Iowa State University

Inside Iowa State
February 18, 2000

Census count begins soon

Ames officials aspire to 50,000 population milestone

by Diana Pounds
The counting begins for the 2000 census in March. Census forms will be mailed March 15 to most Ames residents and delivered by hand April 1 to Iowa State students who are living in residence halls or Greek houses. International faculty and students also are included in the census count.

All Iowa State students who live in Ames are required to claim their student addresses in Ames for the census count, said Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco. The census address is not necessarily the same as a student's voting residence or legal residence, Tedesco said. For the census, students and others are counted at the addresses where they spend the majority of the year.

"Some students have indicated that they may not complete their census forms in Ames, because they want to be counted in their hometowns," Tedesco said. "We hope they don't do that because their parents can't claim them on their hometown census counts anyway. And it could mean the loss of hundreds of thousands of federal dollars for such services as more Cy-Ride routes, bike paths, improved streets and other community services."

Ames needs to clear the 50,000 population mark to be eligible for additional federal dollars for programs and services, Tedesco said.

"For example, we already know that if the city clears the 50,000 mark in the 2000 census, the city will directly receive more than $500,000 per year in federal transportation funds, 10 percent of which can be used for new bike paths," he said.

In the 1990 census count, Ames' population was tallied at 47,192. In 1995, the census was tracked at 48,691 people.

A single census form will be delivered to each residence hall room, apartment or house, and by law, each person living in that room, apartment or house must be listed on the census form. The information on a census form is completely confidential, Tedesco said. The Census Bureau cannot share answers with any agency.

Cash prizes of up to $500 for completing census form

To encourage all who live in Ames to complete their census forms, Ames officials are offering 10 cash prizes of $500 each and 40 prizes of $50 each in an April 7 drawing. Students who live in residence halls or Greek houses will receive tickets for the drawing when their census forms are delivered April 1. Others who live in Ames will receive tickets for the cash drawings if they turn in their completed census forms between 7 and 9 a.m. Thursday, March 23, at one of these locations:

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