Tempe Mayor Hugh Hallman held a taping of his monthly talk show “Let’s Talk Tempe” on the Tempe campus Tuesday to discuss the 2010 Census and the impact students can have on the city’s count.
The census is important because it affects the amount of federal and state funding the city receives, Hallman said, and with more ASU students counted as Tempe residents, more funding will be provided.
In a round-table discussion, the mayor interviewed U.S. Census official Al Nieto and the co-chairs of Tempe’s 2010 Census Complete Count Committee, Ed Valenzuela and Don Cassano.
According to the city’s Web site, the population of Tempe was 158,625 in 2000. Hallman said both the city’s population and the University’s population have been growing ever since.
“The reason, in my view, that federal money and state money ought to be allocated based on [the student] population is we’re the ones serving those people day in and day out,” Hallman said.
The funding for services like parks, hospitals, transportation and emergency departments is affected by the census count, according to the United States Census 2010 Web site.
Nieto, the manager of the Phoenix census office, explained how students are counted.
“The rule of the census is basically is … where you spend the majority of your time,” Nieto said. “So if you’re a student here at ASU and you’re here nine months, 10 months, 11 months, [Tempe] is where you are counted.”
ASU students not originally from Tempe need to communicate with their families in order to avoid a double count, Nieto said.
Beginning in March, jobs will be available for students looking to work full-time or part-time for the Census Bureau, he said. Salaries will range between $11.25 to $16.50 an hour, and travel mileage will be compensated.
All students, even those living in residence halls, will be receiving census questionnaires, he said, and if they have any trouble filling out the questionnaire, assistance centers will be available.
The questionnaire consists of 10 questions about the residents, including their names, ages and genders.
If a census questionnaire is not filled out or the information is incomplete, a census representative will contact the resident either by phone or in person, Nieto said.
The information given on the census questionnaire is completely confidential and is not shared with other agencies or organizations, according to the census Web site.
Questionnaire forms will arrive in mailboxes mid-March and should be sent back no later than April 1, or National Census Day.
Reach the reporter at kjdaly@asu.edu
