University plans blitz to help census count

LANGSTON, Okla. (AP) -- Langston University officials hope to move Langston from last in the census return ratings in the state with a concerted effort Friday. <br><br>"We are going to bombard the campus

Thursday, April 6th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LANGSTON, Okla. (AP) -- Langston University officials hope to move Langston from last in the census return ratings in the state with a concerted effort Friday.

"We are going to bombard the campus on Friday," said Joseph Brown, who is coordinating the census canvassing at the college. "Students may scatter over the weekend, but by Monday we will finish the job."

As many as 1,300 people live on the Langston campus, which is entirely within the boundaries of the town that shares its name. If they were residing there on April 1, they would be counted as part of the local population.

More than 2,400 people resided in Langston at the time of the last census.

If the campus population represented at least half of that number, then getting an accurate count there could easily move the town from the bottom of the list.

Through Wednesday, only 11 percent of the people who live in Langston had returned their census forms. Of the 590 cities, towns and spots in the road tracked by the bureau in Oklahoma, Langston's return rate ranked last.

The U.S. Census Bureau blamed the poor rate of return on sporadic mail service and problems coordinating mailing addresses with actual residences.

"We were worried about getting a good count here," Brown said. "We hadn't heard from the census, so we called them. Census takers will be here on Friday."

Getting counters on campus would help, but it only solved part of the problem.

John Spangler, manager of the census office that covers Langston and the rural area in Payne and Logan counties around the town, said the area formed one of the historically hardest spots to count.

"We spent a great deal of time out there" prior to the April 1Census Day, Spangler said. "We sent people out into the field to try and get people that we might miss."