The Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service is this week sponsoring an effort to bring a variety of events to campus to raise awareness about the ongoing U.S. Census 2010.
Daniela Valenzuela, a senior involved in the project, said the week's activities are part of a campaign to increase Tufts students' participation in the census.
"We're hoping to raise awareness with the students … so they don't just throw [the census] away when they get it," Valenzuela said.
Residential assistants (RAs) will give students census forms, and Valenzuela emphasized that each student will only receive one form, so it is important not to lose them or throw them away.
Valenzuela explained that, in private homes, census−takers generally return several times in order to acquire information, whereas at Tufts, students will not receive numerous reminders.
"If they don't fill it out [when they get it from their RAs], that's it," Valenzuela said.
Along with the immigrant population, Tufts students are considered one of the two groups in the Somerville area that are difficult to track, according to Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Tomas Valdes, a junior Tisch Scholar involved in census work in Somerville.
"Students are considered one of the hard−to−count populations, and, [when Tufts students don't fill out the survey], there's this huge gap in the Somerville/Medford population," Valenzuela said.
To combat this problem, some students have embarked on a major mobilization effort.
The organizers yesterday involved students and visitors in the creation of a handprint mural in the Mayer Campus Center. Passersby dipped their hands in paint and left their mark on the mural. The logo for the census is a handprint.
Today, a speaker from the Boston Regional Census Center will present, and S−Factor, a Tufts all−male a cappella group, will perform. The speaker, Director of the U.S. Census Boston Regional Office Kathleen Ludgate, will discuss the importance of students being counted in the census.
A large international food fair will take place on Thursday at the lower campus center patio, at which the handprint mural will be displayed.
"We are bringing in different cultural foods representing different groups that are traditionally considered hard−to−count," Angela Lam, a senior involved in organizing the events on campus, said.
All three events will take place in or just outside the campus center. The organizers hope the location will attract a large turnout to the events.
"I hope this will reach out to as many students as possible, which is why our events are taking place at the campus center," Valdes said.
The event organizers hope that this week's activities will spur students to participate in the census.
"I hope that, with these events, students will realize that it is important … to be counted here at Tufts," Valdes said.
Lam echoed Valdes' sentiments, adding that taking part in the census is a valuable way for students to support Tufts' host communities.
"We really want to be able to give back to the community we are part of, and being counted in the census is an important way to do that," Lam said.
She further explained that students typically assume that they are supposed to fill out the census forms at their permanent address, resulting in an inaccurate distribution of federal and state funding.
"The money communities receive for programs like education and health care is determined by the number of people counted in the census," Valdes said. "We need every student counted so that we can get the right funds allocated to the community."
