Census Questions Answered
By: Adam Paluka
Updated: March 26, 2010
STATE COLLEGE, CENTRE COUNTY-If you have questions about the 2010 census, you are not alone. The ten form questionnaire is designed to be easy, but there is still confusion. Some frequently asked questions are “Is the form intrusive and complicated, should students fill out a form at their local address or back home, and what do you do if you have not gotten a census mailing yet?
Penn State student Martin Shelton said he sat on his census form for two weeks.
“I never really felt it was that a big of a deal to fill out a census form; it just one of those things, it's not necessarily junk mail, but I just feel like I could be spending my time doing something else,” said Shelton.
After completing his form, Shelton, who is also a WTAJ news intern, said he was pleasantly surprised.
“It was so quick and I didn’t think it would be that quick. I thought it would be a tedious process.”
Penn State students leading a public relations campaign for census awareness know it is a hard sell to convince a student like Shelton to fill out the form. Laura Peck is a Penn State Census advocate who is trying to get out the message.
“The census really isn't something that's stressed in the classroom or at home because it happens every ten years,” said Peck
Some think their parents will do it for them - wrong.
Emily Simmons, who is also a census advocate at Penn State, feels students should have a sense of urgency for the future.
“Most students don't know that have to fill it out here, they do think that because they are dependent on their parents they have to fill out at their parents house, but the reality is that you spend most of the year here you need to bring the resources here for future students,” said Simmons
Other citizens, not only students, think if they live in a house or apartment and they have not gotten a form, they are scot free - wrong again.
“If you have not gotten a form and you live in a regular house, or a regular apartment you should contact the local census office in State College and they will get that to you right away,” said Simmons.
Mailing it back once you have completed the form is the patriotic thing to do. It saves tax-payers more than $50 compared to sending a census worker to collect the data.
For folks who live in dorms and fraternity houses, those are considered group housing by the census bureau. They will get their forms in about a week, and every single person in those residences will need to fill one of these out.
Penn State student Martin Shelton said he sat on his census form for two weeks.
“I never really felt it was that a big of a deal to fill out a census form; it just one of those things, it's not necessarily junk mail, but I just feel like I could be spending my time doing something else,” said Shelton.
After completing his form, Shelton, who is also a WTAJ news intern, said he was pleasantly surprised.
“It was so quick and I didn’t think it would be that quick. I thought it would be a tedious process.”
Penn State students leading a public relations campaign for census awareness know it is a hard sell to convince a student like Shelton to fill out the form. Laura Peck is a Penn State Census advocate who is trying to get out the message.
“The census really isn't something that's stressed in the classroom or at home because it happens every ten years,” said Peck
Some think their parents will do it for them - wrong.
Emily Simmons, who is also a census advocate at Penn State, feels students should have a sense of urgency for the future.
“Most students don't know that have to fill it out here, they do think that because they are dependent on their parents they have to fill out at their parents house, but the reality is that you spend most of the year here you need to bring the resources here for future students,” said Simmons
Other citizens, not only students, think if they live in a house or apartment and they have not gotten a form, they are scot free - wrong again.
“If you have not gotten a form and you live in a regular house, or a regular apartment you should contact the local census office in State College and they will get that to you right away,” said Simmons.
Mailing it back once you have completed the form is the patriotic thing to do. It saves tax-payers more than $50 compared to sending a census worker to collect the data.
For folks who live in dorms and fraternity houses, those are considered group housing by the census bureau. They will get their forms in about a week, and every single person in those residences will need to fill one of these out.
