United States Census

The federal census in the year 2000 will have fewer questions and the traditional mail survey will be supplemented by forms available at convenience stores, shopping centers, churches and homeless shelters as the government tries to persuade an increasingly reluctant public to cooperate in the vast count, officials said Wednesday.

Across the nation, the number of minorities continues to rise and the white population continues to decline, according to U.S. census estimates released Thursday. Minorities now make up about 35% of the population in the United States, an increase of 5% from 2000, reflecting demographic changes seen most powerfully in the Golden State. "More of the country is going to be like California," said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution. Minorities make up 57% of the population in California.

Across the nation, the number of minorities continues to rise and the white population continues to decline, according to U.S. census estimates released Thursday. Minorities now make up about 35% of the population in the United States, an increase of 5% from 2000, reflecting demographic changes seen most powerfully in the Golden State. "More of the country is going to be like California," said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution. Minorities make up 57% of the population in California.

The federal census in the year 2000 will have fewer questions and the traditional mail survey will be supplemented by forms available at convenience stores, shopping centers, churches and homeless shelters as the government tries to persuade an increasingly reluctant public to cooperate in the vast count, officials said Wednesday.

Michael Schrage's "Census Is Regarded as Just More Junk Mail," (May 17) has done a disservice to the United States Census Bureau regarding completed census forms. Citizen apathy can be blamed for poor voter turnout, but voting is a privilege. Supplying information for the United States Census is required by law--Title 13 , United States Code. This same law protects the confidentiality of your answers, name, address, etc. for 72 years. If anyone wants my address for junk mail in April, 2062, I say they're welcome to it. Information from the census is used to assure that each area has the proper representation in Congress.

THE UNITED STATES Census Bureau reports that nearly 70 million females are between age 14 and 54. That number is music to the ears of the cosmetics industry, because it is during those years that women and girls are most likely to buy makeup. And of those 70 million, at least 68%, or 48 million, work and have money to spend on beauty. And spend they do.

Once, being a never-married bachelor entering middle age was considered to be a pretty good gig. There were romantic role models: the sophisticated Henry Higgins, the dashing James Bond. That all-time good guy, Superman. Lifelong bachelors, at 40, were considered rugged individualists, urbane, worldly, self-aware, blissfully free, with unlimited options. They were even objects of envy.

Dismissal of the voting rights lawsuit by the Department of Justice will be a victory for Santa Paula and citizens of every ethnic background. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that racial and ethnic gerrymandering is not constitutional. Experience also shows that such balkanization destroys communities. Redistricting and annexation policies using racial and ethnic classifications are inappropriate everywhere. With a 71% majority of residents and 52% majority of registered voters in Santa Paula, Hispanics no longer have "minority" status for Section 2 Voting Rights Act claims.

The Mormon Church has put millions of 19th century ancestors on its genealogy Web site, giving family tree buffs a more convenient -- and free -- way to trace their heritage. The church said Wednesday it is offering free Internet access to 55 million names from the 1880 United States census and the 1881 Canadian census. Before, census records from those years were available on a microfilm set spanning 56 compact discs -- a search process many found cumbersome and time-consuming.

According to the United States Census Bureau, about one in five native-born, adult U.S. citizens whose first language is English is functionally illiterate. Of those, about 2.5 million live in California. To combat the problem of adult illiteracy, the California State Library in 1984 initiated a Literacy Campaign that finances reading programs over the state. Adults in the San Fernando Valley area who want to learn to read or improve their reading can contact any of the programs, listed below.

There is good and bad news for women. They still face various forms of discrimination including earning less than their male counterparts, but they will have some measure of revenge by having a better chance to live longer, according to the Census Bureau. In a report released Monday, the Census Bureau notes that for every 100 women who live to be at least 100 years old, there are just 20.7 men who have reached the same goal. The figures are based on the 2010 Census that counted 53,364 people ages 100 and older in the United States.

California was a big loser of residents to other states between July 1994 and July 1995, but immigration and births kept the state population growing modestly, the Census Bureau reported Friday. California had 31,589,000 residents on July 1, an increase of 181,000 for the year, a gain of just 0.6% compared with the national growth rate of 0.9%. In the 12-month period, 383,000 people moved to other states, fewer than in the peak period in 1993-94 but still substantial.