For Release March 28, 2000

AGRI-VIEWS
by Chuck Otte, Geary County Extension Agent

This is a year that ends in a zero. That means it’s time for the decennial census of the American population. There probably aren’t too many people that get excited about things like censuses. But with my background in math and statistics I get really excited every time there is data collection and the ensuing release of the information. Yes, I know that I’m a little strange!

I also have some paranoid friends. We were visiting a few weeks ago and they started "going off" on the census and by golly they weren’t going to do anymore than just say how many people lived at that address. I started to try to educate them, but then realized it was going to be like wrestling with a pig in the mud; I’d end up frustrated and they’d just enjoy it. I decided to encourage them to complete their census and left it at that.

I was blessed with the long form. It took me about fifteen minutes to complete our form. Of course, being the compulsive record keeper that I am, I had most of the required data on the computer and it didn’t take me long to figure out things like average utility bills etc. I mailed my form back over a week ago. Now I’m going to be like a kid before Christmas waiting for the county, state and national data to be released..... months from now, unfortunately.

So now I’m encouraging all of you to fill out your census forms. Fill them out completely and quickly. Come on now, this isn’t like taxes. You only have to do this once every ten years. Why should you fill it out? For starters, it’s the law. I know that isn’t going to mean much to some people. They’re the ones flying by me on the highway everyday as I drive the speed limit. But more importantly, you need to fill out the census so that you, and your community, can get what’s coming to you.

There are a lot of programs, funding and other resources, that are allocated based on population. How many, what sex, what income groups, what age and what race are all valuable bits of information that help agencies and organizations allocate resources and plan programs. If a certain group is not accurately represented, in the census tally, then that group may not get the programs and resources that they need and deserve.

Even in the Extension programs that I am involved in, my program development committees and I look over those census (and ag census) figures to help us determine what our priority program areas should be. If those census forms are not completed and returned then we will have inaccurate information and you may not get the programs that could help you. We sometimes think that we have a good idea of what the societal makeup of our community is. But without the figures to back that up, we can’t prove it. That proof becomes even more important when state and federal dollars start coming our way. So much is based on population that if we don’t have a good count of who is out there, we will not get enough dollars to do what we need to do.

I guess I’m just not paranoid enough to think that the government is gathering too much information on me. A certain amount of that information is necessary if we want to get our fair share of tax dollars. My opinion is that we pay the money in, we should get our fair share back! So, for my sake, for your sake, for the community, city and county’s sake, PLEASE fill out your census form and return it promptly! Thank you.

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