Editorial position flawed, disregards policy guidelines

We would like to clarify some of the facts about the rules and guidelines regarding the 2010 U.S. Census that were inaccurately conveyed in your editorial Students should complete census thoughtfully (SN 2/4).

By suggesting that students have the right to choose where they are counted in the census, the editorial misleads students and overlooks the federal rules about where individuals should be counted. U.S. Census policy states that “students living away from home while attending college are to be counted where they are living at college.” Thus, students are to be counted where they live for more than six months of the year and where they reside on April 1, 2010. Students who live off campus will receive a form in the mail at their off-campus address at the end of March. These students must, by law, fill the form out and be counted at that local address. Students residing on campus will be counted as living in East Lansing by a “group quarters” process. In addition, the census form has the following instruction to guide parents of students: “Do not count anyone living away either at college or in the Armed Forces … Leave these people off your form, even if they will return to live here after they leave college …”

The purpose of the federally mandated census is to attain an accurate head count of every person living in the United States in order to allocate necessary funding for vital services based upon a community’s population. It is very important that the federal government obtains an accurate count of our local community so that services can be provided to students and residents. Funds allocated by the census are used daily in our community for things that benefit students like public transportation, educational grants, road rehabilitation and police and fire protection. You rightfully point out the importance of these services, but erroneously imply that students have the option of choosing whether to support the local community or their home community.

While we applaud you for encouraging students to participate in the census, we strongly suggest that in the future a more careful reading of the 2010 guidelines be done before taking an editorial position.

Steve Webster

vice president, governmental affairs

Lee June

vice president, student affairs and services