krasnow asked, is “Why wouldn’t you fill it out? It’s easy, it’s quick and it’s useful. And we can all feel like good citizens.”