The repreCENSUS campaign is winding down on campus, and the U.S. Census Bureau is about to take its “snapshot of America for 2010.”The Bateman team visited residence halls Tuesday night to answer questions and encourage students to fill out the survey.College students are considered a hard-to-reach demographic because many students assume their parents will fill out the forms for them.But students are encouraged to complete the Census where they live for most of the year.”By filling out the census here, it makes me feel like I’m contributing to LSU and Louisiana,” said Lauren Leist, Missisippi native and political communication freshman. “I feel more at home.”The Census could also provide job opportunities to collect and count the survey.”Since the budget was cut for student jobs, I would be interested in working for the Census depending on time restrictions,” said Trent Brasseaux, kinesiology freshman.The repreCENSUS campaign, a project of the University’s Bateman team, spent the month of February promoting the Census around the University.”We targeted every aspect of LSU,” said Bateman team member Jennie Armstrong.The Bateman team’s lime green shirts and stamps have been seen at dining halls, sporting events and bars near campus.”After working on the campaign for so long, we’ve all become really passionate about the Census,” said Bateman team member Chelsey Laborde.Census forms will be mailed in March and will be available in residence halls and Greek houses.”Finding out that the majority of students do care about the Census and want to get counted made it completely worth it,” Laborde said.The repreCENSUS campaign was created by five mass communication seniors as part of the Public Relations Society of America’s national Bateman competition. Participants create and promote a campaign in February and analyze its success in March.The competition began in February, and the Bateman team began research last fall, Armstrong said.”We surveyed students, and our entire campaign is based off of the data we found,” Armstong said.Eighty schools are competing in the Bateman competition, and the top three teams will travel to Washington on May 13 and 14.—-Contact Grace Montgomery at [email protected]