It only happens every 10 years, so the city of Starkville is conducting a census for the first time since 2000. Whether or not community members and students participate could have a major effect on the city for the next decade.
Bethany Stich, faculty representative for the Mississippi State University census subcommittee, said the census is constitutionally mandated.
Student Association administrative liaison Thomas Sellers said there are many reasons for Starkville residents and especially students to participate in the census. He said the census can impact students because it has an effect on tuition grant and loan programs.
“The census helps ensure that our academic community receives its fair share of political representation and government funding,” he said. “Through the data that is collected during the census, billions of federal dollars are allocated to local and state governments.”
Stich said this money can directly affect Mississippi State University’s campus.
“The census distributes 4 trillion dollars worth of public assistance for things that are important to students, like increasing the shuttle system on campus or sidewalks,” she said.
Sellers said the data from the census can also play a key part in attracting new industries to the Starkville area.
“Business and restaurants use city population numbers as they look for new cities to locate in,” he said. “It is very important for Starkville to have an accurate count so that we receive proper federal dollars to attract new businesses to the area.”
Stich said Starkville’s population is around 20,000 now, but if students were counted it would rise to around 40,000. Stitch said the money is distributed according to population and need.
“If you don’t fill out the census you can’t really say, we have this population that needs these things,” she said. “As the population increases we can recruit things like better retail and more activities other than the movie theater and bowling alley.”
Stich said a census form will be sent to every address and students living in a dorm can work with their resident hall advisor to find out how their residence hall is handling the count.
Stich said Starkville’s current census is very inaccurate.
“Part of it is because there are some hard-to-reach populations,” she said. “There are rural areas and impoverished areas that are hard to get to and a lot of times the addresses are incorrect.”
Stich said another reason is that there is a lot of misunderstanding about the census among students.
She said a lot of students do not fill out the form because they think their parents should fill it out. However, students should fill out the forms as residents of Starkville, and their parents will be able to complete the form stating their child is in college and not living at home.
Stich said every person in the United States needs to be counted and there are ramifications that can result from participating in the census.
“There are almost 18,000 students using the city’s infrastructure and not really getting the benefits from it because we don’t count them,” she said. “Don’t leave it up to your parents, take responsibility and fill one out yourself.”
“It is important for students to realize the important impact that the census will have on our city and academic community,” Sellers said. “The census is based on where you live for the majority of the year so MSU students should complete the census in Starkville and be counted in this area.”
Junior communication major Whitnie Hill said she plans to fill out her census form when it arrives in her mailbox, as Starkville is her second home.
“I live here nine months out of the year because of school, so it’s very important to me to be counted,” she said.
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2010 census to recount city population
Sarah Dale Simpkins
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January 22, 2010
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