Census 2000 kicks off next week

The federal government will officially collect population data in the Northern Marianas beginning Monday next week as part of the United States-wide census which takes place once every 10 years, according to Washington Census Advisor Tasha Boone.

The U.S. government periodically gathers data on population, including demographic information, to measure how much funding a public entity needs and identify better ways to efficiently respond to both natural and man-made disasters.

Ms. Boone said the Census 2000 is particularly important for the CNMI and four other American insular areas to secure federal funding for programs and projects.

“This is one important way for the CNMI to receive what it needs. Census is the only way for the CNMI to know what it needs,” she pointed out, adding that federal funding are normally based on what is required by the number of people in a particular area.

Ms. Boone is encouraging Northern Marianas residents, including documented and undocumented aliens to answer questionnaires from information collectors, who will be deployed for the program mornings and evenings, to ensure that everyone in the island is counted.

She underscored that information which will be gathered from Census 2000 is of great importance in the CNMI government’s efforts to spur economic activities in the islands by enticing foreign and mainland investors to do business here.

“International businesses look in the census data to measure if they can sustain their businesses here, making the information very significant in their decision to whether relocate here or not,” she told reporters in an interview.

At the same time, Ms. Boone explained that census data are also used by federal and local government agencies in responding to disaster and emergency calls.

She said Census 2000 will include mapping of houses through door-to-door collection of data. The information will then be kept in the archives for use in disaster relief.

Door-to-door collection of data will begin on April 1, 2000 while officials will start mailing out questionnaires on Monday, March 27, 2000. The project will stretch up to six weeks.

Census 2000 is not limited to the indigenous CNMI population and U.S. citizens, according to Ms. Boone. Non-resident workers, regardless of their immigration status, will also be surveyed.

In efforts to brush off concerns among undocumented aliens that the data may be used to deport them, census officials assured that all individual information gathered from the survey will be kept confidential as guaranteed by federal laws.

Only group data will be made available for government agencies, non-governmental organizations and private businesses.

As this developed, the Census 2000 is coming out with 10 art posters from all over the mainland U.S. and insular areas to celebrate America’s ethnic diversity.

Five art posters in the mainland which represent the country’s great diversity — African-American, Hispanic, American-Indian, Asian, and Pacific Islander — will be included in the American Artists series. Posters from Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam and the Northern Marianas are also part of the series.

CNMI’s poster was a product of the artistic minds of Marianas High School students Frank Palacios and Soo Seon Jeong who collaborated to come up with a design of the island lagoon and pristine beach, latte stone, Carolinian canoe, hand woven basket, and the flame tree flowers.

Census 2000 Area Manager Sohale Samari presented a $2,000 check from the Washington Publicity Office to the Marianas High School Art Club for its members contribution to visualizing the culture unique to the Northern Marianas.