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NEWS / WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
STATE
College students cost Kansas $650,000 to count in census
BY COREY THIBODEAUX
ctibodeaux@kansan.com
www.twitter.com/c_thibodeaux
At the cost of $650,000, Kansas is the only state counting students for the census.
According to the state constitution, students in public and private colleges in the state must be counted. Those students are accounted for in their native districts no matter where they are going to class.
Abbie Hodgson, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State's office, said the office had received many complaints about spending tax-payer money on the census, but that the state legislature was in charge.
"The fact of the matter is we are required to do it by law," Hodgson said. "Therefore we do it."
The reasoning behind the procedure, Hodgson said, is because western Kansas is lightly populated compared to the east. If students said they were Lawrence residents, but
actually lived in Dodge City, for example, it could skew the results of the first and third districts.
The first district covers most of western and central Kansas, which accounts for 69 counties.
"If they didn't take that into account, they're missing a huge chunk of the people who actually live here."
The University required students to
"The fact of the matter is we are required to do it by law. Therefore we do it."
ABBIE HODGSON Spokeswoman for Secretary of State's office
Channing Taylor, a senior from Wichita, said getting the students involved is necessary to represent those who live here.
"If you think about what makes up the majority of the population in Lawrence, it's students," Taylor said.
fill out an online census form in order to enroll in summer and fall classes. According to the Census Comm ittee, Kansas is 75 percent done counting responses.
D an n y
Mantyla, a senior
from Wichita, said he understood why the state spent $650,000 to make sure it happened.
"Kansas has always been weird with how they do taxes," he said. "If it works, then that's how they should do it."
SURVEY
Americans still upbeat but less so than in past
BY RANDOLPH E. SCHMID
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Americans remain a generally upbeat lot, but all the skepticism, snark and dismal rhetoric being bandied about may be taking their toll.
Nearly two-thirds of people answering a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press/ Smithsonian Magazine poll said they are optimistic about their future and that of the country — and a majority expect the economy to be strong in the future.
But while it's still a positive picture,it's much less so than a just over a decade earlier.
Some 64 percent of those polled said they are optimistic about their future, for example, but that's down from 81 percent in a similar poll in 1999.
At the same time, the proportion optimistic about the nation's
future slipped from 70 percent to 61 percent, and those expecting a stronger economy fell from 64 percent to 56 percent.
The poll was conducted by telephone, with 1,546 adults polled from April 21-26. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
If the changing attitude is the downside, Americans see quite a lot to look forward to when asked about the next 40 years.
For example, 71 percent expect cancer will be cured by 2050, 66 percent expect artificial limbs to be working better than real ones and 53 percent say ordinary people will travel in space.
But the message remains mixed, with 72 percent expecting a major energy crisis, 58 percent saying there is likely to be another world war and 53 percent anticipating a terrorist attack on the U.S. involving nuclear weapons.
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