Leaders of rich and developing countries have arrived at the Group of 20 summit in London, where they will seek to bridge divisions on how to fix the global economy.
Daily Photo: Obama Jokes Around at G-20
ABC News' Kirit Radia Reports: There was at least one lighter moment as President Obama joined other world leaders for the G20 meeting in London this week to address the worldwide financial crisis. In the photo below, Italian Prime Minister...
Census: Minorities count, but how?
by Mark Silva
The man set to take charge of the 2010 Census, a University of Michigan professor who has worked at the great national headcount before, has supported the idea of statistical sampling to offset actual undercounts of minorities.
This isn't the way the 2010 Census will work, according to the boss, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke. Yet the reappearance of Robert M. Groves on the Census scene, the president's nominee to run the show, has raised a red flag among some Republicans.
Republicans already are worried that the White House will be running the Census show, a concern that emerged in the withdrawn nomination of Republican Sen. Judd Gregg as commerce secretarythough Gregg maintained that was not a big issue.
"This is an incredibly troubling selection that contradicts the administration's assurances that the census process would not be used to advance an ulterior political agenda," Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says of Groves' nomination. "Mr. Groves will have every opportunity to address these concerns during the confirmation process."
Groves, a former Census Bureau associate director of statistical design, served at the agency from 1990-92. He has devoted decades to research on ways to improve surveys.
As associate director, he had recommended that the 1990 Census be statistically adjusted to make up for an undercount of roughly 5 million people, many of them minorities in dense urban areas who tend to vote for Democratswhich would have an impact on the way new congressional districts are drawn and the political parties' balance of power.
The Census Bureau was overruled by Republican Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher, who called the proposed statistical adjustment "political tampering.''
The Supreme Court later ruled that statistical sampling cannot be used to apportion House seats, but said that adjustments could be made to the population count when redrawing congressional boundaries.
Commerce's Lock has made it clear that sampling will not be used for apportionment. He stated during his Senate confirmation hearing that there are no plans to use sampling for redistricting, while indicating that sampling could be used to measure Census accuracy or collect a wider range of demographic data.
Groves, 60, a professor at the University of Michigan, takes over at a critical time. Census officials acknowledge that tens of millions of residents in dense urban areas -- about 14 percent of the population -- are at high risk of being missed due to language problems and a deepening economic crisis that has displaced homeowners.
Hispanics, blacks and others are warning that a traditional Census will not be enough. Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, praises Groves as a well-regarded academic, calling the question of statistical adjustment in 2010 a "non-issue" because there are no plans for it.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Some Question Cuts In Out-Of-State Tuition
Many public colleges and universities have cut or eliminated out-of-state tuition in an effort to keep enrollment up and broaden diversity. But critics say in-state students who need access to an affordable education are being hurt by the shift.
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