We all just got sold out to the man. As “‘required by U.S. law (Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141, 193, and 221),'” Columbia Housing and Dining has turned over the names and addresses of two dormfulls of students to the Census Bureau. Expect the men in black to come a’callin’ tomorrow.

Fun fact: Census takers can’t argue with any self-reported information. Tell them you’re a 65-year old black woman and have a chance to screw-up New York City demographics for good.

Original email after the jump.

From: Columbia Housing and Dining <ws22@columbia.edu>
Date: Feb 24, 2006 2:09 PM
Subject: U.S. Census Bureau / Columbia University Residence Halls
To: hdec@cuvmc.ais.columbia.edu
Cc: corp@columbia.edu

Dear Residents:

The U.S. Census Bureau has asked Columbia University to provide the names and phone numbers of student residents in two of our residence halls, “under the authority of Title 13, Sections 141, 193 and 221, of the United States Code.” They further stated that Columbia University is “required by U.S. law to respond to this survey (Title 13, United States Code, Sections 141, 193, and 221).” The U.S. Census Bureau has sent a letter stating, “In addition, the data collection is compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) in terms of requirements for disclosing information. Under these conditions, colleges and universities can disclose directory information from student records, without prior consent of the student or his or her parents, to the organization collecting the data (34 CFR Part 99).”

The U.S. Census Bureau will be in your residence halls Saturday, February 25, 2006 conducting random surveys.

Feel free to contact us directly if you have any questions or concerns.

Yours truly,

Columbia University Housing and Dining