10 questions for Census 2010
1. How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?
2. Were there any additional people staying here April 1, 2010 that you did not include in Question 1?
Mark all that apply.
Children, such as newborn babies or foster children
Relatives, such as adult children, cousins, or in-laws
Nonrelatives, such as roommates or live-in baby sitters
People staying here temporarily
No additional people
3. Is this house, apartment, or mobile home
Mark ONE box.
Owned by you or someone in this household with a mortgage or loan? Include home equity loans.
Owned by you or someone in this household free and clear (without a mortgage or loan)?
Rented?
Occupied without payment of rent?
4. What is your telephone number? We may call if we don't understand an answer.
Area Code + Number
5. Please provide information for each person living here. Start with a person living here who owns or rents this house, apartment, or mobile home. If the owner or renter lives somewhere else, start with any adult living here. This will be Person 1.
What is Person 1's name? Print name below.
Last name
First name
Middle Initial
6. What is Person 1's sex?
Mark ONE box.
Male
Female
7. What is Person 1's age and what is Person 1's date of birth?
Please report babies as age 0 when the child is less than 1 year old.
Age on April 1, 2010
Month Day Year of birth
8. Is Person 1 of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin?
No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin
Yes, Mexican, Mexican Am., Chicano
Yes, Puerto Rican
s Yes, Cuban
Yes, another Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin - Print origin, for example,
Argentinean, Colombian, Dominican, Nicaraguan, Salvadoran, Spaniard, and so on.
9. What is Person 1's race? Mark one or more boxes.
White
Black, African Am., or Negro
American Indian or Alaska Native - Print name of enrolled or principal tribe.
10. Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?
No Yes - Mark all that apply.
In college housing
In the military
At a seasonal or second residence
For child custody
In jail or prison
In a nursing home
For another reason
In Bulloch County, there is a massive effort underway to make sure that everyone is counted in the 2010 United States Census, including 19,000 Georgia Southern University students.
"The new census is very clear that college students should be counted where they are in school, so this year we must make every effort to ensure that all college students living in Bulloch County are counted in the census," said Peggy Chapman, president of the Statesboro-Bulloch County Chamber of Commerce and executive director of the Development Authority of Bulloch County. "Georgia Southern has a committee that is working very hard to assure that this happens. We are also depending on the apartment managers to help us get a correct count in each facility not on campus."
Dr. Jayne Perkins Brown, associate vice president for Strategic Research and Analysis at GSU, said the university is taking its role in the census effort very seriously.
"The census count affects us on a number of levels," she said. "First, it impacts Bulloch County from a federal funding standpoint. Secondly, it could make Georgia Southern eligible for more federal grants as they are based on size. The census is very important, and we have launched a university-wide effort to make sure that all of our students are counted."
Perkins Brown is a member of the census committee that is being led at the county level.
"Bulloch County began its involvement in the Census 2010 effort about three years ago with the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program," said Bulloch County manager Tom Couch. "This program is bolstered by the county's Geographic Information System that ensures that mapped structures and address data bases are accurate for Census enumerators. Last year, with the help of the Chamber, a Complete County Census Committee was formed. It has met regularly since last summer."
According to Couch, there is more at stake than federal funding and political reapportionment.
"The census count could be very important this year as it may have implications for Statesboro becoming a small Metropolitan Statistical Area," he said. "Typically, this requires an urban cluster of 50,000 people and there is a chance that if you consider a three-to-five-mile ring around Statesboro city limits stretching to Brooklet, the cluster may exist. It depends on the Census count."
Couch said becoming an MSA would make Bulloch County eligible for more federal funding opportunities especially for transportation, housing and community development. It would also help attract additional retailers to the area.
"Right now the census is showing that Bulloch County has approximately 68,000 people and that the city of Statesboro has 28,000 people," Chapman said. "There has always been a question of whether the college students are included in that count."
On March 10, the United States Postal Service will deliver the initial 2010 Census questionnaires. April 1 will be recognized as Census Day. The information provided on the 2010 Census questionnaire should represent the respective household as it exists on that day.
"It is my hope that people will not be afraid to register," Chapman said. "The questionnaire has been revised, and it is very short, only 10 questions. It is so important for us to 'stand up and be counted' just so we can better plan for the future of this community with correct data."
The Census Monitoring Board reported after the 2000 Census that all 13 southern states were under-counted, the only region in the country that all states were under-represented. It is reported by the Institute for Southern Studies that the estimated 3.3 million U.S. residents not counted in 2000, 39 percent were in southern states - nearly two out of five of the "missing" residents were in the South.
"We cannot be under-counted," Chapman said. "If we get a much higher count on this year's census, the data will help Bulloch County attract new industry and retail businesses thus bringing more jobs to this area. In addition, it will provide us with published economic and statistical reports about this county and the region which can be used in recruiting new jobs to the area."
The critical question remains, where applicable, will students at Georgia Southern ultimately be included in the Bulloch County census numbers or will they be recognized as living in the residence of their parents?
According to Robert M Groves, director of the U.S. Census Bureau:
"It is important to remember that for Census purposes, college students are considered residents of the place where they live while attending school, not at their parents' address."