Next time you crack open a fortune cookie, check the flip side. The federal government may have a message for you.

Tsue Chong Co., a fortune-cookie factory in Seattle’s Chinatown International District, is inserting five different census messages into 2 million cookies being shipped to restaurants and groceries across Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

Like the usual predictions of wealth, fame and long life you’ll find on one side, the census missives on the opposite side are a bit … well … banal.

“Put down your chopsticks and get involved in Census 2010,” reads one message. “Real Fortune is being heard,” reads another.

It’s all part of a broader effort by the Census Bureau to spread the word about the upcoming population count on April 1. The nation’s 112 million households will begin receiving forms in the mail beginning in late March.

The decennial count helps allocate more than $400 billion a year in federal funds to state and local governments for programs such as public housing, highways and schools.

Census results help determine political boundaries as well as the number of representatives each state will send to Congress. Because Washington’s population has steadily grown, the state could pick up a 10th congressional seat after this year’s count.

There’s great financial motivation: Each uncounted person means a loss of about $1,400 in federal money per year, according to the Census Bureau.

Bessie Fan, co-owner of the family-run cookie and noodle factory, Tsue Chong, called it a “great thrill to partner with the census for such an important effort.

Public Information Office
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e-mail: <pio@census.gov>                                          Photo

Tuan Nguyen Selected for Census Bureau’s
Asian Advisory Committee

Tuan Nguyen — vice president for media relations for Media and Film
Company, a prominent Vietnamese language entertainment production company
– has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serve on the
U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the Asian population.

As a member of the nine-person committee, the Anaheim, Calif., resident
will advise the Census Bureau on ways to achieve a more accurate count of
the Asian population in the 2010 Census.

“The Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees provide a continuing channel of
communication between the Census Bureau and race and ethnic communities,”
Census Bureau Acting Director Tom Mesenbourg said. “The committees play a
vital role in ensuring that we make the best effort possible to reach race
and ethnic groups, not only during the 2010 Census, but also the American
Community Survey that is conducted throughout the decade.”

Nguyen came to the United States in 1986 as a refugee from Vietnam. He
lived in Seattle for 10 years before moving to California. He was vice
president of the University of Washington’s Vietnamese Student Association
and has contributed many articles on community issues to local Vietnamese
media outlets throughout the years.

Nguyen worked as a Census 2000 recruiting assistant and was vice
chairman of the Vietnamese Complete Count Committee for Orange County,
Calif., home of the largest Vietnamese population outside of Vietnam.

He is a member of the Las Vegas organizing committee to host Miss
Vietnam Global, an annual beauty pageant event for Vietnamese communities
around the world. He is a contributing writer to several major Vietnamese
media outlets in Southern California, such as VietBao Daily News, Viet
Weekly, Tre Magazine and Diem Magazine. He also serves on boards of
director for several Vietnamese community-based organizations.

Five race and ethnic advisory committees — African-American, American
Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Other
Pacific Islander —advise the Census Bureau on issues affecting minority
populations. The committees are assembled from the public at large and
representatives of national, state, local and tribal entities, as well as
nonprofit and private sector organizations. Members of the committees are
academicians, community leaders, policy makers and others interested in an
accurate count for their communities.

AND

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Paul Watanabe Selected for Census Bureau’s
Asian Advisory Committee

Paul Watanabe, director of the Institute for Asian American Studies and
associate professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts
Boston, has been selected by Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke to serve on
the U.S. Census Bureau’s Advisory Committee on the Asian population.

As a member of the nine-person committee, the South Weymouth, Mass.,
resident will advise the Census Bureau on ways to achieve a more accurate
count of the Asian population in the 2010 Census.

“The Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees provide a continuing channel of
communication between the Census Bureau and race and ethnic communities,”
Census Bureau Acting Director Tom Mesenbourg said. “The committees play a
vital role in ensuring that we make the best effort possible to reach race
and ethnic groups, not only during the 2010 Census, but also the American
Community Survey that is conducted throughout the decade.”

Watanabe’s principal research and teaching interests are in the areas of
American political behavior, ethnic group politics, Asian-Americans and
American foreign policy. He is the author of “Ethnic Groups, Congress, and
American Foreign Policy: the Politics of the Turkish Arms Embargo” and
principal author of “A Dream Deferred: Changing Demographics, Challenges,
and New Opportunities for Boston.” He regularly contributes analysis and
commentary to national and local television, radio, newspapers and
magazines.

He has served on several boards of nonprofit organizations, including
the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, Political
Research Associates, the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence, the
Harvard Community Health Plan, the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative
Fund, and the Asian American Policy Review.

Watanabe was born in Murray, Utah. He earned a bachelor’s degree in
political science from the University of Utah and master’s and doctorate
degrees from Harvard University.

Five race and ethnic advisory committees — African-American, American
Indian and Alaska Native, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Hawaiian and Other
Pacific Islander — advise the Census Bureau on issues affecting minority
populations. The committees are assembled from the public at large and
representatives of national, state, local and tribal entities, as well as
nonprofit and private sector organizations. Members of the committees are
academicians, community leaders, policy makers and others interested in an
accurate count for their communities.