Austin Residents and Census (Howe: apartment, home, schools)

[thesonofgray]

Originally Posted by capcat

Really? We hadn't had it but a few days when we got a post card, and then a phone call asking us to fill it out and return it. Quite a bit of pressure, and I'm glad to be done with it.

I think they stalk you for a month or so if you don't fill it out quickly.

[JayBrown80]

If you did not recieve the form,

If you did not receive a form, call the Telephone Questionnaire Assistance center at 1-866-872-6868The lines will be open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (your local time) seven days a week from February 25, 2010 through July 30, 2010.

If you are a teabagger, or just a plain run of the mill moron, and view the census as some intrusion on your life, therefore only filling out what is "consititutionally required" and skipping questions you don't like.

Title 13
Sec. 221. Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers
(a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title, applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not more than $100.
(b) Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a) of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.

I am always amazed at how people suddenly become constitutional scholars out of the blue whenever the census comes around. I would be interested in knowing why you believe you are not consititutionally required to fill out the census form. It sort of reminds me of my drug dealing friends that suddenly turn into lawyers when it comes time to break the law. "you see, if you ask someone if they are a cop, they HAVE to tell you" :rolls eyes: But hey, I have never been one to accuse anti government tea baggers as being smart, so by all means, do what you want, fill out the census incompletely. That only means that a census taker will be forced to come to your house and collect the information manually, thereby costing the government more money and wasting time. But as long as you can make your point, right.

But just to edumacate you on some good old book learning, THIS is what the constitution has to say about the census.

The U.S. Constitution empowers the Congress to carry out the census in "such manner as they shall by Law direct" (Article I, Section 2).

So guess what all you Rhodes Scholars that feel they "constitutionally" only have to fill out the names and number of people living in a home, EVERYTHING on the census form is required. But let me guess, you actually researched to find out what is "consitituionally required on the census form" right, you aren't just making it up as you go along? Or parroting talking points from Glenn Beck? In case you are wondering too, the right of the census to collect more than a simple headcount has stood the judicial test. Feel free to actually learn something. Here you go.

It is constitutional to include questions in the decennial census beyond those concerning a simple count of the number of people. On numerous occasions, the courts have said the Constitution gives Congress the authority to collect statistics in the census. As early as 1870, the Supreme Court characterized as unquestionable the power of Congress to require both an enumeration and the collection of statistics in the census. The Legal Tender Cases, Tex.1870; 12 Wall., U.S., 457, 536, 20 L.Ed. 287. In 1901, a District Court said the Constitution's census clause (Art. 1, Sec. 2, Clause 3) is not limited to a headcount of the population and "does not prohibit the gathering of other statistics, if 'necessary and proper,' for the intelligent exercise of other powers enumerated in the constitution, and in such case there could be no objection to acquiring this information through the same machinery by which the population is enumerated." United States v. Moriarity, 106 F. 886, 891 (S.D.N.Y.1901).
The census does not violate the Fourth Amendment. Morales v. Daley, 116 F. Supp. 2d 801, 820 (S.D. Tex. 2000). In concluding that there was no basis for holding Census 2000 unconstitutional, the District Court in Morales ruled that the 2000 Census and the 2000 Census questions did not violate the Fourth Amendment or other constitutional provisions as alleged by plaintiffs. (The Morales court said responses to census questions are not a violation of a citizen's right to privacy or speech.) "…[i]t is clear that the degree to which these questions intrude upon an individual's privacy is limited, given the methods used to collect the census data and the statutory assurance that the answers and attribution to an individual will remain confidential. The degree to which the information is needed for the promotion of legitimate governmental interests has been found to be significant. A census of the type of Census 2000 has been taken every ten years since the first census in 1790. Such a census has been thought to be necessary for over two hundred years. There is no basis for holding that it is not necessary in the year 2000."
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the District Court decision on October 10, 2001, 275 F.3d 45. The U.S. Supreme Court denied petition for writ of certiorari on February 19, 2002, 534 U.S. 1135. No published opinions were filed with these rulings.
These decisions are consistent with the Supreme Court's recent description of the census as the "linchpin of the federal statistical system … collecting data on the characteristics of individuals, households, and housing units throughout the country." Dept. of Commerce v. U.S. House of Representatives, 525 U.S. 316, 341 (1999).

[tongpa-nyi]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Just saw a news report that Austin lags the national average in submitting the census forms.

