Stand Up And Be Counted - Census 2000

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas will host a Census Awareness Day at 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 29 at the Arkansas Student Union. Fayetteville city officials and UA student leaders will explain the importance of UA students filling out the census forms as Fayetteville residents.

According to Fayetteville city officials, an accurate 2000 Census is critical when it comes to federal funding. Arkansas Secretary of State Sharon Priest estimates that the undercount in the last census cost Northwest Arkansas nearly $1 million in funding and services. In the 1990 census, the Fayetteville response was 61%, slightly lower than the national average of 65%. The response rate at the University of Arkansas was only 31%.

"Because UA students spend a majority of their time in Fayetteville, using city services such as streets, water and fire and police protection, it is especially important for them to fill out their census forms as residents of Fayetteville," said Nancy Hendricks, assistant to Fayetteville Mayor Fred Hanna and chair of Fayetteville’s complete count committee.

The U.S. Census Bureau urges foreign students enrolled in U.S. schools and visiting scholars to participate in the census. The tricky part is making sure foreign students and scholars in the United States are aware that they should participate. The Bureau says that any student enrolled in a school in the United States should participate in the 2000 census, as should visiting scholars who have non-tourism visas. The Bureau, which stresses that individual answers are completely confidential, also notes that foreign nationals living in the United States should be included, regardless of their immigration status.

According to the Bureau, citizens of foreign countries who have established a household or are part of an established household in the United States, while working or studying, including family members with them, are to be counted at that household. The only exceptions are for foreign nationals who are merely visiting the United States on a tourism visa. Anyone visiting the United States as a tourist should not be counted in the census. Language assistance guides will be available in 50 languages to facilitate participation for non-English speaking residents and students.

Filling out the census, which requires about 5-10 minutes for the short form, will provide the U.S. government with data that will be used for allocating huge sums of money to finance new schools, roads, hospitals, and other critical infrastructure. The higher number of people counted in particular areas means there is often a greater chance that additional government funding will be extended to those areas. The census will be completed over the next several months, and final results will be sent to the President by the end of the year.

For more information about Census 2000, check the web site at http://www.census.gov.

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