Two OU students are reaching out to promote census completion on campus so the city of Norman and the university will not lose funds due to an inaccurate count of residents.

Shayna Daitch, international security studies junior, and Dewey Bartlett, petroleum engineering senior, were appointed by Mayor Cindy Rosenthal to the Norman Census Complete Count Committee. Daitch and Bartlett are in charge of informing students about the importance of being counted.

“Mayor Rosenthal contacted someone at the university and they recommended us,” Daitch said. “It’s a civic responsibility, like voting.”

Daitch and Bartlett have attended several committee meetings, Daitch said.

Some students do not fill out a census in Norman because they feel it is not their home, Daitch said.

“The way the census works is it counts where you live on April 1,” she said. “For every person that doesn’t fill out their census, the city loses about $750.”

International business freshman Jordan Powers said he will probably fill his census in Norman to give a better idea of where he is living.

“Mayor Rosenthal showed us a map of the places where students live and the map was red over apartments and the dorms,” Daitch said. “The red meant students there were not being counted.”

Daitch and Bartlett plan to make a push to students in late March so they know all the information regarding the census process.

“The census is April 1 so the government will begin sending out census forms at the end of March,” Bartlett said. “They’ll be mailed, delivered by census personnel, given to [residence advisers] or given to fraternity and sorority presidents. We’ll also have stations around campus so they will be able to pick up a form.”

Daitch said stations would be set up at the Oklahoma Memorial Union, Bizzell Memorial Library, Sarkeys Energy Center and two other locations around campus.

The federal government allocates more than $300 billion based on census data, so the goal for Norman is to be accurately counted since OU students will be in Norman on April 1, Bartlett said.

“The funds go towards roads in town, highways and public schools like OU,” Daitch said.

Business finance sophomore Amy Smith, from Lawton, said her parents are probably going to help her fill out her census form.

“I’ll fill mine out at home because it’s more convenient,” Smith said.

Bartlett and Daitch will be looking for volunteers to help with census stations after spring break, Bartlett said.

“With everyone I’m talking to, I’m trying to tell them how important it is that they fill out their census in Norman for the city of Norman’s self-interest and so the university doesn’t suffer,” Daitch said.