On Thursday, Jan. 14, the Guilderland Public Library hosted Assemblyman John J. McEneny D-Albany, who spoke about his experiences as census director in 1980 and about the importance of the upcoming 2010 census.
At the talk, McEneny said the purpose of the census is the same today as it was when the first census was taken in 1790 to determine the population of the states.
After the failed attempt to exist as a confederacy, relatively autonomously under the Articles of Confederation, the 13 original states made the decision in 1789 to form a union.
Among the most contentious issues of the time was deciding the amount of representation each state would have in the national legislature. Smaller states, such as Delaware and Rhode Island, wanted to have each state allotted equal representation, however, larger states then New York and Virginia ` wanted to have representation in the legislature determined by population.
In the end, there was a compromise, known as the Connecticut Compromise. Under the compromise, the national legislature would be divided up into two houses, the upper house, known as the Senate, and the lower house, known as the House of Representatives.
In the Senate, representation is equal among all states, large and small. In the House of Representatives, representation is based upon population. The first-ever census was commissioned in 1790 to determine the amount of representatives each state would get in the House.
Since then a new census was commissioned every 10 years, with the 2010 census being the 23rd decennial census.
Today, the census is used by the federal government to not only determine representation, but also to determine the amount of funding states will receive from the federal government. States and local governments also use the census to determine representation, and the allotment of resources.
Barbara Nichols Randall, director of the Guilderland Public Library, said the census has importance even on the most local level.
`Our library gets 28 to 35 cents per person, per year, from the state for each person that lives in our district,` said Randall.
Randall also said the census also has a historical significance with regards to the study of geneology, of which the census is a key source of information.
It was for that purpose, the study of history and geneology, that McEneny began his work with the census.
`I was interested in the census very early because I was a local historian,` said McEneny, adding that the census provided information for his book, `Albany: Capital City on the Hudson.`
In the beginning of his talk McEneny said he wanted to debunk the myth that the census is a long, complicated, and time-consuming form. `The census is a 10-question survey. It’s very simple,` said McEneny.
McEneny said in 1940 the census devised a two-tier system, with the decennial census being a short form mailed to every household, and an elaborate form, known as the American Community Survey, mailed every two years to a small percentage of households.
He explained the importance of each person being counted in the decennial census: `If you miss one person, the cost of not counting the person is that you will suffer for 10 years in that undercount.`
For example, if the state is awarded $500 by the federal government for each resident and a person in Guilderland is not counted in the upcoming census, the state will lose $500 each year until the next census, making the total cost of the undercount $5,000.
According to McEneny, the questions on the census change to reflect the times. He said in 1880 the census asked a question on employment, reflecting the harsh economic situation at the time. In 1940 the census asked a question on indoor plumbing, reflecting the modernization the country went through in the early part of the 20th century.
The 1980 census asked a question about the length of a person’s commute to work, reflecting the effects the automobile had on suburban sprawl in the later half of the century.
He also described some of difficulties he had making sure everyone was counted when he served as census director for the Capital District in 1980.
In one instance McEneny said he had to venture beneath a sidewalk in an area where a department store took its deliveries to reach a homeless woman who resided there. The woman was counted, and her address was written as the address of the department store.
McEneny also described a situation in which he went to the Port of Albany at 12:01 a.m. on census day to make sure all foreigners at the port were counted.
`It’s supposed to be a picture of what Albany is in a given day,` said McEneny, adding that foreigners, college students, and other non-permanent residents are usually counted in the location where they reside on census day.
McEneny said his talk at the library was only part of what is needed to get the word out about the census.
`If you rely on any one person or group, this will fail,` said McEneny.
Other efforts to get the word out about the census include children being educated about the census in school, with the intention of having them remind their parents, and the traditional `census Sabbath,` a weekend in which religious leaders will speak at their respective houses of worship on the importance of the census.
Randall said the library will host additional programs in the future to get the word out about the census.
`It sounds dull and boring, but makes a difference,` said Randall.
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