Census uses foreign language to get numbers, ease fears

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY

What could be a more fitting character to weave into the plot of a steamy Spanish-language soap opera than a … Census worker?

Anything goes this year as companies such as the U.S. Spanish-language network Telemundo and groups across the nation work with the Census Bureau to cook up creative and quirky ways to get the word out about the 2010 Census.

"It's one of the most important game-changing events in our history," says Don Browne, president of Telemundo, about the count of every person in the USA every 10 years. "There are enormous demographic shifts in our country … driven primarily by the growth in the Latino population."

The network began airing Mas Sabe el Diablo (loosely translated as "The Devil Knows More") last week. It's a tale of a professional thief who falls in love with his lawyer, who happens to be engaged to the man he wants to destroy. In the fall, the character of a single mother who gets a job as a Census worker will be added.

"She will be interacting with people who are confused by the process," Browne says. "This character will help people understand why the system works … to try to really make it clear that this is something positive and constructive."

Efforts target primarily immigrants and poorer, inner-city residents but try to reach anyone distrustful of government:

• In South Florida, Census partners are considering repeating an approach they used in 2000: distributing fortune cookies with "Make Yourself Count" fortunes in Chinese. Census messages may be attached to Chinese menus, too.

"We focus on very specific target groups that are language-isolated," says Juanita Mainster, a Census partnership coordinator based in Miami.

• American Indian youths in a training program at Fox Entertainment Diversity Development Group in Los Angeles this summer will write, shoot and produce public service announcements about the Census. "We're trying to reach the younger population," says Sandra Alvarado, a Census media specialist based in Los Angeles.

• Local Census offices are setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts. The U.S. Census Bureau already is on Facebook.

• In the Chicago region, the Census Bureau has recruited 10 former National Football League stars to visit classrooms. They will give out autographed photos that carry a Census message on the back.

"We all know the kids will take the message home," says Ellisa Johnson, national partnership coordinator.

• In some of the poorest areas along the Mexican border in Webb County, Texas, local partners are developing Bingo cards with a 2010 Census logo and slogans in Spanish.

• Kids visiting the new "Kidtropolis, USA" exhibit at the Children's Museum of Houston become citizens of this fictitious city.

They vote, run businesses and government and, this year, will fill out mock Census questionnaires.

How statistics are applied

Getting everyone to participate in the Census — required by the Constitution — has benefits for both government and citizens. The Census Bureau saves up to $90 million for every percentage-point increase in the number of households that mail back forms before Census workers show up at the door to prompt them.

The better the count, the bigger the numbers and the greater the clout. Political representation in Congress, district boundaries and federal funding all are determined by the Census.

"Being counted has empowering aspects," says Browne, whose network in April launched the year-long "Hazte Contar!" (Be Counted!) campaign.

"There's a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of fear about cooperating with government agencies," he says.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/20 ... nsus_N.htm