PSU Magazine Winter 2000

S erena Cruz, a Multnomah County commissioner and recent graduate of PSU's Executive Leadership Program, remembers getting into a race argument when a U.S. census taker came to her door in 1990. Cruz, who is Hispanic, felt she was being forced into a box. When the census taker asked her race, the only options he gave were White, Black, and Native American . Cruz considers herself none of the above. "I felt they were invading my house, and I still disagree with how they catego– rize people," she says. Those kinds of encounters throughout the country-along with a dozen other factors-turned the public off to the census process, and resulted in the 1990 census being the most inaccurate in the country's history, according to Cruz. Not only was it a public relations problem, but the miscount resulted in the underfunding of myriad programs throughout the country that depend on government money. Today Cruz finds herself on the oppo– site side of the fence as the chair of the Multnomah County Complete Count Committee. The committee's job is to make sure the government-by counting noses and asking probing questions-get a much clearer snapshot of the county than it did 10 years ago. "I want all people to get counted," she says. A few blocks away from the county offices, at Portland State's Center for Population Research and Census, Barry Edmonston has a similar mission. Edmonston is head of the center, and is also a representative on the U.S. Secretary of Commerce's Census 2000 Advisory Committee, a select group of 25 picked from throughout the nation. As a commit– tee member, he is advising federal offi– cials on the design of a kinder. gentler, and much more accurate census process. With both the county and national committees, the goal is to boost the public's response to the census when forms start going out in the mail in March. More response means more ILLUSTRATION BY AMY DeVOOGD/ARTVILLE accurate numbers. And with those numbers, the feds have a better idea how to allocate funds for everything from road building to veterans hospitals to English as a second language programs in schools. Every year, more than $100 billion in federal funds is awarded to localities on the basis of census numbers, according to Cruz. The numbers are even used to redraw legislative districts. "It's inconceivable to me how we could run public programs without a census," Edmonston says. I t's a tool authorities have used for centuries. Government surveys were conducted throughout ancient Rome, China, Egypt, and other civilizations, mostly to find out who to tax or draft into the military. William the Conqueror sent his census takers throughout England in 1086. The resulting two– volume Domesday Book was thought to be one of the most remarkable adminis– trative accomplishments of the Middle Ages. The Founding Fathers of the United States declared in the Constitution that a census would be taken every 10 years. The first full census of the country was conducted in 1790, and made history not just because of the scope of the project, but because of its political purpose: to determine representation in Congress based on population. The United States is as much of a melting pot today as it ever was, but the U.S. Census Bureau has been a little slow to recognize it. In the 1990 Census, forms were printed in only two languages: English and Spanish, although cassette tapes were available in other languages as a guide to the English form. It didn't work well, Edmonston says. T his time-partially through sugges– tions by Edmonston, who is advising the bureau on immigrant groups-forms will be printed in six languages: English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tagalog-a Filipino language. For those who don't fit in any of those cate– gories, brochures to guide them through WINTER 2000 PSU MAGAZINE 11