While April 1, the official census day all across the United States, has come and gone, the count continues on and off campus. There's still time to get counted and help local communities get their fair share of federal funding.
Every 10 years, the U.S. Census Bureau attempts to get an accurate count of everyone in the nation, including college students. According to census procedures, students must be counted where they attend college. Here in Ithaca and Tompkins County, every student in Cornell residence halls, small living units and fraternity and sorority houses, as well as in apartments off campus, is being asked to complete a Census 2000 questionnaire.
It takes only a few minutes to comply. Most forms, the "short" forms, ask only seven questions; the "long" forms ask 53 questions. According to John L. Ford, Cornell dean of students, census information is private and confidential and cannot be used for any other purpose or shared with federal, state or local agencies.
An undercount in the census has consequences for the community though, because it would limit the community's ability to serve students and other residents. For New York state, it could mean the loss of at least one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Thus, the university is working closely with local officials to attain the goal of a complete count. For example, Cornell has sent a special mailer and an e-mail message to all students living on and off campus to remind them to fill out their census forms. Even local pizza parlors have helped by including reminders with their deliveries to campus.
Students living in residence halls will be receiving their Census 2000 questionnaires in the campus mail this week. Arrangements are being made to collect census questionnaires in the residence halls, so the completed forms should not be placed back in the mail. Cornell Residence Life staff will follow up with on-campus students who do not respond.
For students living off campus, where mail is delivered by street name and house or apartment number, census forms were delivered by U.S. mail. All students living at a particular off-campus address are considered part of one household, so only one form should be completed and it should include information on all of those living at that address. The form can be returned in the U.S. mail envelope provided.
"Even though this might not be their voting residence, legal residence or permanent residence, Cornell students must complete the questionnaire because they currently reside in Tompkins County," Ford said. "They are not to be included in their parents' households on the forms they completed." Registered students from other nations also must complete a census form.
There are a number of reasons why it is important for college students to be counted in the census:
All personal information provided on a census questionnaire is kept confidential. The Census Bureau is forbidden by law from sharing that information with others, including welfare agencies, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Internal Revenue Service, courts, police and the military.
As of April 3, 60 percent of the census forms distributed in Tompkins County had been returned, but the local complete count committee is pushing for a 95 percent return rate.
For those who have questions or concerns about the census, several "questionnaire assistance centers" have been set up around the Ithaca area, including on campus:
Information also is available from the Census Bureau's toll-free telephone number, (800) 471-9424, and at its web site, www.2000.census.gov. If you do not receive a form by April 8, call the 800 number above or visit one of the special census information centers.
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