A. We've got more slackers than the national average
B. We've got a higher percentage of immigrants/migrants than average
C. Higher percentage of young people who are too stoned to notice that they have mail

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by tongpa-nyi

A. We've got more slackers than the national average
B. We've got a higher percentage of immigrants/migrants than average
C. Higher percentage of young people who are too stoned to notice that they have mail

Moderator cut: P&OC
E. A large portion of Austin's population is made up of students and this is not there permanent home. As directed to by the census, they will ignore the census form when it is sent to them because their parents/guardians will be listing them on the census form at the residence they originate from. So if you send 80,000 census forms to the apartments surronding UT, you are going to get about 0 back. And that is good, b/c it means people are reading the form.

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by thesonofgray

I think they stalk you for a month or so if you don't fill it out quickly.

Well you could just fill it out and when they come to the door, you could hand it to them then.

[Mdlx]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

Moderator cut: P&OC
E. A large portion of Austin's population is made up of students and this is not there permanent home. As directed to by the census, they will ignore the census form when it is sent to them because their parents/guardians will be listing them on the census form at the residence they originate from. So if you send 80,000 census forms to the apartments surronding UT, you are going to get about 0 back. And that is good, b/c it means people are reading the form.

Actually, in part of E of your post, if people were doing as you said, they would in fact not be filling out the census correctly. All the census wants to know is where you are on April 1, 2010. Not where you will be in 3 months. If the census is sent out to 50,000 students living in Austin on April 1, they need to fill it out as residents of Austin. Likewise, their parents should not be listing them as residents of their house if they are away to college in another city, say Houston or Dallas.

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by Mdlx

Actually, in part of E of your post, if people were doing as you said, they would in fact not be filling out the census correctly. All the census wants to know is where you are on April 1, 2010. Not where you will be in 3 months. If the census is sent out to 50,000 students living in Austin on April 1, they need to fill it out as residents of Austin. Likewise, their parents should not be listing them as residents of their house if they are away to college in another city, say Houston or Dallas.

Question 10 on the census clearly asks "Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?" and one of the boxes you can mark says "in college housing". If a Student is planning on clearing out of Austin in May to go back home then they run the risk of being counted twice, IF theire parents are listing them as residents and marking "in college housing" for question 10 AND the student fills out a census form stating they are residing in Austin.

My understanding is that being counted twice is a bad thing. So some coordination is required between students and their parents. But honestly, I am not going to look it up to be exact, because I already did a fair bit of a reasearch above in regards to the teabagging conspiracy theories.

Perhaps someone else will be willing to do the legwork on this one.

[atxcio]

Originally Posted by Mdlx

Actually, in part of E of your post, if people were doing as you said, they would in fact not be filling out the census correctly. All the census wants to know is where you are on April 1, 2010. Not where you will be in 3 months.

That confused the heck out of me when filling out the form. The questions asked, "how many people living in your household on April 1, 2010". But they want the forms *in* by April 1. So what are you supposed to do, fill it out in the morning and take it to the Census office by the end of the day? Otherwise, you can't accurately answer the question as stated. What if someone dropped dead? What about the babies born between say, March 15 (or whenever they put sent the form) and April 1st? They won't be counted.

Typical government form, though... instructions that are technically impossible to follow.

[Mdlx]

Originally Posted by JayBrown80

Question 10 on the census clearly asks "Does Person 1 sometimes live or stay somewhere else?" and one of the boxes you can mark says "in college housing". If a Student is planning on clearing out of Austin in May to go back home then they run the risk of being counted twice, IF theire parents are listing them as residents and marking "in college housing" for question 10 AND the student fills out a census form stating they are residing in Austin.

My understanding is that being counted twice is a bad thing. So some coordination is required between students and their parents. But honestly, I am not going to look it up to be exact, because I already did a fair bit of a reasearch above in regards to the teabagging conspiracy theories.

Perhaps someone else will be willing to do the legwork on this one.

It says at the top of the census form "do not count anyone living away at college or in the armed forces....leave these people off the form, even if they will return to live here after they leave college. Otherwise, they may be counted twice."

[JayBrown80]

Originally Posted by Mdlx

It says at the top of the census form "do not count anyone living away at college or in the armed forces....leave these people off the form, even if they will return to live here after they leave college. Otherwise, they may be counted twice."

Well then that answers that, I stand corrected. Thanks for doing the research. I have already sent my form in, so didn't have it in front of me, thanks for taking a look for us.