Census presenting challenges to NNY

Fort Drum, St. Lawrence University, Canton, and Clarkson University, Potsdam, may give the north country a boost as soldiers and students are counted in the 2010 census.

Soldiers who are based at or deployed from Fort Drum will be counted as Jefferson County residents, and students who spent the majority of the year at area colleges will be counted in those locations.

Soldiers, students and snowbirds will be counted at "the usual place that they sleep the majority of the time," said Bruce M. Goewey, local U.S. Census Bureau office manager. "That's where they're counted."

Families with college students at distant schools or deployed soldiers will be instructed not to count the absent relatives in their households.

All known households in the U.S. will receive questionnaires from the U.S. Census Bureau in March. Residents will be asked how many people live in the house as of April 1, also known as "Census Day."

"It's very important that the population is not under-counted or over-counted," Mr. Goewey said.

The census, which occurs every 10 years by order of the U.S. Constitution, counts the population. It directs the number of U.S. representatives given to each state and proportional federal aid for local services. If trends continue, New York could lose two members of Congress after the 2010 census.

"There is about $400 billion in funding that depends on the census," Mr. Goewey said. "If we don't get people to respond where they really live, the services they need aren't getting covered by government the way they should." Those services include medical and educational services, transportation and public safety.

Mr. Goewey's office is responsible for an accurate count of Franklin, St. Lawrence, Lewis and Jefferson counties.

The north country, with its Army post, colleges and snowbirds, provides some challenges.

"Colleges are probably the most challenging," he said. "When we start to count is when they start leaving."

Part of the strategy for communities with colleges will be to visit campuses, dormitories and apartments early. Census Bureau employees, also known as census takers or enumerators, will begin visiting addresses with unreturned census mailings about the end of April.

Mr. Goewey stressed the importance of returning the questionnaire, from the proper household, early.

"The bureau hopes for 70 percent response or better," he said. "We're mandated to get information from everybody."

The form has 10 simple questions, he said, and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. All personal information is confidential, and census takers take an oath to protect it, punishable by $250,000 in fines and five years in prison.

The timing of the census mailings also overlaps with time that many snowbirds from the north country may be in warmer climes.

"If a snowbird spends more time in Florida or North Carolina, they will be counted there," he said. "We need to be careful that we don't double-count."

Those who normally spend most of the year in Northern New York should not return the form sent to the Southern address because of geographical coding on the forms.

"If it's possible to get the form sent to the New York address, do that," Mr. Goewey said. "If not, go to a Be Counted Center."

The Census Bureau is setting up centers throughout the U.S. that will have blank questionnaires and staff to answer questions about the form.

Staffers who will go door to door and work at the centers will be hired over the next few months. About 6,000 people will take the basic skills tests, and by spring to early summer, the local office will have about 1,500 part-time and full-time employees. Now, the office has five to 10.

"We're testing to find eligible people," Mr. Goewey said.

He was an enumerator in 1980 and 1990.

"It can be a lot of fun," Mr. Goewey said. "But it's very challenging. It's all about using good judgment in what you're seeing and hearing."

Jobs from clerks and census takers to supervisors will be filled based on the test results after Jan. 1. Wages range from $9.25 per hour for a clerk to more than $15 per hour for a supervisor.

Mr. Goewey, former executive director of the Watertown Housing Authority, got his position after a civil service exam, interview and background check. He finds an altruistic aspect to the census, too.

"The census is actually a constitutional act and it's important," he said. "Frankly, doing it could be considered patriotic."

To sign up for a test, call the recruiting department at (315) 779-6500.

ON THE NET

U.S. Census Bureau:

www.census.gov

See CENSUS A7