2010 Census: Make Your Voice Count!
On April 1, 2010, you have an important choice that will impact your life for the next 10 years. Filling out the census form takes only 10 minutes, but your response will guide a decade of decisions involving voting districts; money allocated to schools and roads; and which stores and businesses locate in our community.
Can we count on you to make sure UA and the Tuscaloosa community don't get left out? Be counted in 2010!
More Information: http://2010.census.gov/2010census/
2010 Census Information
Important Dates
- March 2010: Census forms are mailed or delivered to households.
- April 1, 2010: National Census Day - use this day as a point of reference for sending your completed forms back in the mail.
- April - July 2010: Census takers visit households that did not return a form by mail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. I’m an out-of-state student here at UA. The census should count me back in my home state, right?
A. You should be counted in Tuscaloosa. The 2010 census is a “snapshot” of the way America was on April 1, 2010. Since you will be living and attending school in Tuscaloosa on April 1, you should fill out and return your census form here.
Q. I live in an apartment in Tuscaloosa, but my parents support me. They should count me on their census form at their house, right?
A. You should fill out your own census form here in Tuscaloosa, and your parents should not count you at their house. The census isn’t about where the money originates, it’s about where you are living on a day-in-and-day-out basis in April 2010. Your completion of the 2010 census form will not affect your status as an in- or out-of-state student, your tuition or any other aspect of your college career. No specific information about you or your parents will be provided to UA in any form.
Q. I’m an international student. Surely the U.S. government doesn’t want me counted in its census.
A. You should fill out and return the U.S. census questionnaire. The purpose of the census is to account for everybody living in the United States on census day. You are living here this year—you count! If you have family members here with you, they count on the census form as well. Your participation in the census count will not affect your status as an international student or the status of your family members who are with you. No specific information about you or your family members will be provided to UA or any state or federal agency in any form.
Q. My wife and I are expecting a baby this spring, but I don’t think the baby will be here on April 1. We know it will be a girl, and we are naming her Caitlin. Should we put her on the census form, even if she hasn’t been born by April 1?
A. You already love Caitlin, but you can’t put her on the census form unless she has been born on April 1. Even if she is born on April 2, and you don’t turn in your census form until April 5, you shouldn’t put Caitlin on the form. A person has to be born by April 1, 2010, to count in this decade’s census.
Q. My roommate and I share an apartment, and both of us are on the lease. Who fills out the census form?
A. The Census Bureau doesn’t care who fills out the form. They want one form turned in for your apartment with all the people living there listed on the same form. But they don’t care who is listed as “Person One” (that is, the person who filled out the form). So, one roommate should complete the form for all your roommates.
Q. I live in Tutwiler. Will I get a census form to fill out?
A. Yes. The UA Housing Office will distribute census forms to all the dorms. Then, they will collect the completed forms and turn them in to the Census Bureau. You won’t get a census form in the mail if you live in UA Housing.
Q. What if I lose my census form?
A. You can get a replacement form. But the Census Bureau prefers you return the form they sent you. Please look for that lost form before you go to the trouble of getting a replacement.
Q. What if I don’t receive a census form?
A. You can pick up a duplicate census form at one of the Be Counted census sites located on campus (Ferguson Center, the Rec Center and Gorgas Library) or in other locations in Tuscaloosa If the Census Bureau didn’t send a form to your apartment, please get one of those duplicates, fill it out and turn it in.
Q. What if I forget to turn my census form in?
A. If you don’t mail the form back, you may receive a visit from a census taker, who will ask you the questions from the form. The Census Bureau will be working into the early summer to get answers turned in from every person in the entire country.
Q. I don’t want the federal government knowing all my personal business. I don’t think I want to fill out the census form.
A. The Census Bureau works under a strict law to protect the confidentiality of your information. Title 13 of the U.S. Code prevents the Census Bureau from sharing your information with anybody, including other agencies of the federal government. Your answers cannot be used against you by any government agency or court. It is against the law to disclose or publish any of the following information:
- Names
- Addresses, including GPS coordinates
- Social Security numbers
- Telephone numbers
Nobody—not any court, any immigration official, the FBI, the CIA, any other agency, department or even the President—can gain access to the information on your census form.
Q. This census form sounds like a lot of trouble.
A. The form is just 10 questions, and it comes with a postage-paid envelope provided. It’s short, it’s easy, and it’s important!
Q. I’ve never seen a census form. I guess my parents filled one out for me when I was little. Why is it important?
A. The census is important for a lot of reasons. Census information affects the number of seats Alabama will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. Census numbers are also used for the allocation of federal money to local areas. Business decisions are made on the basis of census statistics. Money for social services, schools, hospitals and job training centers is allocated based, in part, on census numbers.
Census data are used for things UA students need and care about:
- Money for disaster preparedness; medical services; roads, bridges and other public works projects; and emergency services
- Market research depends on census data. New stores come to Tuscaloosa because they see from census data that there are enough students in the area to support them. New employers look at census numbers to determine if they will have a sufficient labor force. If you are uncounted or counted in the wrong place, retailers and other employers don’t know that they should locate here!
- Advocacy groups and faith-based organizations use census data to make decisions about their outreach efforts. (No personal information is available from census data.)
- Political representation in the state legislature and the city council is determined by census data. If you want University students to have a political voice, you need to be counted in Tuscaloosa, where you live on April 1, 2010.
Q. Why can’t I answer the census online?
A. The Census Bureau is so concerned about confidentiality that they don’t yet have an online option for answering the census. They are testing ways to do that with no possibility of a violation of your privacy.