Bringing Benefits To Newtown

To the Editor:

Regarding “Census Terminology” [Letter Hive, 4/2/10], since the first census in 1790, we have asked about race. The question about Hispanic origin has been asked since 1970.

For the first time in 2010, the Census Bureau will send bilingual forms in Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Khmer, languages that cover 97 percent of the US population. These forms will be mailed to areas where there are large numbers of residents who speak these languages. In our state, only the larger cities received the English/Spanish form, but there are language guides available online in more than 50 other languages as well as in Braille and large print.

As for participation, while it’s true that the Constitution calls for a count of people and residences for the purpose of apportionment, choosing not to participate at all is detrimental to our community, considering the more than $400 billion in federal funding that is provided to the states annually based partly on census data. This data also affects local districting and representation in Washington. As a ten-year Newtown resident, I am interested in bringing as many of these benefits to our state and community as possible. As of today, Newtown’s participation is at 71 percent. Let’s go for 100!

Sheila Torres

10 Phyllis Lane, Newtown                                                 April 7, 2010