The U.S. Census is in full swing. Even so, it's still trying to get the word out about why it's important to return the forms. WOSU reports the Census bus tour was at Ohio State Tuesday to spread the word to students.
Ohio State students walking past the Wexner Center for the Arts were handed canvas tote bags with "Census 2010" in large blue lettering on the side. Some students signed up to take the census worker test.
The outreach is part of the 2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour - one of 13 buses that travel the country educating the public about the benefits of the census.
Parents of college students may wonder whether they should count their child at their hometown address. Columbus census spokesperson Carol Hector-Harris clarified,"They're going to be counted on campus because they live in a dorm. And so they're not to be counted in the questionnaire at home."
Hector-Harris said Ohio State officials will take a count of dorm students.
Students not living in dorms should fill out the census form they receive at their off campus residence.
OSU Junior Sarah Miller said it was clear to her that she would be the one to count herself in the census, not her parents. Miller, who lives off campus, said she and her roommate received two census forms.
"We were a little late in sending it back in so we actually got two census forms. But we did actually fill it out and send it back in," Miller said.
Hector-Harris said it's still not too late to mail back the census questionnaire. So far, she said, the Ohio participation rate is roughly 70 percent.