The Census, which occurs every ten years, is a constitutionally mandated count of every person, citizens and non-citizens, living in the 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marinara Islands and American Samoa.
In 2000, the Census tract containing N.C. State had the lowest response rate in all of Wake County according to Max Baker, an intern with the Wake County Planning Department and junior in psychology.
Out of the five tracts with the lowest response rate in Wake County, four were university tracts.
“There is definitely a correlation between students and low response rates,” Baker said.
According to Baker, students and non-English speaking individuals are the hardest people to count.
“I want students to know how important the census is,” Baker said.
According to Baker, state and national governments use Census data to give out more than $478 billion every year. That’s more than $1,000 per person per year allocated by local governments for roads, hospitals, schools, universities, emergency and other services.
“It even affects college tuition,” Baker said.
For the next decade, 2010 Census data will be used by businesses and organizations to tailor products and services to the population, said Susan Grant, director of University Housing.
The number of congressional districts a state has is determined by census data.
When people don’t fill out the form, or fill it out incorrectly without providing a phone number, the Census Bureau has to send Census takers to addresses where the forms have not been returned, Baker said. Census takers are temporary employees and their wages are paid for with tax dollars.
Grant said University housing is doing its part to ensure a 100 percent response rate among students living on campus.
“Every student needs to be counted,” Grant said.
According to Grant, the Census Bureau has a University provided list of the names and location of students living in University Housing that will be used to make sure Census forms are received by all on-campus residents.
Representatives from the local Census Bureau will be on campus April 9 to collect forms from students living in Wolf and King Villages, and April 16 to collect forms from students living in the residence halls.
“University Housing is committed to working with the local Census Bureau to ensure the count of campus residents is accurate and complete,” Grant said.
Baker said many people have questions about the confidentiality of the Census. The Census does not ask for a signature or social security number and private information such names and phone numbers cannot be shared with any other federal or law enforcement agency.
Violating the confidentiality of the Census is punishable by up to a $250,000 fine or five years in jail, he said.
When asked what he thought, hypothetically, about people planning to protest the Census, Chris Geatz, a senior in communication, said that civil disobedience has always been an engine of change and that if people want to protest the Census, that’s their right.
However, students should fill it out because it requires a nominal amount of effort to reap the benefits of Census data, he said.
The Census cannot be filled out online, but more information and sample forms can be found at http://2010.census.gov/2010census/.
Census data affects the whole community for the next ten years, Baker said.
“Your count will help our state in the future,” Grant said.
