Senate Confirms Sociologist Robert Groves as Census Bureau Director

From www.asanet.org:

Washington, DC, July 13, 2009 — After weeks of stalling and opposition by the US Senate, sociologist Robert Groves, a veteran survey researcher at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, Survey Research Center, was confirmed as director of the United States Census Bureau after a full Senate vote today. In early April President Barack Obama announced the nomination of Groves as U.S. Census Director, and on May 20, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs approved his nomination by voice vote. A Senate confirmation was delayed because of the opposition of two republican senators who feared the use of statistical adjustment in the 2010 Census.

With less than one year before Census 2010, the Census Bureau—the nation’s largest statistical agency—now has a leader who has the scientific credentials and experience to lead this complex operation. Groves has an impressive record of academic and professional experiences and accomplishments. He is a nonpartisan, academic researcher who has focused much of his research on non-response to household surveys and survey error and has published three of the most-cited textbooks and numerous journal articles on survey research.

Decennial Census counts of the nation’s residents (citizen and non-citizen) are conducted primarily to determine how many of the 435 U.S. House of Representative seats will be allocated to each of the 50 states to achieve fair representation. Census numbers also drive the flow of $300 billion in federal dollars to states and communities, supporting everything from education and housing to infrastructure and welfare.

The nomination and the importance of the U.S. Census were recently covered in the July/August issue of Footnotes. ASA Secretary-Treasurer Donald Tomaskovic-Devey will attend the swearing-in ceremony on behalf of ASA and the sociological community.

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Sociology of Hello Kitty

An interesting article "Top cat: how 'Hello Kitty' conquered the world":

When, in 1974, employees at the Japanese design company Sanrio created Hello Kitty, the small, rounded cartoon cat with a red bow between her ears and no mouth, they could never have dreamt that she would become the global megastar she is today. Sales of Hello Kitty merchandise now account for half of Saniro's $1bn (£500m) annual turnover and her face adorns 50,000 products, sold in more than 60 countries.

The little half-Japanese, half-English cat has become so globally recognisable that it is, perhaps, inevitable that the Japanese board of tourism has appointed her their official tourism ambassador to China and Hong Kong. This is not the first time the world has looked to Hello Kitty to perform an ambassadorial role; she has been United States children's ambassador for Unicef since 1983.

Dr Sharon Kinsella, a lecturer at Oxford University on Japanese sociology, thinks that Japan's choice of Hello Kitty as their representative is unsurprising.

"It seems predictable enough to have her adopted as a diplomatic envoy," she says. "That has been the way of the 'Cool Japan' bandwagon for a few years now, and relations with China are no healthier. It seems a bit farcical to select Hello Kitty, however: as if a dumbed-down cultural icon that was cool in her retro boom in the 1990s, and which Chinese teenagers dig, can somehow do something significant to alter the gnarly and difficult state of China-Japan relations."

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An Ivy-Covered Path to the Supreme Court

G. William Domhoff, a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the author of Who Rules America on Sotomayor's path to the Supreme Court:

Whatever a nominee’s origins might be, does attending the same institutions shape them and their views, even subtly? Critics suggest that elite universities shave off the differences in backgrounds and contribute to a kind of high-level groupthink.

“There is both a funneling and homogenizing effect from these schools,” said G. William Domhoff, a professor of psychology and sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the author of “Who Rules America?”

The effect, Professor Domhoff said, “plays out in terms of social networks, cultural/social capital, and a feeling of being part of the in-group.” It is one of subtle conditioning — what Sam Rayburn, the former House speaker, meant when he famously said, “If you want to get along, go along.”

Outstanding Sociology students recognized!

Two outstanding sociology students have been chosen to receive two very competitive scholarship through the College of Social and Behavioral Science. Scott Richter was awarded the $8000 Carper Foundation Scholarship, and Yvonne Sherwood was awarded the $1000 Chertok Memorial Scholarship. They were recognized in the Chertok Honors Reception on June 12.

Congratulations, Scott and Yvonne. We are very proud of you!!!!!!

Sotomayor and Race in America

Sotomayor and Race in America

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