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Obama Nominates Census Chief
President Barack Obama has nominated University of Michigan professor Robert M. Groves to serve as Director for the 2010 Census. Prof Groves has strong survey credentials and experience, but the choice has already provoked alarm among Republicans, as has talk of the incumbent 'working closely' with the Whitehouse.
Groves was the Bureau's Associate Director from 1990 to 1992 and currently is Director of the university's Survey Research Center. He started his career as a prison guard with the Vermont State Prison system. He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from Dartmouth College and an MA in statistics and sociology and P.h.D. in sociology, from the University of Michigan.
Among the issues Groves faces are the record cost of the census, the accuracy of new handheld, GPS-enabled computers to be used for address canvassing and previously intended to verify residences; and the use of fingerprint records for temporary staff conducting follow-up visits to non-responders.
The NY Times quotes Commerce Secretary Gary Locke who describes Grove as 'a respected social scientist who will run the Census Bureau with integrity and independence'. However, Representative Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, has issued a statement saying: '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.'
Republican concerns with Prof Groves are linked to his advocacy in the early 1990s of statistical adjustments to the 1990 Census to allow for an undercount of anything up to several million people - the result of this could have been major advantages for the democrats and the idea was quashed by then commerce secretary Robert A. Mosbacher Sr., who called it an attempt at 'political tampering.'
Groves' nomination requires a vote but a strong democrat majority makes it very likely he will be in the post shortly.
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