My Two Census

Run by a team of professional political journalists, this is the non-partisan watchdog of the 2010 U.S. Census

Posts Tagged ‘Vietnamese’

MyTwoCensus Investigation: Dumb Decision # 7485839: Translation Services Contract Expired August 31, 2009

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

Though the mainstream media hasn’t picked up on it, Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves acknowledged at the Google Press Conference on March 24 that there have been translation errors during the 2010 Census process (see below transript).

I went so far as to have experts from Cornell and MIT prove that the Burmese translations were wrong. I also filed a FOIA request to find out about the 2010 Census translation contract with Diplomatic Language Services, a firm based in Virginia. Yesterday, the Census Bureau gave me a partial reply to my Freedom of Information Act request. In this document (click here for the full FOIA translation services response), I learned that the Census Bureau’s language translation contract ended on August 31, 2009. Now, this is extremely problematic because this did not leave time for all 2010 Census language issues to be resolved. What this document lacks is one key feature: The price tag for these (sub-par) services. The document makes it clear how much money it costs per word for translations yet in never makes mention of the total amount of money paid to Diplomatic Language Services. t I inquired today with the FOIA officials to determine what this figure is. Stay tuned for updates!

USA Today: Glitches Hamper 2010 Count

Friday, February 5th, 2010

We’re really wondering who at the Census Bureau is responsible for the below problems…because he or she should be fired immediately…MyTwoCensus.com will soon be investigating who was responsible for this language foible….see the following report from USA Today:

By Haya El Nasser

The words dieu tra jumped out at Quyen Vuong as she perused the 2010 Vietnamese-language Census form online.

“It’s a very scary connotation in the sense that there is a crime and the government needs to investigate,” says Vuong, a member of two Census outreach committees in California‘s Santa Clara County and executive director of the International Children Assistance Network.

The words the Census Bureau used to refer to its upcoming population count evoke chilling memories for Vietnamese immigrants who escaped a Communist regime. Vuong alerted the Census Bureau, and Director Robert Groves told her that online Census materials were being changed and would use the more neutral thong ke (tally) to refer to the count. It’s too late, however, to edit preprinted forms.

Vuong says the government should launch a media campaign to acknowledge the mistake and apologize.

Despite an unprecedented $340 million promotion that includes $130 million for ads in 28 languages (including Tagalog, Yiddish, Khmer, and Urdu), user guides in 59 languages and the Census questionnaire itself in six — English, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese — glitches and gripes surround the Census effort:

• The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund last week reported widespread problems in Asian communities, from mistranslations to insufficient staffing in local Census offices.

“We don’t want to be too critical, but no one had a chance to preview the language guides, the advertising campaign,” says Glenn Magpantay, director of the Democracy Program at AALDEF. Concerns over privacy and confidentiality continue, he says.

• The National Newspaper Publishers Association, which represents about 200 black community newspapers, is angry that the Census Bureau is spending only $2.5 million on ads in black media.

“We think they’re about $10 million short,” says Danny Bakewell, chairman of the group. “They’re setting it up for us to have the greatest undercount in the history of America. If this happens, it will devastate our community for the next 10 years at least.”

The number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives is based on Census counts every 10 years. The tally also helps to redraw political districts and determine the allocation of more than $400 billion a year in federal money to states and cities.

• Korean-American groups want to see more Census spending in their community. “We heard that there was so much money out there for Census outreach, but I don’t see a dollar,” says Young Sun Song, a community organizer for the Korean American Resource & Cultural Center in Chicago.

• In Texas, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund complains that the state has not formed a complete-count committee to encourage response to the 2010 Census forms that will land in mailboxes next month.

Census Bureau Press Release

Monday, July 6th, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009

Public Information Office
CB09-CN.10
301-763-3691
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

CB09-CN.11

Photo

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.

Boring interview with our fearless leader, Gary Locke

Thursday, May 28th, 2009

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke sat down with The Chicago Tribune for an interview…unfortunately the interview revealed nothing that we haven’t already heard 200,000 times:

WASHINGTON — The third time was the charm for Gary Locke, a former governor of Washington state who was tapped as commerce secretary after President Barack Obama’s first two choices pulled out. In an interview, he discussed the 2010 census.

Q Tell us what models you’re developing to ensure that all ethnic groups and minorities are accurately counted in next year’s census.

A Well, for the first time, we will be sending our forms in different languages and specifically in Spanish. So populations, communities with a large Hispanic population, will actually receive a census questionnaire. We’re going to be very specific. From past information, we know, for instance, in which parts of Houston there’s a large Vietnamese population. We know where in Los Angeles … in the Southwest, we have large populations, blocks of Hispanic families, and so we’re going to be very strategic and very targeted.

Q Will you, in part, rely on (popu- lation) sampling, even though the Republicans are dead-set against it?

A The United States Supreme Court has actually ruled that we are not allowed to use sampling apportionment. Nor do we have any plans to use sampling for any other purpose connected with the 2010 census.

Q Every White House has tried to play a role in the census. What will be this White House’s role in the census?

A The census director reports to me, and, of course, I serve at the pleasure of the president. … It will not be politicized, and the White House assured me that it has no interest in politicizing it.