“We Can’t Move Forward Until You Mail It Back.”

The goal of the 2010 United States Census requires no rereading. Filling it out is a responsibility under federal law and the final compilation of completed forms from across the country determines how many representatives a state will send to Washington and establishes who and what in which places will receive federal funding.

So the idea that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R &-&- Minn.) and other high-profile Republicans are urging against a totally complete response to the Census is a counterproductive and expensive stall to something that can only benefit this country’s citizens &-&- each household that does not send its information back could be fined $100 and will be met by a
census-taker who will seek out the form’s required information in-person.

Arguments against completion of the Census in its entirety amount to overstated claims that the document is an invasion of privacy and that no United States citizen should be obligated to reveal information beyond the number of bodies inside his or her household. But the Census isn’t asking for Social Security numbers. There’s no empty space that requires income figures and not a single telephone number is needed. The Census’s 10 questions are meant to get a better understanding of the people in this country and the type of financial need in each U.S. region. Statistics cannot harm identities that are never identifiably attached to them.

As the parts of a nearly nomadic population, students at Boston University and throughout the Hub have a unique responsibility to complete the Census and complete it accurately. As the United States’ consummate “College Town,” Boston boasts tens of thousands of students who are here for one minute and gone the next, and if they do not take the opportunity to sit down for a moment while they are in the city and declare themselves as citizens of this country, their needs cannot possibly be met and they will function as nothing more than ghosts.

Occupant or tenant of this address: establish yourself as a functioning body of this country. At a point in time when political contention is commonplace, an extra face or two can often be the difference between money or no money and representation or no representation. Filling out the Census is simple, and it is a civic (and simple) duty.