Voices to be heard in 2010

Some promise the rewarding of belief in change. Others paint an image of stronger community identity and responsibility. A sense of social duty, be it ethical or mandated by law, emerge from others still.

Yet, regardless of the specific form each message takes, they all stem from the same theme present since the birth of the nation — fair representation.

Throughout the blanket of advertisements, public service announcements, testimonials, informational Web sites and various other efforts to educate the United States population about the 2010 census, the focus on making everyone's voice heard remains.

"The census data is a fundamental building block of our democratic system," said Sonny Le, senior media specialist for the local census office in Oakland.

Cities, counties, nonprofit organizations and numerous other entities, he said, must request funding from the government each year based on their needs. Without data from sources like the census, however, they cannot prove this need.

"If you don't have the data to prove the reality, you're going to get shortchanged," Le said.

He said that what makes the census in particular so important for everyone is just how pervasive its reach is. Though some may think the effects of the census may not directly benefit them, every person in America feels its effects, even college students, Le said.

"That money may not go to you, but it goes to your classrooms," he said.

This process of data collection and analysis, along with the public policy such as the redrawing of congressional districts that follows soon after, will be fully set in motion come April 1, the nation's official Census Day. Counters across the country will begin reading the forms and tallying up America.

Though the actual form has seen little change since the last decennial census in 2000, the U.S. Census Bureau has made a stronger point this time around to convey the ease and importance of filling it out.

"Ten questions, 10 minutes," Le said. "If you don't fill it out, someone is going to come knock on your door."

For every 1 percent of the population that does not mail back the completed form, the bureau spends $85 million tracking down those left to count at their homes, which equates to $57 per household, U.S. Census Bureau public information officer Michael Gregorio said.

Although the bureau was allotted $6.9 billion this year for the 2010 census alone, Gregorio said that $6.7 billion of that is spend on mailouts, receipts and processing, leaving little room for additional expenditures involved with going to people's houses and making them fill out the form.

The bureau is not alone in its efforts, however, as more than 200,000 partners have teamed up with the government body to spread the word, saving an estimated $338.5 million, according to the 2010 census Web site.

Also, as a way of improving on the roughly two-thirds national participation rate, the bureau built a $133 million advertising campaign in 28 languages through the firm Draft FCB, U.S. Census historian Dave Pemberton said.

Like virtually every product in the country, he said the census is being sold to everyone who is an inhabitant of the United States, but with one key difference.

"There is no portion of the population that we can afford to leave out," Pemberton said. "So the advertising is broken down — there are general messages for general audiences, and there are specific messages for subsets of the general audience. The media are selected based on which portion of the population we are trying to appeal to."

As with any product, however, there are certain audiences with a history of low interest that are made special targets during marketing. Chief among them for the 2010 census are college students.

Le said the particular demographic is especially difficult to count for a number of reasons: they were not old enough to fill out their own census forms 10 years ago; most are mobile and do not pay much attention to "snail mail"; many are cynical or apathetic about politics; and many do not identify with their surrounding community outside of the campus.

In an attempt to change this and appeal to youth interests, advertisements with contemporary elements such as hip-hop music and snowboarding have been set up on MTV, VH1, "American Idol," Twitter, MySpace and Facebook.

Additionally, social networking sites like Facebook act as the basis for one of Le's arguments as to why cynical college students should not be averse to providing the government with the information requested on the census forms.

"You're going to give up a lot more information for a Facebook account," he said. "(College students) think the census is too intrusive, but they don't blink when they give their information online."

Dr. Timothy Clow, senior dean of research and planning at Contra Costa College, likened much of the form's content to that of registering for classes at the college.

He also said that this year's decennial census will be particularly important for the campus and its community because of the drastic shifts already forming in the area.

Since Contra Costa County has the third highest number of residents with at least a bachelor's degree in the state and many are on their way to joining that group, Clow said the community's needs will swiftly change soon due to the high number of educated persons between the ages of 21 and 40.

"It's hypothesized that (this group) will want access to transportation, parks and recreation, nightlife," he said.

Clow said that much like the rapid growth Emeryville experienced not too long ago along its BART line, Richmond is headed for a similar boom, according to housing reports obtained through the census.

As a result, he predicts fast expansion within the community along Richmond's BART line, transforming and uplifting the area without driving its current inhabitants away through gentrification.