Editorial: Make it count — file your census forms

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The decenniel task of making an accurate count of the entire nation, already a logistical nightmare, is made even more difficult by those who delay or refuse their entries because they find the questions too invasive.

It is true that some of the 10 questions (race, age, etc.) go outside the task mandated by the Constitution, which is merely to enumerate the population. Some say the government is overstepping its bounds, but we think this argument is weak. After all, the information millions of people offer daily on social networking sites like Facebook is far more invasive than the census questions.

The information gleaned from networking site profiles only benefit greedy advertisers, but the census data unequivocally serves the needs of U.S. citizens. Not only does it determine the number of national representatives states have in Congress, more than $400 billion dollars in federal money is distributed annually according to the census findings. This money goes toward areas pertinent to university students — public transportation, campus security and scholarship funds.

Dean of Students Robert Dana will soon address UMaine students through e-mail about the filing process for students, especially those living on campus.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 18th, 2010, 3:06 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.