Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Numbers Matter

We know the U.S. Census performed every decade is important, but this article I found in The Daily Texan tells us exactly how it can affect our state. According to the article, the majority of uncounted residents in Texas are college students, who just happen to be the most important residents. This is because college students are working towards a career, and we can assume that they will be contributing to our economy in the next decade. Because college enrollment this year is higher than ever in Texas, it is crucial that this year's census is as accurate as possible. Inaccurate counts can also lead to "insufficient representation and congressmen spreading themselves way too thin" (Joshua Avelar, Daily Texan). Inaccurate counts can affect our state in many ways, among the worse may be the way in which we have to pay for the "uncounted": an estimated $1,500 for each student. The point is, we are all busy people but our this article shows that the ten minutes you would spend filling out the census survey is well worth your time.