Both of these factors complicate the information-gathering process.

"For Cambridge, with a relatively high immigrant population, making sure that members of those groups are counted is very significant," says Stephanie E. Ackert, chair of the Cambridge Complete Count Committee (CCCC). "Also sometimes there is confusion with college and university students about where they should be counted."

Cambridge established the CCCC last fall to help maximize local response. The committee represents a collaboration between city officials, the school department, community agencies and churches.

The CCCC, which meets about once a month, distributes written information about the census and works with local groups that may be "harder to enumerate," such as immigrants and minorities, Ackert says. The committee also plans to send letters to all city employees to inform them about the census and possible job opportunities as enumerators.

Ackert says the CCCC aims to prevent an undercount in Cambridge. She says she believes the 1990 census missed about 4,000 to 5,000 Cambridge residents--an amount symptomatic of a major undercount in 1990, that was a problem across the nation.

The CCCC works closely with the local census office, which faces similar concerns regarding Cambridge's population.

The district office has already begun searching for qualified personnel to serve in question assistance centers.

"We've recruited heavily among the major language groups," Clinkenbeard says.